Wednesday July 09, 2008
ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT
Bangkok Post
Thailand should congratulate, not curse, Cambodia for its success in having the ancient Hindu temple of Preah Vihear inscribed as a new World Heritage landmark.
Thailand should now concentrate on restoring its standing and educate the world that the temple's settings, some of which are in Thai territory, also deserve the same preservation.
To achieve that difficult goal, the country needs to first make sure that there is no more fanning of nationalism by either the Democrat party or the People's Alliance for Democracy for the sake of personal political gain.
But the civic protest group and the opposition, and senators, should spare the Samak administration from punishment, especially Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama, for confusing the international community about Thailand's true position on Preah Vihear.
The national drama unfolded with the government supporting Cambodia's call that its new temple map, minus the disputed 4.6km border area, be used for the heritage listing. The government was forced to change its position after the Administrative Court issued an injunction against cabinet approval for the signing of the joint communique.
Thailand also felt Preah Vihear was inextricably linked to the surrounding cultural and natural landscape on Thai territory, and therefore a joint nomination should be made for the listing of the site.
That was the position the present Thai government should have taken and argued for from the very start.
The court's ruling made Mr Noppadon swallow his words and he backtracked on the issue by saying that the joint communique signed on June 18 should not be taken as a guarantee of Thailand's endorsement for Cambodia's latest bid for registration of the temple.
Thailand failed miserably in its efforts to convince Phnom Penh and the technical experts advising the World Heritage Committee in Quebec that the temple should not be listed until the two neighbours settle their border disputes.
If anyone is to be blamed for what has happened it is the Samak administration, for rushing to clinch the deal and support Cambodia's proposal.
Another lesson from the Preah Vihear case is that the government cannot afford not to take the advice of experts into account before agreeing to any future proposals, or we may find ourselves in another hopeless situation.
But this should not prevent the two neighbours from cooperating in exploring ways to enhance their mutual respect, friendship, and in the peaceful management of the ancient heritage site that has served local communities of both countries for centuries.
Thailand should now concentrate on restoring its standing and educate the world that the temple's settings, some of which are in Thai territory, also deserve the same preservation.
To achieve that difficult goal, the country needs to first make sure that there is no more fanning of nationalism by either the Democrat party or the People's Alliance for Democracy for the sake of personal political gain.
But the civic protest group and the opposition, and senators, should spare the Samak administration from punishment, especially Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama, for confusing the international community about Thailand's true position on Preah Vihear.
The national drama unfolded with the government supporting Cambodia's call that its new temple map, minus the disputed 4.6km border area, be used for the heritage listing. The government was forced to change its position after the Administrative Court issued an injunction against cabinet approval for the signing of the joint communique.
Thailand also felt Preah Vihear was inextricably linked to the surrounding cultural and natural landscape on Thai territory, and therefore a joint nomination should be made for the listing of the site.
That was the position the present Thai government should have taken and argued for from the very start.
The court's ruling made Mr Noppadon swallow his words and he backtracked on the issue by saying that the joint communique signed on June 18 should not be taken as a guarantee of Thailand's endorsement for Cambodia's latest bid for registration of the temple.
Thailand failed miserably in its efforts to convince Phnom Penh and the technical experts advising the World Heritage Committee in Quebec that the temple should not be listed until the two neighbours settle their border disputes.
If anyone is to be blamed for what has happened it is the Samak administration, for rushing to clinch the deal and support Cambodia's proposal.
Another lesson from the Preah Vihear case is that the government cannot afford not to take the advice of experts into account before agreeing to any future proposals, or we may find ourselves in another hopeless situation.
But this should not prevent the two neighbours from cooperating in exploring ways to enhance their mutual respect, friendship, and in the peaceful management of the ancient heritage site that has served local communities of both countries for centuries.
11 comments:
SIAM means:
Stupid ឆ្កួត
Inadvisable ល្ងង់ខ្លៅពិបាកកែ
Abject មហាថោកទាបជាងសត្វតិរច្ឆាន
Mad ឡប់សតិ
Thanks to His Majesty Soryavarman II who built Preah Vihear.
Thanks to His Majesty Sihanouk who won Preah Viheah.
Thanks to His majesty Sihamoni for visiting and embracing his people at Preah Vihea to show Siam tha Khmer Kings are all caring for Temples of ours.
Thanks to Mr. Sok An and the Royal Government for making the histiory Preah Vihea now rises up high for the world to see.
May the Kampuchea's curse be gone.
Now is Thailand's curse who look down on Cambodia and Khmers for so long. May they take Kampuchea's suffering place, and let us Khmers free from it
You want to curse us for what??? Is your curse for us for having our own temple back. Just go die in Nan Chao, Ah Siems Kapickkkkkkkk.
Thai going down.
They will internal problems soon according its astrologist predicted that political turmoils will begin.
Down the Stolen Thai!!
Khmer Dor Rong-Roeung!!!
don't worry cambodia, siem thugs' curse has no power as god see to it that they wanted to steal cambodia's belongings, thus god cannot allow that to happen to cambodia. thank you god, and may god always bless cambodia and all our beautiful khmer people.
the thai gov't need to calm their people down, not fuel them. it's not yours and will never be yours; so, stop dreaming already! thailand need to respect the 1904 - 1907 treaty, the icj verdict and now unesco. god bless cambodia.
may god punish thailand for what they and their siem thugs people did to cambodia.
Siam, you go to the deepest hell, you conscienceless animals.
damaged has already done to khmer; who cares what the siem thugs think anymore? in 1979, they force thousands of helpless khmer refugees down the preah vihear passageway, then they wanted to steal preah vihear from cambodia even after the icj verdict, then they continue to protest cambodia's listing of preah vihear for world heritage, etc..., let me ask siem a dumb question: how can khmer people and the whole world trust the clown siem thugs again? cambodia and the world has to be wary and skeptical when it comes to siem promise or whatever with cambodia or the world for that matter. this is what they are now well-known for in the world, unpredictable gov't and greedy siem thugs who can't seem to have enough of cambodia's belongings. i wish they all go to hell. karma! what goes around comes around! god bless cambodia.
don't be jealous, siem thugs. cambodia is not yours either.
UNEDUCATED
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