Patience key to temple feud

Tuesday July 22, 2008
Bangkok Post

Truth be told, there is little expectation the high-level Thai-Cambodian talks will bring about a breakthrough to resolve the simmering border conflict around Preah Vihear, the 900-year-old Hindu temple recently listed as a World Heritage Site.

Still, both neighbouring countries must keep firmly in mind that continued discussion - even if it does not seem to produce stunning results at the moment while promising to drag on for a long time - is at present the best possible course of action and the only workable common ground which must be maintained at all costs.

The senior defence talks led by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Gen Tea Banh, and Thai Supreme Commander Gen Boonsrang Niempradit, is a step in the right direction. It is solid proof to the world that while both countries appreciate the concern of international bodies such as Asean, at this stage both Thailand and Cambodia are capable of bringing their contention to the negotiating table, not the battlefield. An international mediator, which Asean has proposed itself to be, might be necessary if the situation shows a tendency to deteriorate. At the present time, however, while bilateral negotiations are still ongoing, the offer for mediation is much appreciated but not yet imperative.

Yesterday's meeting, coordinated by the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee, was called after both countries sent their soldiers into the 4.6sqkm overlapping area claimed by both countries. The resulting military build-up and standoff has sent border tensions soaring. The delegations from both countries deserve a little leeway, by all means. Based on letters exchanged between Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Prime Minister Hun Sen, Phnom Penh and Bangkok remain adamant in their holding on to a different map showing a different borderline.

In his latest letter, Mr Hun Sen reaffirmed that according to the ''Annex I map'' drawn up by the French in 1908 and used by the International Court of Justice in its 1962 judgement, the temple of Preah Vihear is ''legally located approximately seven hundred metres inside Cambodian territory''. Bangkok, meanwhile, has consistently disputed that the border line as shown in the Annex I map does not conform to the true watershed line, usually held as the mark for demarcation. The 4.6-sqkm area to the west of the temple is where the two lines overlap, and where the dispute is focused.

Evidently the dispute itself is one of a stalemate in nature, with neither side likely to yield. This is without considering that domestic politics in each country - the elections in Cambodia scheduled for Sunday and the anti-government forces in Thailand bent on using the issue to rouse public support - have come into play and turned an already difficult negotiation into a politically sensitive one.

It will take some very creative initiatives by both sides to break this impasse. The process will take time, and patience is exactly what the general public in both countries must accord the negotiating parties.

One thing the Thai delegates should learn from past handling of the whole Preah Vihear issue, is that it is definitely better to share the information regarding the negotiations with the public. Monopolising such a controversial issue and keeping it secret would only raise suspicions, which could fuel a belligerent attitude that could in turn easily be abused to provoke violence. This is exactly what Thailand and Cambodia cannot afford.