Politics may make border demarcation tough: Bandit

The Nation
September 26, 2011

New chief of the Thailand-Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) Bandit Sotipalalit said yesterday he feared the political split in the country could affect his job to demarcate the land boundary.

Bandit said he would seek advice from former foreign minister Kasit Piromya and Bandit's predecessor Asda Jayanama to learn problems and obstacles in the boundary demarcation.

"Please be confident in me - I will work for the national interest. As head of the JBC, I have no authority to make any change in the boundary line. Every detail I have discussed with my Cambodian counterpart must be reported to the Parliament in accordance with Article 190 of the constitution," he said.



Bandit was brought into the position recently to replace the hardline and outspoken Asda, who was in the position since November last year but failed to make any progress on the boundary demarcation due to sour relations between Thailand and Cambodia.

The issue of boundary demarcation with Cambodia was heavily politicised by the nationalist People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and the opposition Democrat Party in recent years since Cambodia managed to list the temple at Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site.

The Democrat Party and its PAD allies accused previous governments under late Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat of allowing the boundary issue to favour Cambodia.

Kasit removed career diplomat Vasin Teeravechyan from the position in November last year before putting Asda, who has a close connection with the PAD, into the position. Kasit previously questioned the new government's motivation for removing his men from the JBC.

Thailand shares some 800 kilometres of land boundary with Cambodia. The boundary was defined during the French-Indochina era more than a century ago. Most of it was marked by boundary pillars, except the area near Preah Vihear. Unfortunately, nature, time, war and people caused some boundary pillars to be removed.

The task of the JBC is to negotiate to find and fix the boundary pillars into their original positions. But there were conflicts at many areas along the border and both sides have interpreted treaties and maps over the line differently. Bandit said he had already studied details of negotiation and technicalities of boundary demarcation and would be able to begin his work by next month.