The Thai ruling classes have never given up their ambitions to re-annex the Temple of Preah Vihear which was occupied by Thai forces in 1954, shortly after the departure of French colonial administrators from Cambodia in 1953.
In the late 1950s, after having considered an occupation of Preah Vihear temple as a fait accompli and as a result of vehement and strong protests from Cambodia, Thailand had invited Cambodia to negotiate but at the same time it has carried out various forms of intimidation such as military manoeuvres next to the border, and at the same time instigated a violent demonstration in front of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Bangkok on 07 September 1958. As a matter of fact, it should be noted that during this demonstration, organized in response to the call from General Praphat Charusathien, Minister of Interior, the demonstrators held many banners which read: “Thailand will ask ICJ to give Thailand back the four provinces” (Battambang, Siemreap, Sisophon and Koh Kong) and “Preah Vihear is ours” (Bangkok World of 08 Sept 1958).
Then, after the release of ICJ verdict, which was different from their high expectation to win this case against Cambodia, Thailand's prime minister, Marshall Sarit Thanarat, made a televised statement saying “the government had no choice but to accept the ruling of the court”.
Later, on 04 January 1963, King Father Norodom Sihanouk, then Head of State, stated at Choam Ksan in Preah Vihear province the following: “The Thais have finally, after much prevarications and many delaying manoeuvres, evacuated from Preah Vihear. That has not, unfortunately, prevented them from making good the loss by further expansionism: they have drawn a new frontier line, to our disadvantage, in the neighborhood of Preah Vihear itself. In particular, they have laid barbed wire and set up military or police posts which in certain places encroach to a considerable depth on our territory, thus scorning the judgment of the ICJ” (ref: letter dated 23 April 1966 from Prince Norodom Kantol, Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Royal Government of Cambodia to the President of UNSC).
This statement by King Father was justified by Sondhi Limthongkul’s recent interviews on ASTV in which he alleged that “the loss of Preah Vihear was the fourteenth among the so-called Thailand’s Lost Territories”. Sondhi went on to say that while withdrawing from the Temple, Thai military didn’t just take off the flag only but up-rooted the flag-pole as a symbol that one day they could reinstall Thai flag there again.
Not so long after the reoccupation of the Temple of Preah Vihear by Cambodia, Thai armed forces re-launched from 14 to 22 April 1966 an open aggression against Cambodian positions next to the Temple with heavy weaponry including F-105 fighter jets in an attempt to re-occupy the Temple (ref: letter dated 17 May 1966 from H.E Huot Sambath, Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the President of the UNSC-S/7305-18 May 1966). Thai armed forces fought against Cambodia at Preah Vihear is a repetition of the history that follows the same pattern since 23 November 1940 when Thailand, being allied with the Axis Powers, re-annexed Battambang, Sisophon and Siemreap, which administered the Temple of Preah Vihear at that time before Preah Vihear temple was created in 1962.
Now, it is becoming crystal clear that the Thai ruling classes, whose many elements of the residual spillovers of the old‐cliché, have never abandoned their expansionistic policy towards Cambodia. Abhisit revealed that his government is opposed to the 1: 200.000 map, which was commissioned by the Franco-Siamese Mixed Commission in 1907. This means that Thailand has opposed the ICJ verdict and is using instead military aggression to force Cambodia to comply with its unilateral map in the same way as Hitler did with many of Germany's neighbours. It is also beyond everyone's beliefs that Thailand still argues that it "owns the 4.6 Km2". How bizarre it is! What does it mean? It means that their self-image of superiority is directed not only towards Cambodia, but also towards ICJ, including judge Dean Acheson, whose outstanding accomplishments have convinced former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to consider him “as the most historically respected Secretaries”. And as ICJ is part of the UN, this arrogant argument is seen as provocative also towards international community as a whole. Similarly, they have hectored UNESCO’s leadership and threatened to withdraw Thai membership over the inscription of the Temple of Preah Vihear as World Heritage.
This time, their tactics remain exactly the same as they did half a century ago: waging a war of aggression with support from on-going People's Alliance for Democracy's (PAD) protests which inflamed ultra-nationalistic sentiment and encouraged heated rhetoric against Cambodia and its leadership, while issuing a warning against any intervention from a third party, including the UN. But, in this new era, Thailand cannot mislead the world body by their slanderous campaign of intoxication against Cambodia, despite their dominant media. For instance, following a swift and opportune diplomatic action of Samdech Techo HUN SEN in going to International Court of Justice (ICJ) for clarification, we are not in a position to speculate the outcome of the ICJ's clarification that will result in a definitive resolution to end this never-ending Thai hostility against Cambodia, which has always been the victim of the Thai aggression for more than half a century. The ICJ's clarification will also act as an instrument to safeguard peace and stability in the region in line with the UN Charter and also with that of ASEAN.
In the late 1950s, after having considered an occupation of Preah Vihear temple as a fait accompli and as a result of vehement and strong protests from Cambodia, Thailand had invited Cambodia to negotiate but at the same time it has carried out various forms of intimidation such as military manoeuvres next to the border, and at the same time instigated a violent demonstration in front of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Bangkok on 07 September 1958. As a matter of fact, it should be noted that during this demonstration, organized in response to the call from General Praphat Charusathien, Minister of Interior, the demonstrators held many banners which read: “Thailand will ask ICJ to give Thailand back the four provinces” (Battambang, Siemreap, Sisophon and Koh Kong) and “Preah Vihear is ours” (Bangkok World of 08 Sept 1958).
Then, after the release of ICJ verdict, which was different from their high expectation to win this case against Cambodia, Thailand's prime minister, Marshall Sarit Thanarat, made a televised statement saying “the government had no choice but to accept the ruling of the court”.
Later, on 04 January 1963, King Father Norodom Sihanouk, then Head of State, stated at Choam Ksan in Preah Vihear province the following: “The Thais have finally, after much prevarications and many delaying manoeuvres, evacuated from Preah Vihear. That has not, unfortunately, prevented them from making good the loss by further expansionism: they have drawn a new frontier line, to our disadvantage, in the neighborhood of Preah Vihear itself. In particular, they have laid barbed wire and set up military or police posts which in certain places encroach to a considerable depth on our territory, thus scorning the judgment of the ICJ” (ref: letter dated 23 April 1966 from Prince Norodom Kantol, Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Royal Government of Cambodia to the President of UNSC).
This statement by King Father was justified by Sondhi Limthongkul’s recent interviews on ASTV in which he alleged that “the loss of Preah Vihear was the fourteenth among the so-called Thailand’s Lost Territories”. Sondhi went on to say that while withdrawing from the Temple, Thai military didn’t just take off the flag only but up-rooted the flag-pole as a symbol that one day they could reinstall Thai flag there again.
Not so long after the reoccupation of the Temple of Preah Vihear by Cambodia, Thai armed forces re-launched from 14 to 22 April 1966 an open aggression against Cambodian positions next to the Temple with heavy weaponry including F-105 fighter jets in an attempt to re-occupy the Temple (ref: letter dated 17 May 1966 from H.E Huot Sambath, Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the President of the UNSC-S/7305-18 May 1966). Thai armed forces fought against Cambodia at Preah Vihear is a repetition of the history that follows the same pattern since 23 November 1940 when Thailand, being allied with the Axis Powers, re-annexed Battambang, Sisophon and Siemreap, which administered the Temple of Preah Vihear at that time before Preah Vihear temple was created in 1962.
Now, it is becoming crystal clear that the Thai ruling classes, whose many elements of the residual spillovers of the old‐cliché, have never abandoned their expansionistic policy towards Cambodia. Abhisit revealed that his government is opposed to the 1: 200.000 map, which was commissioned by the Franco-Siamese Mixed Commission in 1907. This means that Thailand has opposed the ICJ verdict and is using instead military aggression to force Cambodia to comply with its unilateral map in the same way as Hitler did with many of Germany's neighbours. It is also beyond everyone's beliefs that Thailand still argues that it "owns the 4.6 Km2". How bizarre it is! What does it mean? It means that their self-image of superiority is directed not only towards Cambodia, but also towards ICJ, including judge Dean Acheson, whose outstanding accomplishments have convinced former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to consider him “as the most historically respected Secretaries”. And as ICJ is part of the UN, this arrogant argument is seen as provocative also towards international community as a whole. Similarly, they have hectored UNESCO’s leadership and threatened to withdraw Thai membership over the inscription of the Temple of Preah Vihear as World Heritage.
This time, their tactics remain exactly the same as they did half a century ago: waging a war of aggression with support from on-going People's Alliance for Democracy's (PAD) protests which inflamed ultra-nationalistic sentiment and encouraged heated rhetoric against Cambodia and its leadership, while issuing a warning against any intervention from a third party, including the UN. But, in this new era, Thailand cannot mislead the world body by their slanderous campaign of intoxication against Cambodia, despite their dominant media. For instance, following a swift and opportune diplomatic action of Samdech Techo HUN SEN in going to International Court of Justice (ICJ) for clarification, we are not in a position to speculate the outcome of the ICJ's clarification that will result in a definitive resolution to end this never-ending Thai hostility against Cambodia, which has always been the victim of the Thai aggression for more than half a century. The ICJ's clarification will also act as an instrument to safeguard peace and stability in the region in line with the UN Charter and also with that of ASEAN.
4 comments:
How about let the Thai have Preah Vihear, but they must return the whole Thailand to the Khmer, as Thailand was once part of Cambodia.
11:53 PM, that's a good proposition. I don't even want to demand the return of the whole of Thailand, just Surin, Sisaket, Korat, Trat, Chantaburi, Sakeo and other 13 provinces. If thailand returned all of these provinces to Cambodia, then it can have Preah Vihear temple. This is fair since Thailand had forcibly annexed these Cambodian provinces in the past 216 years ago.
tahnks to the great article and thank to the boths comment above.
Thailand can keep all of their gay people...also!
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