By Kavi Chongkittavorn
The Nation
In diplomacy, every gesture and response counts. At first, the scheduled courtesy call by Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Sunday afternoon was supposed to last about 20 minutes. But the visit turned out to be nearly an hour of discussion. Before leaving Phnom Penh a few hours later, Kasit told the Thai delegation over dinner he had been impressed by Hun Sen's good memory and that he had done his homework. After he greeted Hun Sen, he said the Cambodian prime minister reminded him of their work together at the Paris Peace Conference in 1989, which brought an end to the Cambodian civil war and peace to the country. Kasit also recalled that at the end of the conference, he walked to Hun Sen and shook hands, saying that Thailand and Cambodia would work together to develop the war-torn country. "Now that moment has come again," Kasit said.
A few minutes into the meeting on Sunday, Kasit told Hun Sen that he wanted to learn from the region's longest-serving leader.
"I am 12 years younger than you, and I am 8 years older than Abhisit," Hun Sen quickly responded.
From that moment, both leaders struck up a rapport and began a dialogue about peaceful settlement of border issues and cooperation on issues like the flow of the Bassac River, one of Cambodia's lifelines.
The two-day visit by Foreign Minister Kasit over the weekend was very successful. It would not be an overstatement to say that the outcomes of Kasit's discussions with Hun Sen and Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong will serve as the foundation for future Thai-Cambodian relations. There are three reasons for such optimism.
First of all, Hun Sen and Hor Namhong reiterated throughout the meeting that Thai-Cambodian relations are very important because they affect Asean as a whole. Hun Sen was correct when he stated the two countries have obligations as members of the regional grouping to move their relationship forward in a positive way. Over the past months, the simmering border disputes and tensions between the two neighbours have caused great concern among Asean leaders, with the fear that the two countries might even pit their troops against each other.
Another problem has been the repeated postponement by host Thailand of the Asean leaders summit meeting. Hun Sen has now confirmed that he will attend the summit, which will be held from February 27 to March 1 in Hua Hin.
In this connection, Kasit said he would take up the Emerald Triangle Cooperation proposal for Thailand, Cambodia and Laos at the upcoming summit. Hun Sen had proposed this plan to promote tourism in the scenic area where the three countries meet. So far the proposal has not moved ahead as Laos is still studying it. Thailand hopes that with the global economic recession, tourism cooperation under this ambitious plan will be pushed forward.
Secondly, Hun Sen reiterated that any bilateral problems between Thailand and Cambodia must be resolved through negotiation and peaceful means. This has already become a template for Thai-Cambodian relations. In his letter to Hun Sen, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva also stressed that the existing mechanisms would be used to settle bilateral issues. The bilateral border meetings will resume early next month. Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan is scheduled to visit Phnom Penh in early February. He will discuss troop adjustments along the Thai-Cambodian border. Both sides are clear that all avenues and sources must be exhausted before they seek assistance from any third party.
In addition, the stalled discussions on overlapping maritime areas in the Gulf of Thailand will resume. The estimated 20,600 square-kilometre area under discussion is believed to be rich in oil and gas. The Thai Cabinet has yet to approve a new senior Thai official to head the combined negotiations on the land and maritime issues but Cambodia is enthusiastic about kick-starting the discussions simultaneously.
Both sides agree that there should not be any bottlenecks in their cooperation since there are numerous activities and development plans either in progress or due to get underway. Kasit quoted Hun Sen as saying there are 40-50 programmes going on, and that one problem alone should not be enough to impede the whole cooperation effort. One indicator will be the speed at which Thailand returns seven ancient Khmer artifacts that were stolen and discovered inside Thailand. The government of former prime minister Samak Sundaravej pledged to return the pieces but nothing has been done on the matter so far. Kasit said that the Thai Ministry of Cultural Affairs is in the process of dealing with the issue.
Thirdly, with the renewal of understanding between the two countries, Hun Sen and Kasit ventured that if there is any future misunderstanding or misinterpretation emanating from sources such as the media, pressure groups or non-governmental organisations, quick telephone calls between leaders and officials on both sides would mitigate any possible negative effects. The two leaders were mindful of numerous online statements aimed at sowing discord between Thailand and Cambodia.
Finally, for the first time, there will be more exchanges at the personal level between members of the legislative branch in each country. There have been no such exchanges before, even though Thailand and Cambodia have similar parliamentary systems. During a meeting between Chea Sim, president of the Cambodian Senate and Heng Samrin, chairman of the Cambodian National Assembly, both agreed an increase in the number of exchanges between Thai and Cambodian politicians would promote better political understanding and cooperation. In addition, for the first time, the Democrat Party will initiate cooperative schemes with the ruling Cambodian People's Party.
Before the Thai delegation checked out of its Phnom Penh hotel on Sunday evening, a junior Thai official got a call from the Cambodian Foreign Ministry saying that the host country would pay additional expenses beyond the payment norm for Kasit, the chief of the Thai delegation. The official, who works at the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, was surprised and immediately informed his superiors that "Cambodia was happy with the talks".
A few minutes into the meeting on Sunday, Kasit told Hun Sen that he wanted to learn from the region's longest-serving leader.
"I am 12 years younger than you, and I am 8 years older than Abhisit," Hun Sen quickly responded.
From that moment, both leaders struck up a rapport and began a dialogue about peaceful settlement of border issues and cooperation on issues like the flow of the Bassac River, one of Cambodia's lifelines.
The two-day visit by Foreign Minister Kasit over the weekend was very successful. It would not be an overstatement to say that the outcomes of Kasit's discussions with Hun Sen and Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong will serve as the foundation for future Thai-Cambodian relations. There are three reasons for such optimism.
First of all, Hun Sen and Hor Namhong reiterated throughout the meeting that Thai-Cambodian relations are very important because they affect Asean as a whole. Hun Sen was correct when he stated the two countries have obligations as members of the regional grouping to move their relationship forward in a positive way. Over the past months, the simmering border disputes and tensions between the two neighbours have caused great concern among Asean leaders, with the fear that the two countries might even pit their troops against each other.
Another problem has been the repeated postponement by host Thailand of the Asean leaders summit meeting. Hun Sen has now confirmed that he will attend the summit, which will be held from February 27 to March 1 in Hua Hin.
In this connection, Kasit said he would take up the Emerald Triangle Cooperation proposal for Thailand, Cambodia and Laos at the upcoming summit. Hun Sen had proposed this plan to promote tourism in the scenic area where the three countries meet. So far the proposal has not moved ahead as Laos is still studying it. Thailand hopes that with the global economic recession, tourism cooperation under this ambitious plan will be pushed forward.
Secondly, Hun Sen reiterated that any bilateral problems between Thailand and Cambodia must be resolved through negotiation and peaceful means. This has already become a template for Thai-Cambodian relations. In his letter to Hun Sen, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva also stressed that the existing mechanisms would be used to settle bilateral issues. The bilateral border meetings will resume early next month. Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan is scheduled to visit Phnom Penh in early February. He will discuss troop adjustments along the Thai-Cambodian border. Both sides are clear that all avenues and sources must be exhausted before they seek assistance from any third party.
In addition, the stalled discussions on overlapping maritime areas in the Gulf of Thailand will resume. The estimated 20,600 square-kilometre area under discussion is believed to be rich in oil and gas. The Thai Cabinet has yet to approve a new senior Thai official to head the combined negotiations on the land and maritime issues but Cambodia is enthusiastic about kick-starting the discussions simultaneously.
Both sides agree that there should not be any bottlenecks in their cooperation since there are numerous activities and development plans either in progress or due to get underway. Kasit quoted Hun Sen as saying there are 40-50 programmes going on, and that one problem alone should not be enough to impede the whole cooperation effort. One indicator will be the speed at which Thailand returns seven ancient Khmer artifacts that were stolen and discovered inside Thailand. The government of former prime minister Samak Sundaravej pledged to return the pieces but nothing has been done on the matter so far. Kasit said that the Thai Ministry of Cultural Affairs is in the process of dealing with the issue.
Thirdly, with the renewal of understanding between the two countries, Hun Sen and Kasit ventured that if there is any future misunderstanding or misinterpretation emanating from sources such as the media, pressure groups or non-governmental organisations, quick telephone calls between leaders and officials on both sides would mitigate any possible negative effects. The two leaders were mindful of numerous online statements aimed at sowing discord between Thailand and Cambodia.
Finally, for the first time, there will be more exchanges at the personal level between members of the legislative branch in each country. There have been no such exchanges before, even though Thailand and Cambodia have similar parliamentary systems. During a meeting between Chea Sim, president of the Cambodian Senate and Heng Samrin, chairman of the Cambodian National Assembly, both agreed an increase in the number of exchanges between Thai and Cambodian politicians would promote better political understanding and cooperation. In addition, for the first time, the Democrat Party will initiate cooperative schemes with the ruling Cambodian People's Party.
Before the Thai delegation checked out of its Phnom Penh hotel on Sunday evening, a junior Thai official got a call from the Cambodian Foreign Ministry saying that the host country would pay additional expenses beyond the payment norm for Kasit, the chief of the Thai delegation. The official, who works at the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, was surprised and immediately informed his superiors that "Cambodia was happy with the talks".
1 comment:
mr. hun sen is a very smart man. see, when given a chance, a khmer person can be very smart indeed. in past, cambodia lack education to most of its people due to class/status thing; well, the KR seemed to put an end to that, not to say the the KR is good at everything because, they were so stupid because they killed their own people, starved people, shunned the outside world, abolish the economic and anything and everything modern; anyway, that's permanent history now. anyway, my point is that when given the opportunity, every khmer person is very capable indeed to become educated and productive not only to cambodia, but to the world community as well. may god bless cambodia and all our beautiful khmer people and citizens.
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