Thai PM hopes Thai-Cambodian talks to ease border tension

People's Daily Online
March 09, 2011

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (pictured) hoped Wednesday the Thai-Cambodian Joint Border Commission (JBC) meeting to be held in Indonesia later this month will ease tension on the border between the two countries.

"I hope the forthcoming talks will be the starting point in easing tension between both countries," the premier said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said Tuesday that Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa had informed Thailand that Cambodia had agreed to attend the JBC meeting.

The meeting was earlier scheduled for Feb.27 but it was postponed after Cambodia said it wanted intervention by the international community.

The prime minister reaffirmed that the dispute should be settled by bilateral talks as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) suggested. However, he has no objection if the talks are observed by representatives from Indonesia, the current rotating chair of ASEAN.

Following the latest deadly border clash on Feb.4-7, the UN Security Council meeting in New York on Feb. 14 urged Thailand and Cambodia to establish "permanent ceasefire" and asked Indonesia to facilitate talks.

The ASEAN informal foreign ministerial meeting on Feb. 22 agreed that Thailand and Cambodia should hold talks in a third country in order to settle their long-running border dispute.

Source: Xinhua

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Abhisit welcomes JBC meeting

Published: 9/03/2011
Bangkok Post

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva hopes a Thai-Cambodian Joint Border Commission meeting to be held in Indonesia late this month will be a starting point in easing tension along the frontier between the two countries.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said on Tuesday that Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa had informed the ministry that Cambodia had agreed to attend the JBC meeting.

The meeting was earlier scheduled for Feb 27 but it was postponed after Cambodia said it wanted intervention by the international community.

"I hope the meeting will help ease tension between the two countries," Mr Abhisit said.

The prime minister said his government was firm in its stand the Thai-Cambodian conflict should be solved through negotiations at a bilateral level.

However, he would have no objection if the talks were observed by representatives from Indonesia, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).