Sunday, July 06, 2008

ICOMOS opposed to listing of Preah Vihear

July 6, 2008
The Nation

The International Councils on Monuments and Sites is opposed to Cambodia's application to register Preah Vihear ruins as a world heritage site, the chief of Thailand's World Heritage Committee has said.

Pongpol Adireksarn, who was attending the 32nd Session of the World Heritage Committee in Quebec from July 2 to 10, said the ICOMOS disagreed with the listing of Preah Vihear because the application did not meet basic requirements for the listing.

He said the fact that Cambodia sought to register the temple without its surrounding landscape became a main reason that prompted ICOMOS to be opposed to the listing.

Pongpol said ICOMOS expressed opposition to the registration of Preah Vihear as a world heritage site on the first meeting day.

According to Pongpol, normally an application for a world heritage site needed to meet 6 basic requirements but Cambodia asked ICOMOS to consider only 3 requirements.

Still, Cambodia met only one of the three requirements, Pongpol said.

He said ICOMOS endorsed the evidence of creativity thinking for the listing but ICOMOS saw that Cambodia failed to meet two other requirements because it failed to include parts of the ruins on Thai soils in the application.

"I see that ICOMOS' decision reduced bargaining power of Cambodia. And this supports Thailand's stand that the site must be jointly registered," Pongpol said.

"ICOMOS is a professional organisation and expressed its opinions based on reasons."

He said ICOMOS saw that without landscape registering, Preah Vihear Temple would lack its outstanding identity.

Pongpol said Preah Vihear application would be the last one to be considered by the World Heritage Committee on the second meeting day.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Keep going on guys we will get the temple listed.

Anonymous said...

"professional organisation" organization don't weigh much in the UNESCO balance.

Anonymous said...

Tuesday July 01, 2008

Bangkok Post PostBag

PAD fooling the people
I cannot believe the lunatics at the PAD have actually got the Thai people and the Puea Pandin party fooled over the Preah Vihear temple.

"The line was drawn by the French in 1904, the International Court of Justice ruled on it in 1962, and the new line agreed by the Thai and Cambodian government actually brings more land into Thailand than the old map".

(LOOK, DEAR COMPATRIOTS! hOW THE TRAITOR YUON XEN SOLD OUR 4.6 SQUARE KILOMETRES TO AH BANDIT SIAM AT TRAKOL AS HE USUALYY SELLS OUR TERRITORY TO YUON).

Remove him for the next election by voting for SAMRAINSYPARTY.


If the Cambodian government is happy to concede some land to the Thais while retaining the temple that is, and has always been, on Cambodian soil, then it is a win for the Thai government.

This is just another example of the PAD stirring up issues trying to validate its existence. The fact that Puea Pandin party has weighed into it is disappointing; you would expect them to know better.

As for the Democrats, I hope they find the same demise the Australian Democrats recently have. Throwing stones at the government is good fun, but if you are never going to get a chance to run the country then it's a choice you can make without fear of having to prove you can do a better job.

The last Australian Democrats were voted out in November from the Senate and, as of July 1, the Democrats will be dead in Australia. Hopefully, the Thai Democrats will become history in the near future.

SHANNON CRANE
Gold Coast, Australia
---------------------
Nationalist bombast a little too late

I don't know what possesses the Thais lately who have started reclaiming the Cambodian Preah Vihear temple, 46 years after an international tribunal awarded it to Cambodia.

Anyone with more than a bird's brain will surely understand that this temple is clearly Cambodian (ever visited the site and compared it to Angkor?) and realise it is rather late to fire up their nationalistic bombast in order to get back the temple, as a spoilt brat would do.

By the way, the disputed 4.6 square kilometres around the site represents less then 0.01% of Thailand's territory.

As if common sense weren't enough to let the issue drop, just imagine the damage this whole issue could do to the relationship with Cambodia and the backlash from the international community, where Thailand already commands very little respect.

Wake up and don't politicise the issue to topple the government. The current administration hasn't done a lot lately, but their handling of the temple issue should probably be the least of the Thai people's worries.

JAMES GREEN
------------------------------------
http://www.samrainsyparty.org

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Anonymous said...

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

A message from Justin C. Sok:

Please Support the SRP National General Election Fund Drive
July 01, 2008

Dear Friends,
The three terms office that Mr. Hun Sen has been in power have given us the bird’s eye view of the pattern of political activities in the Hun Sen Government. He and his government officials have been continuously silencing the dissident voices of our Cambodian people and their fundamental rights to freedom of expression, press, assembly, association, and religions are being violated and suppressed. The gap between the rich and poor is wider. The social issues such as land grabbing, illegal evictions, illegal logging, lack of health care and treatment, unemployment, inflation, and poverty are unresolved. On May 29, 2008, we learned that a man’s wife had to sell two of their 7 children to bail her husband out from [police] jail. While the Senate had shoveled off the corruption law proposals and buried them under their desks, the corruption activities are being fully conducted by government officials. Irrefutably, there has been no sign of any intervention from Samdach Akkak Moha Sena Bat Dey Dek Cho Hun Sen.

The political campaign for the fourth National General Election has begun and so did the illegal political maneuvering made by the Hun Sen government: vote buying, threats made against innocent citizens, political activists, and journalists. The elected officials from the opposition parties are being intimidated, extorted, ransomed, and blackmailed, and others have been threatened by lawsuits and jail. On June 28, 2008, while Deputy Secretary General, Mu Sochau and her SRP supporters were actively campaigning in Kampot province, the CPP Deputy Village Chief rode his motorcycle at full speed toward her in an attempt to run her over.

To our Khmer compatriots, when you consider the threat we face from the Hun Sen government who are hoping to not only use any means possible to strengthen their grip on power but also flooded our country with the illegal Vietnamese immigrants and has allowed the neighboring countries to encroach into our land and draw a new borders, this is clearly one of the most important elections of our lifetime. Each and every one of us, as a Khmer people, has a moral and ethical responsibility to contribute what is in the best interest for our Khmer people and Khmer nation.

The Sam Rainsy Party is appealing to our compatriots that are living abroad for help. The SRP is conducting its National General Election Fund Drive, and your participation is urgently needed more than ever. Over the next several days, many of your friends and neighbors in your area will be asking you to make contribution to SRP. Your donations will help support the SRP candidates to save the Cambodian people and the Khmer nation from the totalitarian CPP government in this rapidly approaching election. Mr. Sam Rainsy, if elected as Prime Minister, would vow to defend our Khmer people and Khmer nation, and would offer our Khmer people a vision of change, which means opportunity and hope. Therefore, your support today is urgently needed if our SRP candidates have any hope of winning. Remember, if Mr. Hun Sen gets reelected to the Prime Minister for another term, it would truly be a disaster for Cambodia. So, please use the website provided to send in your contribution as soon as possible. Thank you and May Lord Buddha Blesses us, Blesses Khmer nation. http://www.samrainsyparty.org

Sincerely,

Justin C. Sok, Volunteer

UNITED WE SURVIVE, DIVIDED WE DIE

SRP Daily Radio Program
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srpcabinet@online.com.kh

Financially support Sam Rainsy Party = fight for the survival of our beloved country
VOTE FOR THE TRAITOR HUN XEN = SUPPORT THE IMPERIALIST YUON, SIAM TO SWALLOW and ENCROACH OUR COUNTRY = SOON WE WILL BE KAMPUCHEA KROM AND CHAM = WE WILL BE YUON SLAVE

Anonymous said...

16 years after the Paris Peace Agreements:



Cambodia is becoming more and more Vietnamized



In 2007, almost every week, the number of “friendship” visits between Hanoi and Phnom Penh by communist Vietnamese leaders has multiplied, along with the signing of “cooperation” agreements in all fields, such as political, judicial, parliamentarian, military, administrative, economic, technology, cultural religious, etc… with their Cambodian counterparts. For the Cambodian leaders, these are obviously a systematic cooperation-alignment of their parties, of the national institutions at all levels, and of all the activities in Cambodia with those in Vietnam. That is how a communist Vietnam came to teach to a liberal Cambodia, for example, on how to create laws, how to organize internal elections, how to manage its economy, how to broadcast information, how to develop its literature, how to supervise the youth, and how to rule religious practice of Cambodians. Any opposition to this domination by Hanoi is punishable by jail sentence, or by kidnapping “sentence” and deportation to Vietnam by the secret police, such as the case of the alleged crime against “the Cambodia-Vietnam” friendship accused on Venerable Tim Sakhorn.

At the same time, after some 5 million Vietnamese people are counted in Cambodia between 1979 and 2003, the wild colonization of Cambodia by Vietnamese “immigrants” is being pursued unabated throughout Cambodia, thanks to the illegal agreements dated from the 80s, and thanks to the protection of Associations of Vietnamese people already established in Cambodia. Currently, Vietnamese people form the majority in Cambodia eastern provinces, such as Svay Rieng and Prey Veng, and with the so-called “common economic zones,” the Vietnamese in fact control the economy and the administration in these two provinces. Higher north, our provinces of Kampong Cham, Kratie, Mondulkiri, Ratanakiri and Stung Treng are again under the domination of Vietnamese troops, militias, workers and their families, again thanks to the “economic cooperation,” with huge land concessions – and national sovereignty – lasting 70 years of more, granted by the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) directly to the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). Similar concessions were also granted in the provinces of Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear.

At the end, nobody talk or dare talk about the forced annexations by Hanoi of the Koh Tral and Krachak Ses Islands in 1982, as well as a large swath of Cambodia maritime territories. The so-called “historical waters and common waters between Vietnam and Cambodia” are totally under Vietnam’s law and boot. Furthermore, the Vietnamese forces arrogate itself the right to control the entire maritime space located in front of Cambodia’s costs in the province of Kampot: the weak vessels of Cambodian fishermen who are found there, risk being sunk by Vietnamese patrol boats, or they risk being arrested by the Vietnamese guns, and even last month, Cambodian fishermen from Kampot who were protesting the incursions of Vietnamese fishermen in Cambodian waters, were taken and severely beaten by the Vietnamese maritime police from Koh Tral island, before they were later released.

Therefore, the Vietnamization of Cambodia inexorably moves forward in great strides. Those among the Cambodians and foreigners who concluded and promised to respect scrupulously, the October 23, 1991 Paris Peace Agreements on Cambodia, in order to restore the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and inviolability of Cambodia against all external aggressions and interference – from Vietnam, in particular, which occupied Cambodia militarily – shamefully remain silent. Some even found “normal” this unremitting invasion of the “weak” Cambodia by the “powerful” Vietnam.

In reality, the Paris Agreements were not elaborated or adopted by the governments uniquely, but they were adopted for the Right and the Action of the citizens who can find in them their landmarks and their inseparable guaranties.

Cambodian citizens must continue to protest, they must support the legitimate protests by the victims, they must demonstrate against the Cambodian Government and its accomplices. Cambodian citizens must protest against the Superpower and Powerful governments which maintain the corruption and the dictatorship of Mr. Hun Sen and his CPP. Cambodian citizens must, at the very least, write to these governments, even personally, to alert them and to ask them to honor their engagements for a fair application of the Paris Agreements which they also signed. Cambodian citizens must tell these governments that their support to this regime must come to an end, if they sincerely want peace for Cambodia and the wellbeing for its citizens.

The Cambodian citizens must react, and they should not expect anything from those who betrayed them and abandoned them, if they want their Nation to still survive.

Paris, October 23, 2007
The Cambodia’s Border Committee
in France and Worldwide

(Singed) Dy Kareth,
Vice-President
Labels: 16th Anniversary, 1991 Paris Peace Accords, CFC, Vietnamese influence, Vietnamese interference, Vietnamization of Cambodia

Anonymous said...

Date: 09/30/2007

A P P E A L*

Beloved Compatriots/Fellow Teammates of SRP,

After 60 years of long and perilous journey, the Khmer nation has arrived to
witness a moment of 'true democracy' -- courtesy of SRP 2007 congress.
This vibrant moment is a giant step of the Khmers on their march toward an
effective democracy and should be crafted in the history book as a
demonstration of courage and a determination to be free for the fact that it
happened in the midst of political turbulences and influence imposed by our
'special friend' to the East.

It is a proud moment for SRP family, all Khmer citizens, and all
democracy-loving people in the world. If there is any dissention or
anything that, during and after the conclusion of the congress, can be
looked upon as counterproductive, it is nothing more than a showcase of
democracy in the making. After all, when freedom of expressions is, for
better or for worse, allowed to be freely exercised in flying colors, it is
democracy -- a golden key to modernization of the Khmer nation.

General public should appreciate the fact that the congress has also served
as a platform for testing Khmer political water. In this critical day and
age where little margins can be left for error, it is imperative that any
Khmer citizen would and should not have an ill-will to take advantage of
this moment to downplay or diminish in any way the resolve of SRP and its
livelihood to do the right things to serve and protect the Khmer people and
to reclaim Khmer right and legitimacy.

Realities dictate that the Khmer nation cannot, for whatever reason, afford
to remain divided as SRP members cannot, for whatever motives, afford to
provoke any separation in the SRP family. Unity is the mother of a nation.
This should be enough compelling for the leaders of all ranks to look at
each other eye to eye and, together, rid all evils from the national
territory. They must, at least, make this spirit of national unity a
lifelong contract with the nation. Adlai Stevenson once ventured: "
....patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the
tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." We all owe that to our
motherland.

Arguably, patriotism has never seemed to be a question for the Khmers.
However and more than often, personal egos go too far and too deeply into
their minds to the point that they become a disruptive force of grand scale,
capable of inflicting permanent damages to the nation. A truth is that the
'Khmer civilization' could never have reached the historical status of
worldwide recognition without the luxury of many sustained centuries of
unity and stability enjoyed by the Khmer people. A better perspective of
how disunity has done to the Khmers is to direct the spotlight on Laos'
present political life, think and see through the mind of Kampuchea Krom
Khmers, and look closely at what has happened to the 'Middle Kingdom,' last
chunk of the once-dominant empire in Southeast Asia. Having done that, one
only need to find good valid reasons to reject the notion of how critical
and immensely important the 2008 general election is for the Khmers to be
Khmers, sovereign, independent, and free.

We are living in an era and at another crossroad where no past mistakes are
allowed to be repeated and no seeds of old obsolete political culture should
be nurtured or salvaged. "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over
and expecting a different result," said Albert Einstein.

The steady rise of SRP from the tears and cries of the Khmer people and
through the flying gun bullets and threats of all shapes and forms, bloody
at times, speaks volume about the party's togetherness, persistence,
resilience, and boldness. We have traveled a very long road and our mission
is far from being completed.

Let us not lose focus on the course and direction we have set.

Let us not point fingers at each other.

Let us be the menders, not the splitters.

Let us manage and endure the growing pains and make this conviction a
measure of our inner strength and maturity.

Let us adopt a code of conduct of "seeing no enemy when looking at a Khmer
or an individual of Khmer origin."


* This article is written :

by Limhuot Nong, Ph.D in Florida , USA . He is advisor for
SRP-USA/Canada
He can be reached at his email address: limhuotn@cox.net

Anonymous said...

It's illegal to register stolen Khmer temple without their permission.

Anonymous said...

12:49 PM

From the mouth of a thief it does not weigh much.

Are you Khmer Hassan?

LOL

Anonymous said...

That's right, and you ain't keeping no Khmer's temple and land, Ah Hypocrite.

Anonymous said...

to 11:52pm

whoever you are "Thai-Chin" you do not represent Khmer. You are just a Nan Chao slave...ma dood khouy goo si!

Anonymous said...

So as Ah Fake Karmen, They are nothing more than French's, Korean's, Malaysian's,..., and Yuon's slave.

Anonymous said...

be wary, cambodia, it came out of thailand's official's mouth,not unesco. plus, i'm sure icj will think differently when cambodia have to consult the court again.

what bothers me the most was thailand kept saying a joint registration of preah vihear. this wishful thinking alone is enough for cambodia to say no, not in this life time or any other life time as cambodia feels that we have the saying as to whom we choose to do business with, and for thailand to meddle with this rights of cambodia goes to show thailand is obviously violate cambodia's sovereignty. again, this is a contempt of court (the icj that is, not the thai court) to say the least. thus, unesco should enforce this icj verdict, otherwise, unesco is not doing their job right by allowing thailand to violate the icj ruling. god bless cambodia.

Anonymous said...

Cambodia doesn't have any decision in the temple that is stolen from Khmer people in Issan.

Anonymous said...

Ah 5:15, the Khmer Issan people do not control the temple, ah pler. It is rather ah Nan Chao Siems instead, ah pler. Ah Nan Chao Siems control you Khmer Issan, ah pler!!!! Regain your independence NOW ah pler and rejoin Mother Cambodia. Don't you know that the Khmer ancestors started from Cambodia, ah pler.

Anonymous said...

How can they control anything, when you immoral people stole everything from them, huh?

Anonymous said...

12:49PM....

Only the Thailand and Cambodia are involved in the listing of the temple. Either Thailand wins or Cambodia wins. You see, whatever happens you khmer issan stuffs will not be able to own it. Would you rather wants the tai to win or the khmers to win. All khmers should own the temple, you think? Isn't it fair?

Anonymous said...

6:24 AM

You should go cry in your room, that will do you some good!

Anonymous said...

No, the on who will be weeping will be you as usual.

Anonymous said...

6:57, we just want our temple back. It is none of your business what we do with our temple. It's ours, just like our house, car, and boat, and we can sell it to China if we wanted to.

Anonymous said...

I just don't get ah lop so-called this one "Khmer" Issan shit. He would rather have ah Nan Chao Siem controlling the Khmer ruins, instead of Khmer people themselves???? Ah Pler, there is no official name as Khmer Issan ah lop. Ah Nan Chao Siem already subjugate for many generations already, ah pler. In addition, the issan region is now heavily populated by ah Liev people already, ah lop. So it is best that the Independent Khmer people retain control of the Khmer ruins instead of ah nan chao Siem foreigners, ah pler. What don't you understand ah pler. you are not free or independent, ah pler. The Khmer ancestors started out from the sea and moved inwards to escape from ah Javanese powerful navy and domination, ah pler. Lop mech jess, ah kanjeas ah Nan chao Siem. Yoo yoo pler tuv roke reung Khmer knear eng tuv vinh, kone ah truv krop baek. If you want to squabble go attack ah nan chao siems, ah pler.