By Surasak Tumcharoen
BANGKOK, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Tension on the disputed border between Thailand and Cambodia is apparently easing up after Phnom Penh reduced jail terms of two convicted Thai activists although the territorial row between the two countries would continue to be heard in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague.
A Phnom Penh court has recently agreed to reduce the jail terms of Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipatnapaiboon, who have been jailed since early 2011 at Prey Sor prison in the Cambodian capital.
Veera and Ratree were convicted of espionage and sentenced to eight years and six years respectively, and their jail terms were cut to two years and a half and two years respectively. Veera will be freed within the next six months and Ratree will be released on Feb. 1.
The couple was among a group of seven Thai nationals, including a former Democrat Party lawmaker, who had been arrested by Cambodian troops in Oddar Meancheay province on charges of trespassing into Cambodian territory from a Thai border village in Sra Kaew province. Except for Veera and Ratree, the others were freed shortly afterward.
The incident occurred in late 2010 during the tenure of the Democrat-led government headed by former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Thai army chief Gen Prayudh Chan-ocha promptly welcomed Phnom Penh's decision. "That will not only improve the overall relationship between the two neighboring countries but also considerably ease the military tension along the common border," he said.
Phnom Penh reassured the Cambodian public that the case lodged in the Hague will definitely be carried out regardless of the Veera-Ratree episode. Bangkok, for its part, has made preparations to fight back although Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul had admitted that a final ICJ judgment would be either a draw or a defeat for the Thai side.
Cambodia's decision to reduce the sentences of the Thai couple came barely a week after both sides made preparations for a legal showdown at the ICJ involving over 4.6-sq-km disputed territory around Preah Vihear temple which straddles the two countries' common border.
Under Abhisit's rule, Thai and Cambodian forces sporadically clashed in the disputed border areas claiming lives on both sides.
Not until the Puea Thai (For Thais) Party scored a landslide victory in 2011 lower house poll and became the core of a coalition government under leadership of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra that the Thai-Cambodian border situation improved with no major cross-border attacks or military standoffs.
Yingluck, younger sister of deposed Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was invariably viewed as a close friend of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, apparently kept her distance from the Preah Vihear controversy while efforts have been quietly made to resolve it peacefully.
Former Thai foreign minister Noppadon Pattama said the Yingluck government had never stopped seeking leniency for Veera and Ratree, although the Cambodian government had suggested that the Thai convicts should serve at least two-thirds of their jail terms before any amnesty would be considered.
As a matter of fact, the freedom for the Thai couple was desperately sought whenever Yingluck met with Hun Sen or high- level government officials in Cambodia, according to the prime minister.
The ICJ, scheduled to hold hearings in April and deliver a verdict in the next six months, would certainly see the Thais and the Cambodians repeating their respective claims of territorial integrity over Preah Vihear's neighborhood. The Cambodians seemed to enjoy the advantages after the historic temple was declared a World Heritage site by the UNESCO in 2008 and judged by the World Court as Cambodia's property in 1962.
Nevertheless, Thai Defense Minister Sukampon Suwanatut earlier commented that the ICJ's ruling might probably come out in a neutral fashion, meaning there might be neither a winner nor a loser.
He said that the ICJ might rule that the case remains beyond its jurisdiction and might suggest that both sides resolve their territorial dispute between themselves in a peaceful manner.
BANGKOK, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Tension on the disputed border between Thailand and Cambodia is apparently easing up after Phnom Penh reduced jail terms of two convicted Thai activists although the territorial row between the two countries would continue to be heard in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague.
A Phnom Penh court has recently agreed to reduce the jail terms of Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipatnapaiboon, who have been jailed since early 2011 at Prey Sor prison in the Cambodian capital.
Veera and Ratree were convicted of espionage and sentenced to eight years and six years respectively, and their jail terms were cut to two years and a half and two years respectively. Veera will be freed within the next six months and Ratree will be released on Feb. 1.
The couple was among a group of seven Thai nationals, including a former Democrat Party lawmaker, who had been arrested by Cambodian troops in Oddar Meancheay province on charges of trespassing into Cambodian territory from a Thai border village in Sra Kaew province. Except for Veera and Ratree, the others were freed shortly afterward.
The incident occurred in late 2010 during the tenure of the Democrat-led government headed by former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Thai army chief Gen Prayudh Chan-ocha promptly welcomed Phnom Penh's decision. "That will not only improve the overall relationship between the two neighboring countries but also considerably ease the military tension along the common border," he said.
Phnom Penh reassured the Cambodian public that the case lodged in the Hague will definitely be carried out regardless of the Veera-Ratree episode. Bangkok, for its part, has made preparations to fight back although Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul had admitted that a final ICJ judgment would be either a draw or a defeat for the Thai side.
Cambodia's decision to reduce the sentences of the Thai couple came barely a week after both sides made preparations for a legal showdown at the ICJ involving over 4.6-sq-km disputed territory around Preah Vihear temple which straddles the two countries' common border.
Under Abhisit's rule, Thai and Cambodian forces sporadically clashed in the disputed border areas claiming lives on both sides.
Not until the Puea Thai (For Thais) Party scored a landslide victory in 2011 lower house poll and became the core of a coalition government under leadership of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra that the Thai-Cambodian border situation improved with no major cross-border attacks or military standoffs.
Yingluck, younger sister of deposed Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was invariably viewed as a close friend of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, apparently kept her distance from the Preah Vihear controversy while efforts have been quietly made to resolve it peacefully.
Former Thai foreign minister Noppadon Pattama said the Yingluck government had never stopped seeking leniency for Veera and Ratree, although the Cambodian government had suggested that the Thai convicts should serve at least two-thirds of their jail terms before any amnesty would be considered.
As a matter of fact, the freedom for the Thai couple was desperately sought whenever Yingluck met with Hun Sen or high- level government officials in Cambodia, according to the prime minister.
The ICJ, scheduled to hold hearings in April and deliver a verdict in the next six months, would certainly see the Thais and the Cambodians repeating their respective claims of territorial integrity over Preah Vihear's neighborhood. The Cambodians seemed to enjoy the advantages after the historic temple was declared a World Heritage site by the UNESCO in 2008 and judged by the World Court as Cambodia's property in 1962.
Nevertheless, Thai Defense Minister Sukampon Suwanatut earlier commented that the ICJ's ruling might probably come out in a neutral fashion, meaning there might be neither a winner nor a loser.
He said that the ICJ might rule that the case remains beyond its jurisdiction and might suggest that both sides resolve their territorial dispute between themselves in a peaceful manner.
Editor:
Lu Hui
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