Thailand accused of damaging temple

By The Nation
Published on October 27, 2008

Parliament nod likely this week to begin talks over border

The Thai government would prepare for border talks when Parliament gives it the mandate, most likely this week, even as Cambodia opened a new flank in the conflict, accusing Bangkok of damaging the Preah Vihear Temple.

Parliament would consider the negotiating framework on the provisional arrangement and the negotiating framework of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) on October 28 to enable the process of border dispute settlement to begin, said Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, in a meeting with Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting in Beijing last week, agreed to use existing bilateral mechanisms to end the border dispute peacefully, he said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen insisted on preventing recurrence of the border skirmish and to activate the JBC as soon as possible, Sompong said in a television programme yesterday.

"We will continue cooperation on trade and investment as usual," he said.

The Cabinet approved the appointment of Vasin Teeravechyan, former ambassador to South Korea, as the new chairman of the JBC of the Thai side last week.The JBC is the key mechanism to demarcate the boundary of the two countries in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2000.The border dispute was at the centre of the conflict after the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear was chosen as a World Heritage Site, followed by a military standoff in July, and military clashes in the areas earlier this month.

Cambodia has lodged a complaint with the United Nations accusing Thai troops of damaging the ancient Preah Vihear Temple during the border shootout.

Phay Siphan, spokesman for Cambodia's Council of Ministers, told AFP that a staircase and a sculpture of the mythical Naga creature were damaged by rocket fire at the 11thcentury Khmer ruins.

A complaint was filed with the UN cultural body Unesco a few days after the fight erupted on October 15 near Preah Vihear.

"Preah Vihear Temple was intentionally damaged by Thai troops, because we found remnants of grenades... near the temple and there were no Cambodian soldiers stationed nearby," Phay Siphan said.

"The Preah Vihear authority has sent reports and pictures of the damage to Unesco."

The Thai Foreign Ministry has denied the allegation saying Thai troops used only rifles in the battle.

However, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) launched by Cambodian side landed on the Thai side near the Twin Stupa and injured two Thai soldiers while some of the RPGs landed in Thailand's Preah Vihear National Park, the ministry said in a statement.

Three Cambodian soldiers and one Thai troop were killed in the clashes this month, which came as a monthslong military standoff between the neighbours erupted into a shootout on disputed land.