This is the French map commissioned by the Franco-Siamese Joint Commission in 1908 and attached to the Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907. The yellow line is the boundary and the red stars are the clash sites which are about between 1.2 km to 1.6 km deep inside Cambodian territory.February 12, 2011
By Pravit Rojanaphruk
The Nation
A French offer to provide maps of the disputed border area between Thailand and Cambodia has been misrepresented by some Thai media outlets that claimed France had offered to "mediate" between the two countries.
Some columnists even attacked France for poking its nose where it wasn't wanted, leading the French Embassy to clarify the proposal.
"There never was any French offer of 'mediation' in the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, as some media reported," said Alain Gavillet, press attache at the French Embassy.
Yesterday, elements of the Thai media continued to misreport the news and even obtained reaction from Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Some columnists wrote pieces attacking the French government for trying to interfere in Thai-Cambodia affairs.
"Pardon ... sorry but please do not poke your nose," wrote Post Today editor Nakarn Laohavilai in his column in the paper.
On Thursday, the Thai Foreign Ministry had already issued a correction regarding the "misunderstanding".
Thani Thongphakdi, director-general of the Department of Information and spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said, "There may have been some misunderstanding about the proposal as France had not offered to mediate between the two countries as some media had reported.
"Rather, France had expressed its readiness to provide access to maps of the region it had made in the early 20th Century should any country wish to study or make copies of them."
A press release from Thani added that Thailand welcomed the offer.
"In fact, Thailand had in the past received good cooperation from Quai d'Orsay, which had given Thai officials access to their archives several times before.
Should there be additional maps that Thailand has not yet examined, it would certainly consider examining such maps without prejudice to its boundary claims."
By Pravit Rojanaphruk
The Nation
A French offer to provide maps of the disputed border area between Thailand and Cambodia has been misrepresented by some Thai media outlets that claimed France had offered to "mediate" between the two countries.
Some columnists even attacked France for poking its nose where it wasn't wanted, leading the French Embassy to clarify the proposal.
"There never was any French offer of 'mediation' in the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, as some media reported," said Alain Gavillet, press attache at the French Embassy.
Yesterday, elements of the Thai media continued to misreport the news and even obtained reaction from Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Some columnists wrote pieces attacking the French government for trying to interfere in Thai-Cambodia affairs.
"Pardon ... sorry but please do not poke your nose," wrote Post Today editor Nakarn Laohavilai in his column in the paper.
On Thursday, the Thai Foreign Ministry had already issued a correction regarding the "misunderstanding".
Thani Thongphakdi, director-general of the Department of Information and spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said, "There may have been some misunderstanding about the proposal as France had not offered to mediate between the two countries as some media had reported.
"Rather, France had expressed its readiness to provide access to maps of the region it had made in the early 20th Century should any country wish to study or make copies of them."
A press release from Thani added that Thailand welcomed the offer.
"In fact, Thailand had in the past received good cooperation from Quai d'Orsay, which had given Thai officials access to their archives several times before.
Should there be additional maps that Thailand has not yet examined, it would certainly consider examining such maps without prejudice to its boundary claims."
1 comment:
The Thais are pissed off! They believed they could mess up with Cambodia with noone watching but they were wrong. The issue is now in New York City, in the UN security council. And France still has the map revealing the truth about Cambodian borders in its archives and will take it out to the world. The Thais won't be able to lie longer anymore. The truth will come out and that just makes them so angry hence their attacks on France's offer to provide the border map to any country willing to have access to it.
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