Thailand-Cambodia agree to joint border patrols

By SOPHENG CHEANG

Associated Press Writer

Heng Sinith/AP Photo

Cambodian soldiers patrol on the road up to the famed Preah Vihear temple, Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, near Thai border Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008. Thai and Cambodian troops faced off at a disputed border zone as military officials from both sides headed for urgent peace talks, a day after a deadly gunbattle erupted near an 11th century temple.

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia --

The Cambodian and Thai militaries agreed Thursday to hold joint patrols at a disputed border area where a gun battle between the two sides left two soldiers dead, a Thai army spokesman said.

A Cambodian army officer confirmed the two sides agreed on measures to prevent further fighting after Wednesday's hour-long gunfight killed two Cambodians, wounded three others and wounded seven Thais.

The agreement came at a meeting of senior officers held in Thailand's Sisaket province, just across the border from Cambodia.

Thai army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkumnerd said the two sides agreed they would both maintain troops in the area, with "joint patrols to reduce tension and the chances of a misunderstanding which could lead to another clash."

Maj. Gen. Srey Doek, a Cambodian army commander, said the sides "have agreed to prevent further armed clashes" and will continue negotiations on the demarcation issues that led to the dispute.

The situation was calm but volatile, with soldiers on both sides facing off on territory near the landmark 11th-century Preah Vihear temple.

"We have been ordered by our commanders to be on alert and ready to fight," said a Cambodian soldier at the temple, Capt. Theam Thuy.

On the Cambodian side, Associated Press reporters saw dozens of additional Cambodian troops in armored personnel carriers on their way to the front line.

After Wednesday's fighting, thousands of Cambodian villagers living near the temple fled their homes, fearing more violence. Families packed rice, clothes and chickens into cars, pickup trucks and carts pulled by motorized plowing machines, forming long convoys heading away from the border zone.

The clash was the first deadly fighting since July, when the UNESCO approved Cambodia's bid to make Preah Vihear temple a U.N. World Heritage site. The decision ignited long-standing tensions between the neighbors, who both claim land around the temple, and prompted the two countries to rush troops to the border.

Many Thais feared their country's claim over nearby land would be undermined, and anti-government protesters pressed the Thai government to take a harder line on the border conflict. The protesters have riled their country's politics by seeking the ouster of the ruling party, occupying the grounds of the prime minister's offices for the past two months.

Thailand Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat told reporters Thursday that the dispute will be solved through negotiations.

"Though there was a clash yesterday, it was not a major one," he said.

Each side accused the other of firing first. Thailand's Foreign Ministry said Thai soldiers were peacefully patrolling their own territory along the border when Cambodian soldiers shot at them with rocket propelled grenades and submachine guns.

Cambodia's Foreign Ministry accused Thai troops of launching "heavy armed attacks" at three different locations to push back Cambodians from positions inside Cambodian territory.

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Associated Press Writers Jocelyn Gecker in Bangkok, Thailand, and Ker Munthit in Phnom Penh contributed to this report.