Says Cambodian troops, villagers must leave area
Published: 6/05/2011
Bangkok Post
Cambodian troops and villagers must leave the 4.6-square-kilometre disputed border area before Indonesian observers can be deployed, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (pictured) insists.
He was speaking the day before his planned trip today to attend the Asean Summit in Jakarta in which his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen is also participating. But Mr Abhisit has already said there were no plans to meet Hun Sen.
The bloody border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia looks set to be among the issues dominating the Asean Summit this weekend.
Mr Abhisit said the documents for the deployment of Indonesian observers pose no problem but the presence of Cambodian troops and citizens is a breach of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by both countries in 2000.
At the last meeting on May 3, the cabinet agreed to the planned deployment of Indonesian observers along the Thai-Cambodian border near the Preah Vihear temple _ but on the condition Cambodia adheres to the MoU by withdrawing its troops from the area.
Mr Abhisit said he had no idea if Phnom Penh would agree to this but it was the duty of Indonesia to coordinate with the Cambodian government about the matter.
In the wake of the sporadic border clashes, Indonesia, in its capacity as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), offered to broker talks between the two countries and deploy observers.
Mr Abhisit said it would depend on the progress of talks between Thailand and Indonesia and between Cambodia and Indonesia if the issue would be brought up at the Asean Summit.
According to Mr Abhisit, the Thai foreign minister will reaffirm that Thailand has not initiated any violence and will give its full cooperation to efforts to resolve the border row amicably.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya will meet his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa, who serves as Asean chair, on the sidelines of the Asean Summit, and then see his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong separately.
Mr Abhisit also played down speculation that Cambodia's latest move to involve the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the conflict would put Thailand at a disadvantage.
Cambodia has asked the ICJ for an interpretation of its 1962 ruling on the Preah Vihear temple.
Mr Abhisit said he would rather not discuss the issue due to its sensitivity. He added there are legal aspects Thailand can contest in court against the Cambodian move.
He also said the ICJ's hearing of the Cambodian complaint presented a chance for Thailand to show that each of the clashes had been planned by Cambodia and it was a calculated move to internationalise the border conflict.
The premier, however, urged people to refrain from speculating on the outcome of the case at the ICJ as this could backfire.
"Given the situation, I want everyone to stay undivided. I have said it before we shouldn't say things that will harm us later. We should stay united to protect the national interest," he said.
Meanwhile, 2nd Army spokesman Prawit Hookaew said the border tensions have eased and there have been no clashes over the past two days.
He said the fighting has stopped because field commanders on both sides have communicated with each other. Thai and Cambodian troops have maintained their positions but they are less tense.
Col Prawit said the reopening of Chong Jom border pass in Surin's Kap Choeng district was a result of discussions between 2nd Army commander Lt Gen Thawatchai Samutsakhon and the Surin governor.
Trade at the Chong Jom border pass was light the second day after the border reopened with only a fifth of stores open for business.
4 comments:
SHIT it ain't going to happy.
Thai claim arrogantly :
Cambodia’s territorial claim in this area is based on Cambodia’s
unilateral understanding of the said ICJ judgment that a boundary line was
determined by the Court in that judgment. Thailand contests this unilateral
understanding since the ICJ ruled in this case that it did not have jurisdiction
over the question of land boundary and did not in any case determine the
location of the boundary between Thailand and Cambodia. In addressing the
final submissions of Cambodia at the end of the oral proceedings calling for
pronouncements on the legal status of the “Annex I map”, which was
mentioned in the above letter from the Permanent Representative of Cambodia,
and the frontier line in the disputed region, the ICJ stated that the said
submissions “can be entertained only to the extent that they gave expression to
grounds and not as claims to be dealt with in the operative provisions of the
judgment” (Case Concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v.
Thailand) (Merits) ICJ Reports 1962, p. 36). Taking into account article 59 of
the Statute of the ICJ and the fact that the issue before the ICJ in this case was
limited solely to the question of the sovereignty over the region of the Temple
of Preah Vihear, the boundary line claimed by Cambodia has no legal status
from the judgment;
(Signed) Don Pramudwinai
Ambassador
Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Thailand
to the United Nations
properly speaking, he doesn't want the observers to be posted at the border... it is a tactic to delay the deployment.
The ICJ did not state every boundary of the temple,but the map that agreed by Thailand and Cambodia stated clearly isn't it. Why Thailand do not agree with this map?
If you believe that Preavihear Temple was built by Khmer King ,but the land surrounded it is being claimed by Thai. Is it logic ?. Would the ICJ thought that to give the Temple without the land surround the house itself ?
True Khmer
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