Phnom Penh Post
By Joe Freeman
Cambodian soldiers
mill about at the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple near the
Thai-Cambodian border in 2012. Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post
Tensions are escalating in Thailand over the Preah Vihear territorial
dispute with Cambodia, as opposition leaders are calling for the
government to reject an International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision that hasn’t even happened yet while Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is reportedly appealing for calm.
The prime minister, according to local media, was responding to a
reported plan by “Yellow-Shirt” activists to hold a protest later this
month, and a coalition of opposition lawmakers who called into question
the authority of the international court’s jurisdiction over the
dispute.
“Please demonstrate in a peaceful manner and don’t politicise it to
put a pressure on the government,” Shinawatra was quoted as saying
yesterday in the Pattaya Mail, while adding that her relationship with
Prime Minister Hun Sen – a friend of her brother, fugitive former Thai
Premier Thaksin Shinawatra – is not as important as Thailand’s national
interests.
It’s the latest in an unfolding drama in Thailand that was sparked
last week when the foreign minister announced plans to launch a public
awareness campaign about the case to stave off any potential unrest in
the event that the Thais lose.
After backlash over what many presumed to be a premature concession,
the foreign minister entered damage-control mode, reportedly vowing to
travel to the court himself and stare Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor
Namhong in the eye in order to make him lose his concentration.
The ICJ will hold hearings this April to clarify a 1962 decision that
granted Preah Vihear, an 11th-century temple, to Cambodia without
specifying what to do with a 4.6-square-kilometre area surrounding the
ruin. Fatal clashes in the past five years prompted Cambodia to seek
clarification from the court in 2011 about the ruling.
A political tinderbox in Thailand, Preah Vihear arouses far less
emotion for Cambodians, who consider ownership a “done deal since the
1960s”, said political analyst Chea Vannath.
“Cambodia feels that it’s not a Cambodia-specific issue, it’s more related to politics in Thailand,” she said.
“The ruling party did the right thing for everybody already, that’s why there is no protest, there’s no concern.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Freeman at
joseph.freeman@phnompenhpost.com
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