Negotiations stalled over marine oil, gas
Published: 1/09/2011
Bangkok Post
Democrat MP for Surat Thani Suthep Thaugsuban (pictured) denies he held secret talks with Cambodian officials about oil and gas interests in the overlapping marine area during the tenure of the Democrat-led government.
Mr Suthep, a former deputy prime minister, conceded yesterday he met Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who oversees energy affairs, in Hong Kong, for informal talks.
But he had never held "secret" talks with Sok An about the maritime issue.
The Cambodian National Petroleum Authority, a government body under the supervision of Sok An, said on Tuesday its government would welcome a resumption of negotiations with Thailand on resolving claims to the 27,000 square kilometre stretch of seabed considered rich in oil and gas.
The authority said discussions held from 2001 to 2007 had been fruitful, adding that the Abhisit Vejjajiva government, which took power in 2008 and had rocky relations with Phnom Penh, had sought to resolve the dispute prior to this year's election.
To that end, it said, Bangkok and Phnom Penh had held secret talks to try to reach a deal.
Mr Suthep said he travelled to Cambodia and met Prime Minister Hun Sen twice _ the first time for prisoner exchange talks and the second time about the opening of a highway.
Hun Sen told him his Cambodian counterpart Sok An would hold further talks with him about various issues.
Mr Suthep said he tried to invite Sok An to visit Thailand for official negotiations but failed and Sok An then asked him to meet in Hong Kong for informal talks first.
They agreed only that they wanted to meet officially, so they could discuss Thai-Cambodian issues that had not been settled under the previous government, including exploitation of marine resources in the Thai-Cambodian disputed area.
However, the relationship between Thailand and Cambodia turned sour before an official meeting between the pair could be held, said Mr Suthep.
"The meeting between Sok An and I was not a secret one. It was an ordinary unofficial talk before an official meeting between government representatives," he said.
He insisted he and the Democrat Party had no vested interests in natural resources in the disputed area.
Both governments needed to negotiate over oil and gas in the disputed area.
It was impossible for anybody to benefit personally because the details of the agreement had to be publicised. The Thai government also had to seek approval for the agreement from parliament, said Mr Suthep.
Democrat leader Abhisit supported Mr Suthep's explanation. He said Mr Suthep met Sok An to talk about the framework for negotiations that needed approval from the Thai parliament.
Eventually, the plan to hold official talks was scrapped after the Thai government decided to shelve the 2001 Thai-Cambodian Memorandum of Understanding.
Mr Abhisit added that if his government had tried to favour the Cambodian government, the Cambodians should be satisfied.
But now, the Cambodian government was trying to discredit his government because his administration never did it any favours.
"And if the Cambodian government is satisfied, the public should keep an eye on it to see which government is about to favour the Cambodian government," he said.
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Suthep denies secret deals over maritime zone
By The Nation
Published on September 1, 2011
Former Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban admitted yesterday that he met Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An twice - in Hong Kong and Kunming - but did not make any secret deal over the maritime resources in the overlapping zone in the Gulf of Thailand.
The Thai government under Abhisit Vejjajiva then invited Sok An to talk on the matter in Thailand but the latter had no free time to visit Thailand and so informal meetings were held in Hong Kong, Suthep said.
"I told Sok An that - as both of us were appointed chief negotiators on the overlapping area in the sea - why didn't we open a formal meeting to follow what previous governments had done," Suthep told reporters.
"Returning home, I rushed to issue a letter of invitation to talk in Thailand - but the meeting has never taken place as the bilateral relations turned sour," he said.
Suthep decided to clarify his meetings with Sok An after the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority issued a statement on Tuesday accusing Abhisit's administration of attempting to make a secret deal on the maritime zone.
Abhisit sent his deputy Suthep to have 'behind-the-scenes' meetings with Sok An in Hong Kong in August 2009 and in Kunming in July 2010, the statement said.
Suthep said he would make a formal clarification to Phnom Penh when he saw the statement in detail.
"The Democrat Party and I have no conflict of interest over this matter. The negotiation of the overlapping area is for the benefit of the country. I don't think anybody could have a personal interest in the deal. The process of negotiation must go through parliament scrutiny with public acknowledgement," he said.
However the issue of the overlapping area in the Gulf of Thailand became controversial as Democrat MPs accused Yingluck Shinawatra's government - during the policy debate in the Parliament last week - of trying to make a deal with Cambodia over the maritime zone for the personal benefit of her brother and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Former Prime Minister Abhisit, who is leader of the Democrats, said yesterday Cambodia had issued the statement to discredit his government because he had never responded to Cambodian demands but did everything to protect Thai interest.
Under his government, Suthep simply tried to establish a framework of negotiation on the maritime zone deal and prepare to ask permission from the Parliament to open the talks, Abhisit said.
"As we put on hold the 2001 memorandum of understanding (MoU) on this matter, the attempt was over. There is nothing to hide," he said.
"By common sense, if my government had done anything for the benefit of Cambodia, Cambodia would be satisfied. But we have never done as they wanted, that's the reason they discredit us," Abhisit said.
The ruling Pheu Thai's MP Sunai Jullapongsathon yesterday questioned why Abhisit's government did not talk over the matter with Cambodia openly. He asked: Why did Suthep, who was then in charge of security matters, handle the maritime deal? Why did Suthep have to meet with Sok An before and after the decision to scrap the 2001 memorandum of understanding on the maritime? "Or did that happen because you could not cut the deal [as a] personal interest?" Sunai said.
Abhisit's government decided to terminate the MoU on the maritime deal signed with Cambodia during Thaksin's administration in 2001, as Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen had appointed Thaksin as his adviser in November 2009.
However denunciation of the MoU did not come into force as Abhsiti's government had not formally informed Phnom Penh over its decision.
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