The ICJ Demilitarised Zone.By Daniel Ten Kate and Anuchit Nguyen -
Jul 19, 2011
Thailand will start talks with Cambodia to withdraw troops from a disputed area surrounding an ancient temple to comply with a demilitarized zone drawn up by a United Nations court, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said.
The UN-backed International Court of Justice yesterday ordered both countries to immediately withdraw military personnel from an area surrounding Preah Vihear temple. Cambodia, granted sovereignty over the temple by the court in 1962, had asked for measures to prevent more clashes while judges interpret the previous ruling.
Battles between the neighbors near border temples have killed more than two dozen people since 2008, when a Thai court ordered a government linked to ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra to withdraw support for Cambodia’s bid to list Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site. His allies, set to return to power next month after winning a July 3 election, have pledged friendlier relations with Cambodia.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who last month threatened to withdraw from the World Heritage Convention over the temple dispute, saw his Democrat party lose the election by more than 100 seats to a party led by Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra. Thailand’s 500-member Parliament is scheduled to meet in early August to pick a new prime minister.
‘Fair’ Decision
“We will urgently initiate negotiations with Cambodia for the troop withdrawal,” Kasit, a member of Abhisit’s administration, told reporters in Bangkok via phone from The Hague, Netherlands. “The decision is fair for both parties.”
The withdrawal of troops may wait until Thailand forms a new government, Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said by phone yesterday. Both countries kept soldiers stationed near the temple immediately after the ruling, Tawatchai Samutsakorn, a Thai army commander who oversees the region, said by phone.
“Cambodia wants to see the conflict resolved through peaceful means,” government spokesman Phay Siphan said by phone yesterday from Phnom Penh, its capital, after the ruling. He declined to comment further on the decision.
The 1962 court decision refrained from demarcating 4.6 square kilometers of disputed land around the temple, which has fueled the recent fighting. Abhisit’s administration has opposed the World Heritage Committee’s consideration of Cambodia’s management plan for the temple on grounds that it infringes Thai sovereignty.
Indonesian Observers
The court yesterday unanimously rejected Thailand’s request to dismiss the case and said it should not obstruct Cambodia’s access to the temple. The ruling also said both countries should allow observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations access to the demilitarized zone, a proposal from bloc member Indonesia that Thailand had previously resisted.
The court decision was “in line with the Thai government’s demand for the withdrawal of Cambodian military personnel in the conflicting area,” Kasit said. “We will urgently request Indonesian observers to observe the withdrawal.”
A Thai-Cambodian committee created to demarcate their 803- kilometer (499-mile) land border hasn’t met for two years. The countries have yet to divide 26,993 square kilometers (10,422 square miles) in the Gulf of Thailand that may contain oil and gas reserves.
Thailand’s $264 billion economy is more than 26 times the size of Cambodia’s. The Cambodian army spent $191 million in 2009, compared with $4.9 billion for the military in Thailand, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net
5 comments:
If the Cambodian troops leave, the Thai soldiers will start to aggravate the Cambodians who are living there. You just wait and see.
'The 1962 court decision refrained from demarcating 4.6 square kilometers of disputed land around the temple, which has fueled the recent fighting.'
This assertion is inaccurate. It is the present (and previous) Thai government's refusal to abide by the 1907 demarcation treaty between France and Siam and not the ICJ that has been the sole cause behind the dispute. All the Court did in 1962 was to invoke the existing Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 by ruling in Cambodia's favour and thereby forcing Thailand to end its armed occupation of the Temple. Yet, some ultra-Thai nationalists have been unable to come to terms with this verdict of the Court, and it is they who have reactivated this case since 2008 relating to the temple's surrounding by making contrived reference to the ICJ's perceived failure to legally define or sanctify the 1907 boundary.
As if this childish behaviour is not bad enough, Bangkok had the temerity to request that Cambodia's case be removed from the General List, arguing that both Thailand and Cambodia agree on the scope and meaning of the 1962 ruling! Well, if this is the case, why has Bangkok opposed the listing of the Temple as a World Heritage site? Why has it stationed troops within the Temple's vicinity that the Court ruled in 1962 as being under Cambodian sovereignty? And why would Cambodia feel the need to take Thailand to the ICJ again almost 50 years after the matter had been settled in 1962?
Kouprey
You can almost see the smark on Kasit face wanted to laugh with the decision because ICJ is predictable by Thailand. They know it is in their favor silently. ICJ asked both recognize the DMZ means that both recognize the dispute area, plain and simple. PM Hun Sen, never recognize the dispute 4.6km area and now his government send fast letter to recognize the ruling. Why? You just got kick out from you own house, land, temple etc. You call that a victory? If ICJ order Thailand to withdraw its troop not Cambodian troop then you can call it a victory. This is call join venture my friend. Just wait and see.
You are so right Warrior Blood! Next time Thailand is going to choose another part of Cambodia and claim it as a dispute territory and ICJ have to agree with Thailand to make the land a DMZ. There is no clear cut to the ruling and no proceeding act of will by the ICJ to mark the border line between the two countries. As long as border between the two countries are not mark clearly, Thailand will try it best to claim other part of Cambodia. It is time to go to war. Whether our country lives or dies it is our destiny. We have to fight it out. This time don’t just do the defending, but must willing to do the cross border attack as well.
I HAVE NO WORRY WITH THIS. BELIEVE IN ME, THAILAND CANNOT WIN.
ABOUT THE EVIDENCE ABOUT MY CLAIM, YOU SHOULD THINK YOURSELF: USE YOUR SMART CRITICAL THINKING WAYS.
NO CREDIT TO HUN SEN, NO CREDIT TO THAI KING. YOU ARE JUST THE BAD PEOPLE I HAVE EVER SEEN. I DON'T WASTE TIME TO THINK ABOUT THIS RULE. THE OLD KHMER KING DID IT WELL ALREADY.
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