Eath Daravuth & Sam Campbell
The Mekong Times
Exasperated Cambodians led by the Kingdom’s largest union are to march down the capital’s thoroughfares Sunday to demand that Thailand halt its “invasion” of Cambodian territory and withdraw troops immediately, union officials said yesterday.
The Cambodia Union Federation (CUF), comprised of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTU) and the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA), notified Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Kep Chuktema that it will lead 300 people from the former National Assembly down Norodom and Monivong Boulevards before disbursing at the Independence Monument, the CUF said.
Slogans urging Thailand to stop its “invasion” and pull its troops out of Cambodia will apparently be prominent, alongside patriotic messages of unity.
Cambodia has reiterated that Thailand must withdraw from areas it has encroached upon adjacent to the ancient Preah Vihear temple and Ta Moan temples. The two neighbors are currently locked in a tense military standoff at both sites.
Accidents involving landmines and cases of malaria have been reported though the situation has yet to escalate into armed conflict.
CUF President Rong Chhun said that his federation will tell media about its protest against the Thai “invasion” this morning.
Sunday’s march will send “a message to the world about Khmer citizens’ patriotic will, and are not to serve the interest of a particular group or politician,” he said.
“Competent authorities must ensure that Sunday’s peaceful march is held or they will be called opponents of Khmer citizens’ patriotic will regarding Siam [Thailand] invading Cambodia.”
Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun referred questions over permission for the protest to Municipal Cabinet Chief Nuon Samet, who could not be reached for comment yesterday. However, Mann Chhoeun implied the protest might go ahead.
“It is just my request. If he [Rong Chhun] protested at Preah Vihear temple, it would be better, but for the march in Phnom Penh, it is his right. I don’t know what to say,” Mann Chhoeun said.
Sunday’s march would come just a day before Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and his Thai counterpart are to meet in Thailand to discuss the spat. Several other similar high-level negations have produced few concrete results.
Numerous NGOs have jumped on the nationalist bandwagon, urging a tougher Cambodian stance. Many Cambodians have suggested Cambodia seek international intervention, particularly from the UN Security Council, a move US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli hoped would prove unnecessary.
“We remain hopeful that next week when the [Cambodian and Thai] foreign ministers meet they will resolve this in a sensible, mature, collegial way because it’s not good for either country,” he said yesterday.
So far, the dispute “thankfully has had very little impact [on business],” he added, “though if it continues it may have an impact on tourism and may have an impact on trade between Cambodia and Thailand.”
The Cambodia Union Federation (CUF), comprised of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTU) and the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA), notified Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Kep Chuktema that it will lead 300 people from the former National Assembly down Norodom and Monivong Boulevards before disbursing at the Independence Monument, the CUF said.
Slogans urging Thailand to stop its “invasion” and pull its troops out of Cambodia will apparently be prominent, alongside patriotic messages of unity.
Cambodia has reiterated that Thailand must withdraw from areas it has encroached upon adjacent to the ancient Preah Vihear temple and Ta Moan temples. The two neighbors are currently locked in a tense military standoff at both sites.
Accidents involving landmines and cases of malaria have been reported though the situation has yet to escalate into armed conflict.
CUF President Rong Chhun said that his federation will tell media about its protest against the Thai “invasion” this morning.
Sunday’s march will send “a message to the world about Khmer citizens’ patriotic will, and are not to serve the interest of a particular group or politician,” he said.
“Competent authorities must ensure that Sunday’s peaceful march is held or they will be called opponents of Khmer citizens’ patriotic will regarding Siam [Thailand] invading Cambodia.”
Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun referred questions over permission for the protest to Municipal Cabinet Chief Nuon Samet, who could not be reached for comment yesterday. However, Mann Chhoeun implied the protest might go ahead.
“It is just my request. If he [Rong Chhun] protested at Preah Vihear temple, it would be better, but for the march in Phnom Penh, it is his right. I don’t know what to say,” Mann Chhoeun said.
Sunday’s march would come just a day before Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and his Thai counterpart are to meet in Thailand to discuss the spat. Several other similar high-level negations have produced few concrete results.
Numerous NGOs have jumped on the nationalist bandwagon, urging a tougher Cambodian stance. Many Cambodians have suggested Cambodia seek international intervention, particularly from the UN Security Council, a move US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli hoped would prove unnecessary.
“We remain hopeful that next week when the [Cambodian and Thai] foreign ministers meet they will resolve this in a sensible, mature, collegial way because it’s not good for either country,” he said yesterday.
So far, the dispute “thankfully has had very little impact [on business],” he added, “though if it continues it may have an impact on tourism and may have an impact on trade between Cambodia and Thailand.”
6 comments:
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.
There is NO "invasion". Thai and Cambodian soldiers are on the DISPUTED area. Let the Joint Border Committee solves the problem and draw the PERMANET BORDER LINE.
Then Cambodia whould feel safe from Thailand and concentrate to the west frontier to Vietnam.
1:41 PM,
What the hell are you talking about? Siems are always thieves. They like to steal things from cambodia. The area that you are talking about is not the overlap zone. It is Khmer territory. Stop being so greedy. As i said what goes around comes around. I hope all the muslim in the south of your country will kill all of you.
Deung kdo ey te ah chhkae krub knea euy, os dey pon neung hoey nov day kou ey chea muoy ah siam teat. ASEAN ach kdo ey, chhlean pean dey ke kmean ean khmas hoey hean niyeay tha cham dos sray daoy santepheap, pong kdo anh ne puok ah sva teang os.
Pi anh
Chum luos mae ahaeng ey, ah choy mray siam, ahaeng chol mok dak tea hean leu dey Khmae hoey ahaeng tha ot chhlean pean teat. Ahaeng ang ey tha dey chum luos, kanduoy mae ah chhkae, ah kapik, ah doe luoch tae dey ke yok tveu dey aeng daoy et khmas. Ah siam ach kri, ahaeng cham meul tae mean sang kream koet loeng sombey tae konn ahaeng knong ang rung ko min tuk dae, keu doch samay Khmae kroham anh cheung, ahaeng cham meul tov.
Pi anh
sonovabith you are siam guys. Don't try to convince other nation to believe that Cambodia is belong to your guys. Shut up and take a look back to the history. Your guys have never had any pinch of land in Southeast Asia from the begining era. Don't be stupid and continue to be stupid to extent to your people who are Siam and try to convert to be Thai. Shame your guys.
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