Border officials to meet in Bangkok for further talks

Written by Cheang Sokha

Monday, 02 February 2009 Phnom Penh Post

The Cambodian delegation due to travel to Thailand ahead of a Feb 6 meeting between the two countries' defence ministers. Photo by: KAY KIMSONG Cambodia's top border negotiator Var Kimhong shown in a file photo. CAMBODIAN border officials were to depart for Bangkok today for further talks related to the long-simmering territorial dispute with Thailand, officials told the Post Sunday. Var Kimhong, Cambodia's top border negotiator, said he will lead the delegation today through Wednesday to resume talks pertaining to the demarcation of the countries' shared border, as per the January 26 agreement reached in Phnom Penh between Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya. "I cannot forecast what the result of the meeting will be," Var Kimhong said. Cambodia and Thailand have never fully demarcated their 805-kilometre shared border. The current dispute stems from the July 2008 listing of Preah Vihear temple as a Unesco World Heritage site, which prompted Thai nationalists to demand that the then-government reclaim territory allegedly lost to Cambodia, including the 11th-century ruins. Cambodia's Defence Minister Tea Banh and his Thai counterpart are scheduled to meet February 6 in Phnom Penh to discuss the drawdown of troops at the Keo Sekha Kirisvara pagoda and near the Preah Vihear temple. Koy Kuong, an undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Thai and Cambodian negotiators remained optimistic with regard to the talks. "I think the speed of the negotiations is good," Koy Kuong told the Post Sunday. Prime Minister Hun Sen plans to discuss the dispute with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the forthcoming summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which is scheduled to be held from February 27 to March 1 in Hua Hin, Thailand.