As negotiations for the management of Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Temple’s UNESCO World Heritage Site status rumble on for another day, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the Abhisit government’s only negotiation strategy is a mixture of bullying and threats.
This atmosphere of coercion, covers the range of threatening to walk out of Thailand’s position on an important UNESCO committee, all the way through to implicit threats of armed hostilities being made by Abhisit’s coalition partners, Puea Pandin. This is, of course, no way for a respectable member of the international community to behave. That PM Abhisit has been led by his nose to such brinkmanship only casts serious doubts on his own ability to pick his allies and his causes.
The PAD’s program of intimidation and violence regarding Preah Vihear, including riots and attempts to provoke armed hostilities between Cambodia and Thailand, something which has occurred on several occasions, has never been fully challenged by PM Abhisit’s government. In fact, PM Abhisit has allowed the extremists in the PAD to openly flout the same State of Emergency laws banning protests that he used to crush the pro-democracy Red Shirt demonstrations. The truth is that PM Abhisit needs the thugs in the PAD to stay on side so that he can call on them to perform extra-legal activities as and when he needs.
The comparisons with the 1997 film, Wag the Dog, where a floundering US President cooks up a dubious war to further his own domestic ends are obvious. Yet, this is a very risky strategy for Abhisit.
Over the last weeks the Abhisit regime has refused any international oversight into any aspect of Thailand’s present political predicament or how to resolve its problems. He claims it is purely a domestic issue that other nations should not interfere in.
Starting a war with Cambodia, destabilizing the region and causing a major international incident, just to suit the agenda of extremists in the PAD, a relatively tiny organization with very few supporters beyond a rump in the Bangkok middle classes, will bring much unwanted attention on Abhisit’s regime. The question he will ultimately have to answer is who is the dog and who is doing the wagging?
1 comment:
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization Committee Members should not deter their obligation to do the right and honest thing for each country. When it comes to Cambodia, as always the Thai government and people alike are impeding the process of the UNESCO members to render the legitimate decision that they are under tremendous obligation. The Thailand government and people are purposely and illegitimately made claim after claim of the territories and properties of Cambodia, and they knew full well that they are fraudulent claims. They have demonstrated and undermined the decision of The International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled the 10th-century border temple belongs to Cambodia and the Thai have shown the lack of respect to the UNESCO members and the obligation that the UNESCO members have to fulfill their duties. Not to mention, that they always ignored and shown no respect to the Cambodian government and people. Cambodia, just like any other country on this planet, must have the territorial integrity and sovereignty and must respected by neighboring countries. It is just absurd, that the Thai agreed that the temple belongs to Cambodia, but the surrounding area belonging to them, how can anyone built a fixture (building) and have no land surrounding it, our ancestors were much smarter than that when they built the temple. I can only write my comments, requesting our Cambodian government to pursue this matter aggressively and intelligently. And I plead to the UNESCO members to do the right thing for the Cambodian people and for the world, do not have your decision swayed by Thailand's intimidation and threatening. This kind of actions by the Thai must stop at some point. The Cambodia people should rally together all over the streets, cities, and abroad to protest against the Thai gov't and people, and to support the UNESCO committee members to render a fair and honest decision by approving the plan for the management site for Cambodian people and for the world.
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