Thursday, July 03, 2008

Confusion over Preah Vihear Temple continues

Thu, July 3, 2008
The Nation

Confusion over Cambodia's bid to list Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage site continued on Thursday when Unesco in Bangkok said it referred to a wrong date in its letter to the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.

Sheldon Saeffer, director of Unesco (Bangkok), said his July 1 letter to the Senate committee should have made reference to the June 18 Thai Cabinet endorsement of Cambodia's bid to have the Hindu temple be listed as Unesco's World Heritage site.

"I would like to clarify on the matter of fact I wrote to the Chairman of the Senate's Foreign Affair Committee based on the information I have from Paris. The information of the date of the approval in the document was not quite accurate.

"I'm told and the final agreement was signed in both Phnom Penh and Bangkok on June 18. So an original agreement that I referred was a informal document but clearly pending cabinet approval in June."

Saeffer's letter pointed to the May 22 meeting in Paris when Noppadon "unofficially" endorsed Cambodia's bid.

On June 18, Noppadon's pledge became "official" when the Thai Cabinet endorsed the pledge made in Paris.

The move sparked an outcry from street protestors and the opposition who raised the issue during a censure debate in the Parliament.

The biggest set back came this past weekend when the Administrative Court issued an injunction to the Cabinet's endorsement. The government since then changed its stance in order to comply with the Court's order.

Noppadon summoned Saeffer to protest over the letter Saeffer replied to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whatever, but the bottom line is there is no Cabinet approval, and will not be, until the French in Cambodia agreed to a joint development.

Anonymous said...

We don't need the French. Cambodia can go alone.

Anonymous said...

hey, the world needs everyone, however preah vihear still belongs to cambodia, by the way. thus, it is only natural for cambodia to list it for world heritage site without thailand's interventiion in our internal affairs. this is where thailand can not win! god bless cambodia.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, but it's illegal for French people to register Khmer's Temple. Let Khmer-Issan do it instead. That way, it will be legitimate.

Anonymous said...

I do not think the guys who claim themselves Khmer-Issan are the real ones. May be they are thai who pretends to be Khmer-issan in order to fool you guys.

Anonymous said...

3:12 AM

What the fuck are you talking about?

Are you talking to yourself again???

Anonymous said...

Well, what didn't you understand, Frenchy?

Anonymous said...

3:12 AM...If you can speak and write khmer, maybe we reconsider. Can you? What language do you speak, if it not thai?

Anonymous said...

Off course we (Khmer in Issan) can speak and write Khmer. The problem is you can't because you are French, Yuon, Malay, Indian, or Korean who pretended to be Khmer.