A Thai student takes part in an evacuation drill at Baan Phum Salon village near the Preah Vihear temple complex, 570 km (354 miles) northeast of Bangkok, July 23, 2008. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang
Thai demining officials renovate a bunker for villagers at Baan Phum Salon village near the Preah Vihear temple complex, 570 km (354 miles) northeast of Bangkok, July 23, 2008. REUTERS/Sukree SukplangWed Jul 23, 2008
By Sukree Sukplang
KHAO PRA VIHARN, Thailand (Reuters) - Thais living along the border with Cambodia began evacuation and weapon drills on Wednesday, fearing a land dispute might escalate into violence after talks failed this week.
In villages near the disputed Preah Vihear temple, where hundreds of Thai and Cambodian troops faced off for a ninth day on Wednesday, workers dug holes for new bomb shelters.
They also renovated old bunkers dating back to the 1980s, when stray shells often landed during fighting between Khmer Rouge guerrillas and Cambodian government troops.
"We have nowhere to move to and we don't want Cambodian infiltrators," 79-year-old guard Mee Kaewsanga told Reuters, cradling a five-year-old pump-action shotgun.
At the heart of the dispute is a 4.6 sq km (1.8 sq mile) area around the temple, which sits on a jungle-clad escarpment that forms a natural boundary and is claimed by both nations.
The build-up of troops and heavy artillery on both sides of the border has worried neighboring countries and the United Nations, which Cambodia has appealed to for help.
While there have been no major incidents at the temple so far, Thai border villages that are home to some 4,000 people are braced for the worst.
Authorities have begun arming volunteers with shotguns and training villagers how to defend against potential invaders.
"We hope there won't be any violence, but we can't be complacent," Prasert Aramsriworapong, an official in the border town of Kantaralak, told Reuters.
POLITICS TO BLAME
In Bangkok, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said he believed tensions would ease after Sunday's general election in Cambodia.
"After the elections, they will soften their stance and talks will be easier," the pugnacious Thai leader said in Bangkok.
"Everything has been done for the July 27 poll and I need to keep quiet so as not to discredit Prime Minister Hun Sen."
The temple dispute has whipped up nationalist fervor in Phnom Penh, where leaflets and mobile phone text messages appeared on Wednesday calling for a boycott of Thai goods.
Politicians have also denounced the "Thai invaders" at campaign rallies, reviving memories of the anger whipped up over historical claims to Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple in 2003, when a mob torched the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.
But analysts say Thai politics are probably more to blame for the dispute over the temple, which an international court awarded to Cambodia in 1962. The ruling still rankles with many Thais.
Preah Vihear's listing as a World Heritage site this month inspired pride and joy in Cambodia, but triggered political uproar in Thailand.
Bangkok's initial support for the heritage listing has been used by anti-government groups to stoke nationalist passions in Thailand and fuel street protests against Samak.
Groups opposed to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a 2006 coup, accuse Samak's government of selling Thailand's heritage to support Thaksin's business interests in Cambodia.
Phnom Penh and Thaksin denied the charge, but the controversy forced Thailand's foreign minister to resign this month.
(Writing by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Alex Richardson)
In villages near the disputed Preah Vihear temple, where hundreds of Thai and Cambodian troops faced off for a ninth day on Wednesday, workers dug holes for new bomb shelters.
They also renovated old bunkers dating back to the 1980s, when stray shells often landed during fighting between Khmer Rouge guerrillas and Cambodian government troops.
"We have nowhere to move to and we don't want Cambodian infiltrators," 79-year-old guard Mee Kaewsanga told Reuters, cradling a five-year-old pump-action shotgun.
At the heart of the dispute is a 4.6 sq km (1.8 sq mile) area around the temple, which sits on a jungle-clad escarpment that forms a natural boundary and is claimed by both nations.
The build-up of troops and heavy artillery on both sides of the border has worried neighboring countries and the United Nations, which Cambodia has appealed to for help.
While there have been no major incidents at the temple so far, Thai border villages that are home to some 4,000 people are braced for the worst.
Authorities have begun arming volunteers with shotguns and training villagers how to defend against potential invaders.
"We hope there won't be any violence, but we can't be complacent," Prasert Aramsriworapong, an official in the border town of Kantaralak, told Reuters.
POLITICS TO BLAME
In Bangkok, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said he believed tensions would ease after Sunday's general election in Cambodia.
"After the elections, they will soften their stance and talks will be easier," the pugnacious Thai leader said in Bangkok.
"Everything has been done for the July 27 poll and I need to keep quiet so as not to discredit Prime Minister Hun Sen."
The temple dispute has whipped up nationalist fervor in Phnom Penh, where leaflets and mobile phone text messages appeared on Wednesday calling for a boycott of Thai goods.
Politicians have also denounced the "Thai invaders" at campaign rallies, reviving memories of the anger whipped up over historical claims to Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple in 2003, when a mob torched the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.
But analysts say Thai politics are probably more to blame for the dispute over the temple, which an international court awarded to Cambodia in 1962. The ruling still rankles with many Thais.
Preah Vihear's listing as a World Heritage site this month inspired pride and joy in Cambodia, but triggered political uproar in Thailand.
Bangkok's initial support for the heritage listing has been used by anti-government groups to stoke nationalist passions in Thailand and fuel street protests against Samak.
Groups opposed to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a 2006 coup, accuse Samak's government of selling Thailand's heritage to support Thaksin's business interests in Cambodia.
Phnom Penh and Thaksin denied the charge, but the controversy forced Thailand's foreign minister to resign this month.
(Writing by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Alex Richardson)
12 comments:
Now, The war will be inevitable between Cambodia and thailande.
The scenario is the one of the war Iran-Iraq: war of position and trenches and of duration.
The superiority of weapons, the fire power and the superiority of the troops who make the difference.
It is necessary to note clearly that Cambodia cannot occupy the thailande.
The thailande cannot either occupy Cambodia.
The military strategy which is going to pay is the war of attrition, the psychological warfare, and political: we have to help all the thais which want the peace and the economic prosperity to knock down the thai monarch Bhumibol Adulyade and his clan the politicians’ corrupt and to install another thai’s political system and thai’s government.
It is one of long-term strategic objectives of this war: create an autonomous Muslim state in the South of the thailande by assistance and help of the Malaysia and the indonésie and of all the Muslims of the region.
Thaicong worries about Cambodia invaders and train their citizen with arms. But, Thai already invaded Cambodia. Cambodia never invades Thaicong or Vietcong. Only these two countries invade and occupy us.
Let the Thai muslims and Khmer Surin stand up along with Khmer mainland to fight the Thaicong and to leberate yourself from the evil Thaicong. Let them come and fight with us to see who is stronger than who.
Remember Ah Thai never fights the war before. We did too many years. We are not afraid to die.
LET'S BOYCOTT THE THAI PRODUCTS AND RESTAURANTS IN THE USA. DON'T GO TO ASIAN MARKETS AND BUY THAI PRODUCT. DON'T GO TO CELEBRATE AT THAI TEMPLE. ONLY A SMALL BUNCH OF STUPID KHMER LIVING IN DC AREA GO TO THAI TEMPLE. THEY WILL PROUD THEMSELVES TO JOIN THAI CELEBRATION IN NEW YEAR. THEY DON'T HAVE MORAL AT ALL. I NEVER SEE ANY IDIOT THAI COMING TO KHMER TEMPLE WHICH LOCATES ONLY 3 MILES FROM ONE ANOTHER.
cambodia can do the same for our people near their as well. god bless cambodia.
Stupid Khmers killed one another for years and made trouble to Thais. Now, again?
Hun Sen's soliers are scaring like dog seeing tigerwood. The Thais army are looking tuff standing face to face with the Khmer undis
cipline army, wearing flip flop,+ they are just about ready to run for their lieves. They scare their families have no foods, no money, no home to live. If the war break out with Thailand, they will loose like khmene running down the mountain.
Don't be too much presumptuous, you, Thai thieves.
Though your soldiers are very well equipped and cruel, you are unable for decades to handle the insurgency of the small group of PATRIOT MALAY or to WIN the 1986 war with SMALL LAO which made your country ASHAMED of YOUR PRETENDED GLORIOUS SOLDIERS ( MORE THAI KILLED THAN LAO).
May be you will win the battles, but you won't win the war. And for 1 skinny soldier khmer rouge killed, we swear to have your FAT SOLDIERS 10 and we will make you terribly suffer as the Malays have been doing to you.
REMEMBER THAT!
Don't be too much presumptuous, you, Thai thieves.
Though your soldiers are very well equipped and cruel, you are unable for decades to handle the insurgency of the small group of PATRIOT MALAY or to WIN the 1986 war with SMALL LAO which made your country ASHAMED of YOUR PRETENDED GLORIOUS SOLDIERS ( MORE THAI KILLED THAN LAO).
May be you will win the battles, but you won't win the war. And for 1 skinny soldier khmer rouge killed, we swear to have your FAT SOLDIERS 10 and we will make you terribly suffer as the Malays have been doing to you.
REMEMBER THAT!
12:49 Am...You stupid beautiful boys and monkey king of thailand started trouble first. We just reacted to it.
1:09 AM
Tiger Wood just anothr nigger from a cotton-picking community.
The Khmer Rouge will emerge and go after the Thai capital.
AH SIAM NEVER OWN THEIR OWN LAND (AH AT POUCH). THEY COME FROM NAN CHAO (CHINA). THEY STOLE THE LAND FROM KHMER, MALAY, LAO AND BIRMAN.
IT'S TIME FOR THE 4 COUNTRIES TO JOIN TOGETHER TO RECUPERATE OUR LAND AND EXPELL ALL THE THAI TO CHINA.
BROTHERS, STAND TOGETHER TO FIGHT THE THIEF SIAM!
Monarchy is not good in the thai country with the monkey king who has the face of trisomic. Why he does not open his mouth to calm down the situation? BECAUSE HE S NOT POWERFUL AS HE PRETENDS !!!!!!!
Thais are the little brothers of khmers, but unfortunatelym they were raised to hate their big brothers and not know the family history. All that because of fucking king who want to keep power and manipulate its people to preserve it. down monarchy, instaure REPUBLIC !!!!
Anyway, in case of war, as the khmer has more unity and uniform ethnicity more than thais, for sure, we will win against that country of katoeuy and whores.
The villagers have Khmers+Loa blood. They are Thai citizen who incredibly trilingual, Khmer, Loa, Thai. :)
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