Opinion by Khmerization
26th August, 2008
Thailand’s diplomatic games of hide-and-seek over the issues of Preah Vihear and Ta Moan temples is nothing short of dishonesty and should be a concern to all Khmer patriots. Equally, the soft, and sometimes lethargic, response of the Cambodian government to Thailand’s aggression and invasion is worrisome. And Cambodia’s agreements to allow 10 Thai soldiers to remain in the occupied territories is a diplomatic disaster and is tantamount to a de jure recognition of Thailand’s rightful claims to the “occupied territories“. It is also tantamount to surrendering the Khmer sovereignty and territorial integrity to Thailand.
I have said all along that Thailand wants to use bilateral talks, as opposed to the internationalisation of the issue, as a mean to buy more time and to prolong the occupation of the so-called “disputed territories”. With three fruitless negotiations so far, the military status quo remains unchanged and the occupation still continues unabated.
Cambodia must not be so naïve and must realise that Thailand was the aggressor and the invader. Any negotiations must include a demand for a total Thai withdrawal from the occupied territories. To agree to a partial withdrawal is tantamount to no withdrawal at all because the reality is that the areas are still occupied by Thai forces, whether with 1,000 troops or 10 soldiers is no different, as the areas remained under occupation. The current agreement for troop reduction, as opposed to total troop withdrawal, is a diplomatic victory for Thailand. In short, Thailand had achieved what they set out to achieve and that is to remain in the occupied territories and stake a territorial claim over the areas.
With Thailand engaging in active diplomatic manoeuvres in recent weeks, Cambodia should have woken up to the facts of Thailand’s real intentions already and that is to remain in the “occupied territories“ permanently and stake a legal claim over the areas. In the past few weeks, Thailand had invited journalists and foreign diplomatic corps to visit the “occupied territories” . The Thai PM, Mr. Samak, had planned to visit the areas. But most worrisome is Thailand’s actions of involving U.S President George W. Bush on the Preah Vihear disputes with Cambodia when it briefed him on the issues during Bush’s recent visit to Thailand. Thailand’s diplomatic drives, including involving the U.S president in the disputes, is nothing short of dishonesty. Thailand was vehemently opposed to Cambodia taking the issue to the international stage by saying that it is a bilateral issue that should be resolved through bilateral talks. And yet Thailand had actively and dishonestly engaged in a diplomatic coup to get an advantage edge over Cambodia.
Cambodia should wake up to the facts by now. With its active diplomatic manoeuvres in recent weeks, Thailand is sending a clear message to Cambodia that it is preparing for a long battle of diplomatic and legal war, or possibly a real battleground warfare with Cambodia over Preah Vihear. With the world focussing their attention on the Beijing Olympic Games and the war between Georgia and Russia raging in South Ossetia, the Cambodia-Thai military confrontations in Preah Vihear and Ta Moan temples is only a footnote to the world event and would not warrant their attention. That’s why I have said all along that Cambodia must bring the Preah Vihear issue to the world stage when it is still hot.
The talks in Hua Hin, in Thailand’s southern resort town, on the 18th of August will not yield any fruitful results for Cambodia. On the contrary, it will be another diplomatic victory for Thailand again, if Cambodia did not succeed in its demand for a total withdrawal by Thai troops from the Preah Vihear areas.
Cambodia should go to the negotiating table with clear set of goals. Cambodia must not be ambivalent on the Preah Vihear and Ta Moan temples. It must be unequivocally and consistently insisting on a total Thai withdrawal. Anything else, including border demarcations, should be off the agenda and should be discussed only after the Thai withdrawal had been verified as complete. If Cambodia did not have a clear set of agenda, then it surely will fall into Thailand’s trap of diplomatic games of hide-and-seek like in the previous three negotiations. If so, Cambodia had been hypnotised, duped and naively and unknowingly been deceived times and times again. I am very pessimistic about the Preah Vihear solutions because anything less than a total Thai withdrawal is unacceptable. And I do not hope to see a total Thai withdrawal in the foreseeable future.
26th August, 2008
“Thailand’s diplomatic drives, including involving the U.S president in the disputes, is nothing short of dishonesty. Thailand was vehemently opposed to Cambodia taking the issue to the international stage by saying that it is a bilateral issue that should be resolved through bilateral talks. And yet Thailand had actively and dishonestly engaged in a diplomatic coup to get an advantage edge over Cambodia.”
Thailand’s diplomatic games of hide-and-seek over the issues of Preah Vihear and Ta Moan temples is nothing short of dishonesty and should be a concern to all Khmer patriots. Equally, the soft, and sometimes lethargic, response of the Cambodian government to Thailand’s aggression and invasion is worrisome. And Cambodia’s agreements to allow 10 Thai soldiers to remain in the occupied territories is a diplomatic disaster and is tantamount to a de jure recognition of Thailand’s rightful claims to the “occupied territories“. It is also tantamount to surrendering the Khmer sovereignty and territorial integrity to Thailand.
I have said all along that Thailand wants to use bilateral talks, as opposed to the internationalisation of the issue, as a mean to buy more time and to prolong the occupation of the so-called “disputed territories”. With three fruitless negotiations so far, the military status quo remains unchanged and the occupation still continues unabated.
Cambodia must not be so naïve and must realise that Thailand was the aggressor and the invader. Any negotiations must include a demand for a total Thai withdrawal from the occupied territories. To agree to a partial withdrawal is tantamount to no withdrawal at all because the reality is that the areas are still occupied by Thai forces, whether with 1,000 troops or 10 soldiers is no different, as the areas remained under occupation. The current agreement for troop reduction, as opposed to total troop withdrawal, is a diplomatic victory for Thailand. In short, Thailand had achieved what they set out to achieve and that is to remain in the occupied territories and stake a territorial claim over the areas.
With Thailand engaging in active diplomatic manoeuvres in recent weeks, Cambodia should have woken up to the facts of Thailand’s real intentions already and that is to remain in the “occupied territories“ permanently and stake a legal claim over the areas. In the past few weeks, Thailand had invited journalists and foreign diplomatic corps to visit the “occupied territories” . The Thai PM, Mr. Samak, had planned to visit the areas. But most worrisome is Thailand’s actions of involving U.S President George W. Bush on the Preah Vihear disputes with Cambodia when it briefed him on the issues during Bush’s recent visit to Thailand. Thailand’s diplomatic drives, including involving the U.S president in the disputes, is nothing short of dishonesty. Thailand was vehemently opposed to Cambodia taking the issue to the international stage by saying that it is a bilateral issue that should be resolved through bilateral talks. And yet Thailand had actively and dishonestly engaged in a diplomatic coup to get an advantage edge over Cambodia.
Cambodia should wake up to the facts by now. With its active diplomatic manoeuvres in recent weeks, Thailand is sending a clear message to Cambodia that it is preparing for a long battle of diplomatic and legal war, or possibly a real battleground warfare with Cambodia over Preah Vihear. With the world focussing their attention on the Beijing Olympic Games and the war between Georgia and Russia raging in South Ossetia, the Cambodia-Thai military confrontations in Preah Vihear and Ta Moan temples is only a footnote to the world event and would not warrant their attention. That’s why I have said all along that Cambodia must bring the Preah Vihear issue to the world stage when it is still hot.
The talks in Hua Hin, in Thailand’s southern resort town, on the 18th of August will not yield any fruitful results for Cambodia. On the contrary, it will be another diplomatic victory for Thailand again, if Cambodia did not succeed in its demand for a total withdrawal by Thai troops from the Preah Vihear areas.
Cambodia should go to the negotiating table with clear set of goals. Cambodia must not be ambivalent on the Preah Vihear and Ta Moan temples. It must be unequivocally and consistently insisting on a total Thai withdrawal. Anything else, including border demarcations, should be off the agenda and should be discussed only after the Thai withdrawal had been verified as complete. If Cambodia did not have a clear set of agenda, then it surely will fall into Thailand’s trap of diplomatic games of hide-and-seek like in the previous three negotiations. If so, Cambodia had been hypnotised, duped and naively and unknowingly been deceived times and times again. I am very pessimistic about the Preah Vihear solutions because anything less than a total Thai withdrawal is unacceptable. And I do not hope to see a total Thai withdrawal in the foreseeable future.
11 comments:
Cambodia needs to grow stronger economically and then we'll solve this issue with Thai. Not only for Preah Vihear.
When Hun Sen and his family is out of the picture we'll take the siem to the international court.
Agreed with Khmerization.
Khmer Government's stand is too weak in reaction Thai invander.
Agreed with Khmerization too. Hun Sen's stance against Thai invasion too soft. I think we have to take Thai to international court now. If we wait till Hun Sen goes, it'll be another 5 or 10 or 15 years. That will be too late. Hun Sen doesn't care about Cambodia's borders, he only cares about his powers. We have to make him accountable for the loss of our territories to our neighbors, Thai and Viet.
The diplomatic ping-pong game is methodically and meticulously choreographed and orchestrated by ONE man, Hun Sen that is, and must be ceased immediately. Moreover, it's critically paramount that the Hun Sen's administration MUST unravel the surreptitious plan with the Thai to end the guessing game by both nations.
The former Thai Prime Minister Thasin has left Thailand; also, the territorial disputes have been ameliorated.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! THE PEOPLE OF BOTH COUNTRIES MUST ALLOW SEEING THE SURREPTITIOUS PLANE.
Khmer farmer
We have the ignorant Khmer leaders. And this is what we're going to get - the shity brain and the cowardice of the Khmer unqualified leaders using the pretext for the reason of "doing their utmost to avoid bloodshed" that includes the Khmer losing the national integrity and eventually the disputed area itself. We the Khmers are known to have been the cruelest, the stupidest and the weakest in the neighborhood. So strong so vicious only to the defenseless poor citizens. When it comes to the real enemies they hide their faces under the rugs with naked asses expose to all eyes. "I am proud to be born as Khmer", a slogan written on a sign posted near Preah Vihear. What a naked ass.
be strong to all cambodian people!!thailand now is so... fucking mess up. Thai got to many problem in southern with the islam and now they got problem with the cambodian. thailand right now is not like it use to be anymore everything is fucking up, in economy, tourist,farming industry, right now most thai people just want to move to a difference coutries. No fucking welcome for the thai in cambodia!!
This is the issue of the Thaicong invasion of Cambodia and why AH HUN XEN still remain quiet about it and continue to preach peace with the Thaicong? So what if AH HUN XEN have all the evident show that Khmer Phrea Vihear temple belong to Cambodia but the fact is the Thaicong still have their military on Cambodian soil which still violate Cambodian sovereignty!
It seems that AH HUN XEN is dying to be a man of peace! But the Thaicong never a fuck about AH HUN XEN, the man of peace because the Thaicong knew that AH HUN XEN do need them to make his million and million of dollar too!
It is all boil down to the following question!
Does a man is willing to fight to protect his possession or Does a man is willing to give up his possession and claim to be the peace maker?
Now when the fucken enemies come to burn down your house and what would you do? For me I would declare war on any mother fuckers who want to burn down my house and I will launch my B-40 rockets, spray my fucken bullets, and laid more land mines to protect my fucken house! Why do I choose to do the following because I am a man! And a man supposes to stand up and fight to protect what he has including his house, his family, and his nation!
NO MORE FUCKEN EXCUSE AND BE A REAL MAN!
This is the issue of the Thaicong invasion of Cambodia and why AH HUN XEN still remain quiet about it and continue to preach peace with the Thaicong? So what if AH HUN XEN have all the evident show that Khmer Phrea Vihear temple belong to Cambodia but the fact is the Thaicong still have their military on Cambodian soil which still violate Cambodian sovereignty!
It seems that AH HUN XEN is dying to be a man of peace! But the Thaicong never a fuck about AH HUN XEN, the man of peace because the Thaicong knew that AH HUN XEN do need them to make his million and million of dollar too!
It is all boil down to the following question!
Does a man is willing to fight to protect his possession or Does a man is willing to give up his possession and claim to be the peace maker?
Now when the fucken enemies come to burn down your house and what would you do? For me I would declare war on any mother fuckers who want to burn down my house and I will launch my B-40 rockets, spray my fucken bullets, and laid more land mines to protect my fucken house! Why do I choose to do the following because I am a man! And a man supposes to stand up and fight to protect what he has including his house, his family, and his nation!
NO MORE FUCKEN EXCUSE AND BE A REAL MAN!
Khmerization is correct. Khmer leaders, like Hun Sen, are so naive. They did not realize that Thai are playing a diplomatic with them. Three talks already and Thai troops are still on Cambodian soil. The talk on 18th August will be the same. After the talk, the Thai troops will still be on Cambodian soil. How so stupid are Khmer leaders. 20 soldiers on Cambodian is still the same as 2,000 because they still control the areas they have occupied.
Vietnam invaded Cambodia in December 1978, and in January 1979 installed in Phnom Penh a new communist regime friendly to Hanoi.
This invasion not only provoked a Chinese attack on Vietnam in February 1979 but also posed a threat to Thailand's security. Bangkok could no longer rely on Cambodia as a buffer against Vietnamese power. Bangkok was forced to assume the role of a frontline state against a resurgent communist Vietnam, which had 300,000 troops in Cambodia and Laos. The Thai government began increasing its defense capabilities. While visiting Washington in February 1979, Prime Minister Kriangsak asked for and received reassurances of military support from the United States. His government also launched a major diplomatic offensive to press for the withdrawal of all Vietnamese forces from Cambodia and for continued international recognition of Democratic Kampuchea under Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime. As part of that offensive, Kriangsak also journeyed to Moscow in March 1979--the first visit ever by a Thai prime minister--to explain the Thai position on the Cambodian question and to reassure the Soviets that Thailand's anti-Vietnamese position was neither anti-Soviet nor pro-Chinese. Such reassurances were believed to be necessary in view of Vietnamese accusations that Thailand collaborated with China and the United States in aiding and abetting the Khmer Rouge forces against the Heng Samrin regime.
The Thai offensive, backed by Bangkok's ASEAN partners, was rewarded in a United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolution adopted in November 1979. The resolution called for immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces from Cambodia, asked all nations to refrain from interfering in, or staging acts of aggression against, Cambodia, and called on the UN secretary general to explore the possibility of an international conference on Cambodia.
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