Makings of an absurd conflict [-Cambodia has brought in special Vietnamese and Chinese forces to Preah Vihear]

Tue, 5 Aug 2008
The Otago Daily Times (New Zealand)

Opinion

Eleanor Ainge Roy, in Cambodia, casts an eye over a one-sided election campaign and a border spat with neighbouring Thailand over an ancient Khmer temple.

The recent elections in Cambodia awarded a sweeping victory to the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has now been in power for 23 years.

The result came as a surprise to no-one as the party had dominated broadcast media coverage, and, according to Human Rights Watch, used means of "harassment, intimidation and coerced defections of opposition party members" to secure victory.

A key journalist critical of Mr Hun Sen's party was also killed three weeks ago, an act of political violence that sent shivers through the local media.

The CPP won 90 of a possible 123 assembly seats, but the major opposition party - The Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) - has accused the CPP of vote rigging, and says between 20,000 and one million of its supporters were disqualified from voting.

On Wednesday the SRP led a demonstration in Phnom Penh, and although many people turned out, the possibility of a re-election taking place is near impossible.

But the smooth and suspect win of the CPP has been overshadowed by the Preah Vihear Temple Dispute with Thailand, which has now dragged on for close to a month.

Preah Vihear is an ancient 11th century Hindu Temple which sits atop a cliff on the Dangreak Mountain Range on Cambodia's northern border with Thailand.

The Temple was declared Cambodian in 1962 by the World Court, who based their decision on a map drawn by the French in 1907, and Thailand has disputed the decision ever since.

The temple is important to the Khmer people as it is one of only a few examples of ancient Khmer architecture outside of the famed Angkor Wat Temple Complex in Siem Riep.

On July 8 the Preah Vihear Temple was awarded world heritage status, and Thai tempers flared, as opposition supporters accused the government of too easily relinquishing a Thai national treasure.

Both countries now have between 800-1500 troops each stationed on the border, which has been closed for two weeks.

The Cambodians insist they will not be the first to shoot, but that they will shoot back if Thailand is to shoot at them.

Cambodia has brought in special Vietnamese and Chinese forces and though 12-hour talks were held in Siem Riep this week, no agreement has been reached between the two neighbours, and the armed stand-off tediously continues.

The situation at Preah Vihear is absurd in many ways, and though it certainly has the potential to get serious, at the moment both sides have nothing to do but sit and wait.

Crack force soldiers spend their days in jungle fatigues on loose patrol - new AK-47s hanging from them like toys - or lying in their hammocks hoping to catch a breeze, playing cards with the locals.

On driving to the top of Preah Vihear temple on the Cambodian side your mobile phone twice welcomes you to Thailand, a modern technological quirk the Cambodians choose to ignore.

The temple ruins are vast and spectacular, situated high on a cliff top with 360 degree views over Thai and Cambodian lands.

Preah Vihear is an important site for military defence, and the idle Cambodian soldiers have now been put to work upgrading the road to transform it into an efficient supply line.

Although villagers initially fled for fear of fighting, they have begun to trickle back, and have found the presence of the military very profitable for business.

Tourists are returning as well - and although it is still seen as an adventure, a trip to Preah Vihear Temple is really no more than a pleasant day out.

Troops on both sides of the border are bored and keen to talk, and before the excessive razor wire was erected, they would share smokes and gossip good naturedly.

As one Cambodian soldier said to me, "I like Thais. They are very good and decent people. This is a problem for the big people - the politicians. We will just wait and do what they tell us."

But this politicians' dispute has been picked up by Cambodians made more nationalistic by the recent elections, and half a million dollars has been donated to the military specifically for the Preah Vihear squabble.

Thai shops and products have been boycotted in Phnom Penh and there has been fear for the Thai Embassy, which was torched in 2003 when an insignificant Thai soap star claimed the Angkor Wat Temples were Thai.

Young men and boys across the country have said they are willing to fight if they are called.

For the majority of Cambodians the issue is simple, and a good chance to demonstrate to the world their country's increasing strength and prosperity.

But the longer Thai and Cambodian troops sit on the border cleaning their guns and twiddling their thumbs, the greater the risk that an accidental shot is fired, and a ridiculous conflict begun.

Eleanor Ainge Roy is a journalist and a University of Otago politics and history student.