Tea Banh wants only good news [from the Bangkok Post]

Preah Vihear meet brings warning from Cambodian defence minister to press to write only positive articles / Democrats took Bangkok governor race with the help of celebrities and one clear campaign strategy / Transport minister inspects city road snarls daily to get a handle on each problem

• Published: 9 Mar 2013
• Bangkok Post

Tensions along the Thai-Cambodian border cooled down a bit during a lunch meeting on Feb 26 between Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat and his Cambodian counterpart Tea Banh at the Preah Vihear temple.

Sukumpol: News in English widely read

ACM Sukumpol walked about 1km up the mountain and climbed another 100 stairs to reach the temple and had lunch there.

During the lunch meeting, Gen Tea Banh talked with a Bangkok Post reporter who was among the Thai delegation to the temple and he stressed the importance of the role the print media plays in relation to Thai-Cambodian ties.

He said whether relations between Thailand and Cambodia will improve or not depends on media coverage.

''If the Bangkok Post writes good stories, Thailand and Cambodia will be good friends. If it presents bad stories, this will make us quarrel. This is very important,'' Gen Tea Banh told ACM Sukumpol.

He stressed that the International Court of Justice keeps an eye on relations between the two neighbours so the newspapers must present favourable news stories.

ACM Sukumpol agreed with his Cambodian counterpart's comments. He said English-language newspapers present news which is read widely around the world.

News put on a website is accessible even more quickly, Gen Tea Banh added.

The amicable atmosphere during the lunch meeting between the two defence ministers was later marred by an incident in which three Thai rangers were injured when they stepped on landmines during their border patrol along the common border around Ta Kwai temple in Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district on March 3. One ranger's right leg was blown off.

The army was upset about the incident which ruined the amicable atmosphere between the two countries.

ACM Sukumpol tried to maintain cordial ties by saying the mines may have been planted by smugglers of phayung rosewood. But the mines definitely did not belong to the Thai side, he said.

The landmines were found to be Vietnamese-made TMN1 mines, which are commonly used by the Cambodian military, a source said.

Thailand will notify Cambodia that it has violated the Ottowa mine ban treaty, which both countries have signed. The treaty bans signatory states from using and stockpiling landmines.