Troop buildup, burn deaths overshadow Thai, Cambodia summit
Foreign Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn meets his Cambodian counterpart today in Siem Reap, but it remains unclear whether the long-scheduled session will address Thailand’s recent troop build-up near the disputed Preah Vihear temple or the alleged burning murder by Thai soldiers of two Khmer alleged smugglers.
The agenda for the annual Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation meeting near Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temple lists a number of cooperative projects, most of which were already discussed during Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's October visit to the country. Establishing a new, permanent border checkpoint in Sa Kaeo is as controversial as the agenda gets.
But relatives of two missing brothers they allege were killed by Thai soldiers in Sa Kaeo Jan 7 - as well as a number of activists there - hope Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong will bring up the recent escalation in border tension.
Thailand sent about 200 troops and closed the Chong Arn Ma border crossing in Ubon Ratchathani's Nam Yuen district after Cambodia began excavating to build a road in a border area claimed by Cambodia but considered neutral territory by Thailand.
The pass to Cambodia's Preah Vihear province reopened Jan 9 following talks between Ubon Ratchathani governor Serm Chainarong and Preah Vihear governor Oum Mara and respective military officials.
Tensions flared again Jan 12 when Cambodia's Phnom Penh Post published a report by military officers there that Thai soldiers admitted burning alive two Cambodian men illegally trying to smuggle a motorbike across the border in Sa Kaeo. A military official with the Burapha Force, which supervises the Thai-Cambodian border, denied the allegation, but Cambodian officials, and one family in particular, continue to be frustrated by Thailand's relative silence on the issue.
A Siem Reap family held a "burial' service without a corpse Wednesday for relatives they're sure were the two men burned alive inside car tyres, the Phnom Penh Post reported Thursday. Voeun Bean told the paper his two brothers matched descriptions of the alleged smugglers and have been missing since the Jan 7 incident.
Cambodian officials complained in a Jan 13 Post report that Thai authorities continue to run a "one-sided investigation" into the deaths, despite promising the probe would be a joint effort. The army continues to deny their Khmer counterparts access to the crime scene, Pech Vanna, director of the Cambodian-Thai Border Relation's office, told the paper.
Both the Preah Vihear border flap and the burning deaths have prompted calls on the Cambodian side for the routine Joint Commission meeting to address the increased tensions. Phnom Penh on Wednesday remained coy on whether Mr Hor would broach the subject with Gen Tanasak today or Friday.
"The meeting will focus on all fields of cooperation, but I dare not say anything specifically before the meeting has happened," Cambodian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong told the Phnon Penh Post. "We have to wait and see."
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