By Nopporn Wong-Anan
KANTARALAK, Thailand (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Thursday a border row with Thailand was"worsening" and urged the immediate withdrawal of Thai troopsfrom a disputed ancient temple.
In a letter to Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, Hun Sen said the stand-off at the Preah Vihear temple was "very bad" for relations, but he still hoped to "resolve the problem through negotiations" at a border meeting on Monday.
"The situation is worsening due to a continuing increase in the numbers of Thai military" and the presence of Thai protesters, said Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander who faces a general election next week.
With hundreds of Thai and Cambodian troops facing off on the border, there are fears it could escalate five years aftera dispute over another Cambodian temple, Angkor Wat, saw a nationalist mob torch the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.
Cambodia's listing of the temple as a World Heritage sitetriggered a political uproar in Thailand stoked by groupsseeking to oust Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's shaky ruling coalition.
About 2,000 Thai nationalists were stopped from rallying atthe temple on Thursday, some clashing with Thai villagers angry at the loss of cross-border trade. Some protesters suffered minor injuries before riot police intervened.
"Go home, go home, you troublemakers!," one woman shoutedat members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), whichis leading a nearly 2-month old street campaign against Samak,whom they accuse of being a proxy for former prime ministerThaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
In Bangkok, Samak said the protesters were "insane" and he accused them of trying to provoke a border confrontation.
LONG-RUNNING DISPUTE
The 900-year-old temple has been a source of tension fordecades since the International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that it belonged to Cambodia, a ruling that still ranklesThais.
The latest flare-up was sparked by Bangkok's support for the UNESCO listing, which the PAD said was tantamount to selling out Thailand's heritage.
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama quit last week after a Thai court ruled the joint communique he signed backing Preah Vihear's listing was illegal because it was an international treaty that required parliament's approval.
The PAD seized on the court ruling, vowing to go after therest of Samak's cabinet and step up a street campaign that has worried investors. The main stock index has dropped 23 percent since the protests began on May 25.
"Political temperatures will rise inexorably, and Thailand will become increasingly ungovernable, in the interim,"Chulalongkorn University professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak wrote.
Thailand and Cambodia have deployed hundreds of troops since Tuesday when three Thai activists were briefly detained on the Cambodian side for trying to plant a Thai flag there.
Despite the aggressive rhetoric from both sides, the situation at the temple has remained calm while diplomaticefforts get underway.
Defence ministers from the two countries will attend aborder meeting on Monday "so that both sides can discuss issuestogether in a spirit of neighbourliness", the Thai ForeignMinistry said.
(Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by David Fogarty)
In a letter to Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, Hun Sen said the stand-off at the Preah Vihear temple was "very bad" for relations, but he still hoped to "resolve the problem through negotiations" at a border meeting on Monday.
"The situation is worsening due to a continuing increase in the numbers of Thai military" and the presence of Thai protesters, said Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander who faces a general election next week.
With hundreds of Thai and Cambodian troops facing off on the border, there are fears it could escalate five years aftera dispute over another Cambodian temple, Angkor Wat, saw a nationalist mob torch the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.
Cambodia's listing of the temple as a World Heritage sitetriggered a political uproar in Thailand stoked by groupsseeking to oust Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's shaky ruling coalition.
About 2,000 Thai nationalists were stopped from rallying atthe temple on Thursday, some clashing with Thai villagers angry at the loss of cross-border trade. Some protesters suffered minor injuries before riot police intervened.
"Go home, go home, you troublemakers!," one woman shoutedat members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), whichis leading a nearly 2-month old street campaign against Samak,whom they accuse of being a proxy for former prime ministerThaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
In Bangkok, Samak said the protesters were "insane" and he accused them of trying to provoke a border confrontation.
LONG-RUNNING DISPUTE
The 900-year-old temple has been a source of tension fordecades since the International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that it belonged to Cambodia, a ruling that still ranklesThais.
The latest flare-up was sparked by Bangkok's support for the UNESCO listing, which the PAD said was tantamount to selling out Thailand's heritage.
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama quit last week after a Thai court ruled the joint communique he signed backing Preah Vihear's listing was illegal because it was an international treaty that required parliament's approval.
The PAD seized on the court ruling, vowing to go after therest of Samak's cabinet and step up a street campaign that has worried investors. The main stock index has dropped 23 percent since the protests began on May 25.
"Political temperatures will rise inexorably, and Thailand will become increasingly ungovernable, in the interim,"Chulalongkorn University professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak wrote.
Thailand and Cambodia have deployed hundreds of troops since Tuesday when three Thai activists were briefly detained on the Cambodian side for trying to plant a Thai flag there.
Despite the aggressive rhetoric from both sides, the situation at the temple has remained calm while diplomaticefforts get underway.
Defence ministers from the two countries will attend aborder meeting on Monday "so that both sides can discuss issuestogether in a spirit of neighbourliness", the Thai ForeignMinistry said.
(Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by David Fogarty)
7 comments:
AH HUN SEN thug is the most hypocrite animal on the planet Earth! Here AH HUN SEN the animal is willing to negotiate with the Thaicong aggressor but for ordinary Cambodian people, Cambodian opposition, and Cambodian monks and he is willing to kill them in a heart beat without any negotiation to show that he is the strongman of Cambodia!
AH HUN SEN glory day is over! If the Thaicong dare fire a single shot and it will be the present from God above and AH HUN SEN can no longer protect his power! Cambodia desperately need a new war to remove AH HUN SEN regime! And it will be the same way how the Vietcong remove POL POT regime!
Cambodia need chaos and out of chaos there will be ordered but this time Cambodia won't have AH HUN SEN to order them around!
Do you want to bet. He is smarter than you think that is why he is in power almost 30 years. Although I don't like him but I think your reaction to khmer PM just like PAD people did to their current government. Calm down think about nation not a person who you hate. So far he making right moves.
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.
You blind idiot (1:21), there were no Preah Vihear Province in Cambodia before the French arrived in Cambodia and stole the temple from the Khmer People living in Issan Province.
Furthermore, practically everyone in Thailand is Khmer, and that (over 20 millions) is not small numbers, motherfuckers, in comparison to less than 1,000 monkeys living in the vicinity of the temple, or the 14 millions in the entire Cambodia, just do the math.
Pederastic Action for Dispute (PAD)shows their real girlish action now. Cambodians have to wake up and scare them away, or else I am afraid this behavior is more unthinkably stink. What an exceeding human behavior of today! Linking political issues in its own nation to territorial dispute, this politics of fear does not last long, your pederasts!
2:07 AM....My dear brother...All you know is to swear at people. What kind of family back ground you have. I am Khmer living in Issan region (north-eastern thailand). I went to university and I am sure that practically NOT EVERYONE in Thailand is Khmer. You stupid. Only about 20% is. Thais have the majority. But, 90% of these 20% does not even know how the speak or write Khmer. You and me are two of them. We are more thai than Khmers. Thailand has over 62 or more million. People living is Issan region is about, you are right, 20 million. But, most of them are Loas. Check here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isan
Not all these 20 million live near the temple. They live everywhere in the region. Go and check our country Thailand's map and see you can find Issan Province. It does not exist. Don't be stupid. Remember there was not Issan region until the French came. They and the Siams created this region for frontier between them. If you can do the math, you should be a bit more realistic. You have some Khmers blood in your and so do people living in Preah Vihear, Cambodia, or anywhere including those living near the temple. So, you should not have called fellow human beings monkeys. These 1000 people living near the temple that you said have more right to claim the temple before anyone else including you and me because we don't live there. Think before you speak. By the way, you and I should learn Khmer, our native language. Then, come again and chat in Khmer. Don't you think it is the right way to do it if we have to have share of the temple?
I think Khmer Isan dude is living abroad. His parents pretended to be Khmer refugees in the late 70s and early 80s and got to a third country. That is why does not know anything about my country Thailand. Please forgive this stupid dude. He is really uneducated. He could not even point out Cambodia and Thailand maps. He does not represent thai's policy. He is a one stupid show.
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