July 17, 2008
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
For the past 46 years, the Thai authorities have never dared use Article 60 to ask the ICJ for clarification of the meaning or scope of its ruling. Such action may have caused further loss of territory, because in making its original decision, the court referred to a French-made map that swallowed up a large swathe of so-called "overlapping" area in Cambodia's favour. The whole mountain where the temple stands may now be under Cambodian sovereignty.There is a whiff of undesirable difficulty building up in relations between Thailand and Cambodia in the aftermath of the World Heritage listing for the controversial Preah Vihear temple.
It is arising from the obligations forced upon the Samak Sundaravej government and the Foreign Ministry by the ongoing People's Alliance for Democracy street protest, the stance of the opposition Democrat Party and the actions of some senators and nationalist academics.
Bruised nationalism is stimulating feelings of hatred between Thais and Cambodians. Anti-Cambodian sentiment is growing stronger as Thais - who consider themselves superior to their southeastern neighbours - feel they have lost face because Cambodia managed to have the Hindu temple listed as a World Heritage site.
The listing of anyplace as a World Heritage site is not a matter of gain or loss. But many Thais are convinced of loss, because they've been told repeatedly that the listing means Thailand has lost sovereignty over Preah Vihear. So, as Cambodia celebrated last week's World Heritage listing, many Thais felt bitter.
Legal misinterpretation by intellectuals has confused the powerful Thai sense of ownership. The entire world is aware that in 1962, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled Preah Vihear was "situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia".
As a member of the United Nations, Thailand had to accept the ruling and hand the temple over to Cambodia. In the decades since then, there has been no legal bid to reclaim the site. Some legal experts intentionally misinterpreted Article 60 of the ICJ's rules by saying it reserved the right to reclaim the temple.
In fact, the article merely says that "in the event of a dispute as to the meaning or scope of judgement", the court will construe such matters upon the request of any party.
Therefore, in the language of the law, de facto and de jure, the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia.
For the past 46 years, the Thai authorities have never dared use Article 60 to ask the ICJ for clarification of the meaning or scope of its ruling. Such action may have caused further loss of territory, because in making its original decision, the court referred to a French-made map that swallowed up a large swathe of so-called "overlapping" area in Cambodia's favour. The whole mountain where the temple stands may now be under Cambodian sovereignty.
Many Cambodians have been quoted in their local media as saying Thailand's unlimited greed would end up bringing the country shame. One Cambodia woman at the temple told The Phnom Penh Post she was increasingly worried that the dispute would turn ugly.
"We are concerned that the Thais have come here to create trouble," she said, referring to hundreds of Thai protesters who gathered near the temple a few weeks ago.
The group threatened to storm it. On Tuesday, three of their number carried out the threat and were arrested by Cambodian authorities and held for several hours. This kind of emotion will likely destroy the fundamentally good relations between the two countries in the short-term future if both sides allow feelings to get out of hand.
Then there is a technical problem. Former foreign minister Noppadon Pattama was forced to emphasise Thai concerns linking the heritage listing with sovereignty before the World Heritage Committee in Quebec, Canada. That stance could become a powerful argument for Cambodia to use in opposing Thailand's forthcoming application for World Heritage listing of the adjoining area downhill from the temple within two years.
The World Heritage Committee pointed out its regulations stipulate that the listing of any World Heritage site has nothing to do with sovereignty. However, the Thai team arguing against the listing insisted the committee recognise the domestic political sensitivity of the Preah Vihear site.
Phnom Penh may now be able to turn the tables on Bangkok, since Cambodia also claims sovereignty over territory containing many archaeological sites along the border, including the area downhill from Preah Vihear.
It is difficult to imagine what may happen in the future if Thailand is forced to cut "overlapping" areas off of the sites it proposes for listing. In fact, Thailand may ultimately be left with no sites along the border for which to apply for World Heritage listing.
38 comments:
Educate yourselves people of Cambodia.
The international court decision awarding Preah Vihear to Cambodia in 1962 was not unanimous. It rested largely on Thailand's failure to protest against the French-drawn border line in the decades before.
At the time it was mapped, a hundred years ago, Thailand had few skilled cartographers of its own.
The French colonial cartographers were supposed to draw the border along the forested edge of the Dangret Escarpment, but they veered in a few hundred metres to put the temple on the Cambodian side. It is not clear why the Thais did not object then.
But it is worth remembering that in 1941 Thailand fought its only war of the 20th Century with French colonial forces over where the border with Cambodia should lie. A huge monument in the centre of Bangkok still commemorates that conflict.
PVH used to be in Thai territory and we lost it because of the French. Khmers only benefited from the French when they were given back their sovereignty.
Who is the thief then?
Please khmer unified, sent the letter to UN's representative in Phnom Penh and all the embassies,close the border and kick out the Thai ambassador, and then RGC must complain to ASEAN, NATO and UN to help this problem as soon as possible!!!!!
We should deal with International Law and diplomatic But if no choice, we must fight to protect our land. If possible should delay the election date, hope all the politic party won't mind with our nation when our nation faces the biggest problem like this.
Hope the god bless Cambodia.
From Ramy Chungnam University, South Korea
Of course Thai is the theif! Thai school system teach too much hatred.
Dirty, dirty, dirty.....the siemese bastards are nothing but dirty, shameless A-holes.
From now on we should not respect them and should cut off all relationships with them. I hope they all burn in hell for their shameless acts aganist their neighbors.
Let all Khmers unite for the better of Cambodia.
Khmers are educated that is why we go by the icj otherwise we would want thai to return bangkok, surin, sisaket back to cambodia.
I really like the meaning of this article which says clearly that Preah Vihear and the so-called overlapping disputed area belongs to Cambodia totally.
Ah Siems are the most stupidest people on earth, especially their "intellectuals". Hhahah. Have you ever heard of a famous Siem intellectual before??? Hahhah. Yet, ah general Siem people continue be misled in the reality. Take for example, ah Siem arch Kri 12:28's comment. Hahha. This stupid f*cker said that Cambodia is a thief because she got Preah Vihear Temple from the French who got it from the Siems. Hahhah. Let me shine the light of the truth for this Nan Chao Siem bastard. Well azzhole, ah Siems arch kri like you got it originally from the Khmer people. So according to your logic, ah Siems like you are the THIEVES. hahha. Do you see how stupid these Siems can really be? Send these crazy Siems back to hell and Nan Chao Shitholes where they should be.
12:24 PM and 12:28 PM
You are the thief. You think we don't know history. We know our history it's you that have no history because you have no land. All of your land right now used to belong to the Khmer Empire, now the children of this Khmer Empire will claim it back. Are you nervous now? You want to take this region back in time, so be it....? you shameless Thais buffalos.
Please, please my people come back to bangkok we do not need to protest. Preah vihear was built by khmers, for khmers, and will alway belong to khmers. I am ashame to be a king at this time.
King Bumibol
12:24, the French can draw anything they like while they are in control of the region, but no one has to accept what they did when they are no longer in control of the region. Therefore, everything must be return to Khmer People in Issan Province, or else there can't be no peace.
ICJ acknowledged that the map made by the French was not right. But awarded Cambodia the PVH because Thais didn't protest about the map.
If you are educated, you should know that the PVH was stolen from Thais. But we respected ICJ enough to remain silent until now that Khmers has become more greedy wanting to claim the overlapping area as Khmers'
His Majesty King Chulalongkorn signed the border treaty with France in 1904-07. Therefore, it is the borderline between the two countries to this day.
Attention to 12:24 PM,
So according to your writing, it means that at the time of the agreement between the French and King Chulalongkorn, Thais were unskilled and stupid. So it means that your king, Chulalongkorn is a stupid king, right?
I am begin to be disgusted at these so-called brainwashed "Khmer Issan" poster. If you are a Khmer, then why do you continue to live under the subjugation of ah Nan Chao Siems shitface, fools??? Come back to the mother land and kick all ah Siems off Khmer territory, fools. Pler mech jess, ah stupid azzhole.
This is not good for Cambodia who seek investors. Who in their right mind will come to a place like this? I will go to Laos, Vietnam, or Burma instead.
Oh poor bastard Siam!!!!
Shame on You, on your leader, on your Stupid King!
Educate yourselves people of Thailand.
One Thai said: "The French colonial cartographers were supposed to draw the border along the forested edge of the Dangrek Escarpment, but they veered in a few hundred metres to put the temple on the Cambodian side. It is not clear why the Thais did not object then."
The French did this because they knew the temple was built by a Khmer king and for the Khmer people.
The border treaty was signed by King Chulalongkorn in 1907 and of course Siam was aware of the agreement. According to the agreed map, there is no overlapping areas. The ICJ ruled in 1962 that the temple and the surrounding areas were within the sovereignty of Cambodia.
Thais troops incursion into Cambodian soil is an act of Invasion will not be tolerated by the UN!
Khmer Issan were the slave of Khmer people in Cambodia and now they become the slave of Thai and Chinese
Preah Vihear and Surrounding area really belong to Cambodia. Don't be greedy anymore, We are Thai people. We should respect to the world court. Stop being stuping anymore our Thai people. Go back to learn the history better.
Ajarn History of Chulalongkorn Univeristy, Faculty of Art.
Those who understand and respect the international law can invest in Cambodia. Those who wishes to play and have number 1 time in bedroom go Thailand.
7-3 is a majority rule.
"But it is worth remembering that in 1941 Thailand fought its only war of the 20th Century with French colonial forces over where the border with Cambodia should lie. A huge monument in the centre of Bangkok still commemorates that conflict."
And in this war you rejected the 1907 and made a new map? It is noted that the decision in 1962 is post Franco-Siamese conflict of 42. Do your math. The language of the ICJ indicates Siamese made no protest to the the Cambodian sovereignty as as agree by the 1907 map. So your 42 is a senseless and worthless war that made seems no change to any status quo of Cambodian border treaty since 1907.
Educate my ass. Your superior complex attitude is a laughingstock. Especially today that we know almost 90 percent what you consider "Thai" today comes directly from Khmer culture.
And had yours and other foreign government not also have a helping hand in Cambodia's genocide our country today would prosper beyond you ever dream your country could be. It was known as the Jewel of Asia. It would still be had our 2 million people not vanished.
The killing field was a deliberate genocide of the Khmer race by killing the Khmer masters and intellect to the benefit of foreign nations and people. Today who benefits most from our losses? Khmer can see this for ourselves
If push comes to shove, then we have everyright to use diplomatic and physical force to evict the thais from khmer land.
thailand scholars and leaders know that preah vihear and the surrounding land belongs to cambodia; Only the weak government in bangkok is bowing under pressure from anti samak and thai fanatics to wage war.
Hun sen should send his personal bodyguards. They are better trained and better equiped. What is he afraid of, a coup detat.
Hey Supalak, you wrote this article is not high-eduated people. You have to recieve the fact not dream like that. Thais stole Khmer land and temple. Thais have to respect the ICJ. You are one country who have law and court why you still bad on this. Wake up guy. Don't be a over ambitous though on other property. The Nations news should be neutral on bias like that. When you try to be ignorance, the world know you clearer and clearer about your bad attitude.
I would like to ask our KING, Your majesty please take action about that to help our committed soldiers at the border.
I hate more and more Thais. I promise not use Thai products and never transit at there. I hate the Thai face.
I hope all Khmer people will reduce the use of Thai products and not to transit fly at BKK.
Schools of Cambodia teaches no hatred for any of our neighbors. Our feelings of hatred are not indoctrinated but are genuine from life experience and through war. We want to live in peace, but that will happen only if the ass holes in Bangkok and Hanoi would just stop treating us like shit, I thought you neighbors practice buddhism, then why the animosity? Hatred breeds hatred.
I already have cancelled my flight on thai airways ( their service sucks here in paris). Singapore airlines is so much more class.
No more thai products here in france.
In cambodia, absolutely not buying thai fruits or produce.
No money for thai , no money to pay for guns and soldiers.
I am not financing the the economy of a fanatic mad dog that call itself a civilised country.
We as individuals can do something.
fu...ck ur mom,dirty Khmer
get out from our land thailand now
.....PAD
fu...ck ur mom,dirty Siam
get out from our land Cambodia now
A Khmer
I cancelled my flight with thai airway too. Singapore airline all the way. Al.l khmers inside and outside of Cambodia please boycott all thai products
Ah 2:20, just shut the f*ck up, fool. When a Khmer person tells you shut the f*ck up, you listen, and behave you understand, you stupid Nan Chao homeless criminal. There is no such thing as "Thailand" fool, but there is such a shithole place called Nan Chao. Now go back to your hellish holes in Nan Chao, fool. In addition, stop claiming more of the Khmer territory, fool. You have stolen enough already. Starting from the 13th century with the Khmer provinces of Sukhothai and Lavo, and down to the 18th century. That is way too much stealing fool. Now stop or die and go to hell or something, azzhole Nan Chao Siem slave. hahhah.
Please start to throw the monkey over the cliff back to Cambodia now.
Ignore that idiot thai heckler folks.
Dont count on the Thai King to intervene.
He commandeered that coup detat against shinawatra.
He preferred to maintain that god like image the thais have of him rather than a progressive thai leader who by the way would never have sent soldiers.
What the hell, let them sort out their own shit.
A small border skirmish is better than losing an inch of khmer territory.
I say kick out the thai dogs.
in the old time, there's no clear cut which parts of land were belong to whom, so people use geographic reference, such as river, mountain, as the referent points to separate one nation from another.
in this case, thais used the watershed, as appeared in their map, as a reference for a very long time and inside this area lied the PVH temple. the french also acknowledged that.
however, after the thais and frech negotiation, the frech broke its promise not returning the area that was belong to thais by drawing a map beyond the watershed.
thais never accepted this map because thai people were staying there and fought there with the french.
however, in the international arena, because thais never voiced their protest about the french map, it caused them to lose the PVH temple to the cambodia.
this is because ICJ took the liberty of nelecting the existence of thai people over the PVH areas, but made decision based on the french map. that's why thai lost the PVH temple to cambodia.
however, the ICJ didn't judge which map is right between the one with the watershed as reference from thais and another one, the french map.
ICJ only awarded and made decision on the topic that PVH should be in posession of which countries.
and cambodia won the PVH temple because of the reasons i told you above.
thus, the dispute over which reference should be used as a border line between thai and cambodia still exists because both countries never agree upon this.
that's why the overlapping area exists even though in khmers' mind they don't feel that the land should be in disputed.
to claim that the land is belong to cambodia because khmer empire was so extensive is quite absurd at the present situation.
both countries need to sit together and find a mutual solution to prevent further misunderstanding about the disputed area. and only the governments of both countries can do so by the mean that they agree upon.
Thailand's act is that of an immature
monarchal dictatorship. One bent on using nationalistic fervor to promote violence.
Unless they withdraw, no political,cultural, non partisan explanations can excuse this type of behavior.
The international court of justice handed down a decision in 1962. If you disagree do it quickly. Yoou thais cannot wake uup 46 years later and use threat of force.
Tomorrow we wake up and send troops to annex bangkok because it was part of the khmer empire.
Sorry, use of force will be met with force. Animal thais only understand force. thats why they call thailand the land of the smiling ass. Deceitful dogs.
GET OUT OR WE WILL KICK YOU OUT.
ENOUGH TALKING ITS TIME FOR ACTION.
The wealth of contemporay Thailand was built by robing the UN, the countries that financed the war in Vietnam and Cambodia, and the the refugees from neighboring countries. Now that the cold war is over, they are turning to land thieves.
Cambodia should call for UN help this the way of the to solve the problem according to International Standard, we need the world to see the cunning action of the Siam and that they don't respect International law.
I am a Khmer living in Issan region and a Thai citizen. I do agree with those Khmers living Preah Vihear Province. I think Preah Vihear Temple belongs to people living in Preah Vihear province. No body else who does not live in Preah Vihear province has a rights on deciding the ownership of the temple. Keep in mind the Preah Vihear Province do exist. It is in northern region of Cambodia. But, Issan do not exist. Only the region does. But, mostly Loas people live there. We khmers are small numbers compare to others in the region. I hope this is clear to my brother who claims to be Khmer Issan in Issan province. You don't represent all the Khmers living here. So, stop using the name Issan.
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