Var Kimhong (r) and Thai border negotiator Vasin Teeravechayan meeting 6-7 April 2009 in Phnom Penh.Cambodian high ranking officials on Thursday warned a group of Thai nationalists over a forum to be held next week which focuses on 4.6 square kilometers of Thai territory allegedly lost to Cambodia around the Khmer Preah Vihear Temple.
The Thais “often claim to be encroached upon and envied by Cambodia, but they base [claims] only on their own map,” Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told DAP News Cambodia on Thursday.
“We do not care about their remarks as we base our claim on maps made by international organizations, and Thailand once approved this map,” he said, respectively speaking of a map approved by the World Court and UNESCO, and an agreement signed by a Thai king with French authorities in the early 20th century. “Even though they want to erase a joint statement before Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Temple inscription as a World Heritage Site, we do not care and it does not affect Cambodia.”
Var Kimhong, president of the Cambodian Border Committee, on Thursday said that “Thailand should not say that they lost around 4.6 square kilometers of their land in accordance with an international ruling of June 15, 1962.”
“Thailand cannot say as the area and the surroundings of the area does not belong to Cambodia. When they said they lost land, it is not based in reality or evidence.”
Var Kimhong showed disappointment over Thailand’s broken promise to demarcate the border in July. So far, nothing has been done. “Thai National Assembly has not approved so that its border committee working official can not precede its work,” he explained.
A group of Thai nationalists will hold a forum to discuss Thai territorial claims on August 25.
ASTV on August 18 broadcast a live talk show with Thai nationalists, two Thai academics and Prince Vanvichear Charonnoun. Those present wrongly insisted that over 4.6 square kilometers around Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Temple and nearby Dangrek Mountains had been lost to Cambodia.
Some attacked former Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama, who they said ignored Thai sovereignty.
A Thai academic told the talk show that “The matter could not be solved as the name of Preah Vihear was not agreed jointly.”
Following Thai soldiers encroachment into Cambodian sovereignty in July 2008, Thailand asked Cambodia to also call the temple Phra Viharn—the Thai name for the ancient Cambodian sanctuary—in official documents but Cambodia refused.
Prince Vanvichear Charonnoun said that “After the two countries agreement could not be solved, a compromise appeared asking to call this area as Phoumakdeu and Chorngtathoa as this area Cambodia strongly need to control. If Cambodia could not control this area, Cambodia could not request Preah Vihear Temple to be inscribed as a World Heritage Site.”
“We could believe and depended on Thai Foreign Ministry officials as they ignored and not focused on the nation’s benefits,” the prince added.
The Cambodian Government has often repeated its stance of not encroaching upon Thai territory “even one millimeter,” though Cambodia has vowed to stand fast to protect its land area at Cambodia’s Preah Vihear temple and it environs.
Both the International Court and World Heritage Committee have agreed that Preah Vihear Temple is Cambodian territory, UNESCO inscribing the ancient sanctuary as a World Heritage Site. According to legal documents, Thailand has no right to illegally invade Cambodian land.
The Thais “often claim to be encroached upon and envied by Cambodia, but they base [claims] only on their own map,” Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told DAP News Cambodia on Thursday.
“We do not care about their remarks as we base our claim on maps made by international organizations, and Thailand once approved this map,” he said, respectively speaking of a map approved by the World Court and UNESCO, and an agreement signed by a Thai king with French authorities in the early 20th century. “Even though they want to erase a joint statement before Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Temple inscription as a World Heritage Site, we do not care and it does not affect Cambodia.”
Var Kimhong, president of the Cambodian Border Committee, on Thursday said that “Thailand should not say that they lost around 4.6 square kilometers of their land in accordance with an international ruling of June 15, 1962.”
“Thailand cannot say as the area and the surroundings of the area does not belong to Cambodia. When they said they lost land, it is not based in reality or evidence.”
Var Kimhong showed disappointment over Thailand’s broken promise to demarcate the border in July. So far, nothing has been done. “Thai National Assembly has not approved so that its border committee working official can not precede its work,” he explained.
A group of Thai nationalists will hold a forum to discuss Thai territorial claims on August 25.
ASTV on August 18 broadcast a live talk show with Thai nationalists, two Thai academics and Prince Vanvichear Charonnoun. Those present wrongly insisted that over 4.6 square kilometers around Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Temple and nearby Dangrek Mountains had been lost to Cambodia.
Some attacked former Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama, who they said ignored Thai sovereignty.
A Thai academic told the talk show that “The matter could not be solved as the name of Preah Vihear was not agreed jointly.”
Following Thai soldiers encroachment into Cambodian sovereignty in July 2008, Thailand asked Cambodia to also call the temple Phra Viharn—the Thai name for the ancient Cambodian sanctuary—in official documents but Cambodia refused.
Prince Vanvichear Charonnoun said that “After the two countries agreement could not be solved, a compromise appeared asking to call this area as Phoumakdeu and Chorngtathoa as this area Cambodia strongly need to control. If Cambodia could not control this area, Cambodia could not request Preah Vihear Temple to be inscribed as a World Heritage Site.”
“We could believe and depended on Thai Foreign Ministry officials as they ignored and not focused on the nation’s benefits,” the prince added.
The Cambodian Government has often repeated its stance of not encroaching upon Thai territory “even one millimeter,” though Cambodia has vowed to stand fast to protect its land area at Cambodia’s Preah Vihear temple and it environs.
Both the International Court and World Heritage Committee have agreed that Preah Vihear Temple is Cambodian territory, UNESCO inscribing the ancient sanctuary as a World Heritage Site. According to legal documents, Thailand has no right to illegally invade Cambodian land.
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for a more detailed discussion of the historical context of the preah vihear temple dispute see: http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/preah-vihear-the-thai-cambodia-temple-dispute
for a more detailed discussion of the historical context of the preah vihear temple dispute see: http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/preah-vihear-the-thai-cambodia-temple-dispute
for a more detailed discussion of the historical context of the preah vihear temple dispute see: http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/preah-vihear-the-thai-cambodia-temple-dispute
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