AFP
SIEM REAP: Thai military commanders insisted Friday that talks with their Cambodian counterparts were easing border tensions after deadly clashes last week, but refused to back down from front line positions.
The senior military officials, whose talks began over a round of golf a day earlier, met to defuse the border dispute near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, which erupted into a firefight on October 15 that left one Thai and three Cambodian soldiers dead.
The Thai commanders, led by Lieutenant General Wiboonsak Neeparn, said there was a "friendly atmosphere" with the Cambodians but insisted Thailand's soldiers would stand firm.
"The Thai side strongly reiterates that the position of our troop deployments is clearly inside Thai territory," said a statement from Thai commanders released as the Friday meetings began.
Thailand's terms of negotiation must be approved in parliament on Tuesday before the two countries can further border talks.
Separately, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his opposite number Somchai Wongsawat repeated statements that their nations would prevent any more armed clashes over the dispute as they met Friday in Beijing on the margins of a summit between leaders of Asian and European nations.
Cambodian and Thai military officials agreed to joint border patrols a day after last week's clashes between soldiers stationed on disputed land near the temple, which belongs to Cambodia.
But Cambodian commanders have since backed out, saying such patrols are not possible in disputed areas.
Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia flared in July when Preah Vihear was awarded United Nations World Heritage status, rekindling long-running tensions over ownership of land surrounding the temple.
The senior military officials, whose talks began over a round of golf a day earlier, met to defuse the border dispute near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, which erupted into a firefight on October 15 that left one Thai and three Cambodian soldiers dead.
The Thai commanders, led by Lieutenant General Wiboonsak Neeparn, said there was a "friendly atmosphere" with the Cambodians but insisted Thailand's soldiers would stand firm.
"The Thai side strongly reiterates that the position of our troop deployments is clearly inside Thai territory," said a statement from Thai commanders released as the Friday meetings began.
Thailand's terms of negotiation must be approved in parliament on Tuesday before the two countries can further border talks.
Separately, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his opposite number Somchai Wongsawat repeated statements that their nations would prevent any more armed clashes over the dispute as they met Friday in Beijing on the margins of a summit between leaders of Asian and European nations.
Cambodian and Thai military officials agreed to joint border patrols a day after last week's clashes between soldiers stationed on disputed land near the temple, which belongs to Cambodia.
But Cambodian commanders have since backed out, saying such patrols are not possible in disputed areas.
Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia flared in July when Preah Vihear was awarded United Nations World Heritage status, rekindling long-running tensions over ownership of land surrounding the temple.
3 comments:
then why don't we bring the whole of the dam parliament to deal with Cambodian diplomat Hong and Banh?
Seem if you're so useless save your save the trip and money. Fly your how parliament to Siem Riep and we discuss the matter once and for all.
yes, stand very firm, cambodia; we must properly demarcate our borderline so thailand cannot steal our land again. plus, never again leave our borderline isolated like in the past while cambodia was preoccupied with civil war. we must learn from history because historically thailand and some other neighboring countries have always steal lands and territories from cambodia, so cambodia must learn from that history lesson! we must demand that all of our borderlines are properly demarcate so they can't steal it from cambodia again. we have already lost a lot of land and territory given our present size, so cambodia must mark our borders with villages, towns, gates, etc... as deemed necessary for this purpose. this is the 21st century, not the dark ages when they can just steal from us because there were no international laws to protect us. now, there are a lot of international laws to protect countries like us, so we must use the law to properly demarcate our borderlines once and for all, permanently, if we are to live peaceful side by side as good neighbors. god bless cambodia.
"The Thai side strongly reiterates that the position of our troop deployments is clearly inside Thai territory,"
= I want to know base on what map that show clearly the Thai army are inside the Thai territory? The Thai leaders can’t use unilateral map which is the cold war map to force their way into Cambodian territory! The burden now is on the Thai side to prove that they are on Thai territory!
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