PHNOM PENH, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Cambodia has hit out at Google over what it called a "radically misleading" map of the disputed Thai-Cambodia border, accusing the world's biggest search engine of being "professionally irresponsible".
Cambodia, which is embroiled in a bitter diplomatic row with Thailand over the demarcation of the frontier, said the Google Earth map was "devoid of truth and reality" and called for its immediate removal because it was not internationally recognised.
Cambodia made the complaint in a letter issued a day ahead of the first-ever visit to the border region by its outspoken prime minister, Hun Sen, a move likely to raise tension between the historic foes.
"(The map) is devoid of truth and reality, and professionally irresponsible, if not pretentious," Svay Sitha, secretary of state of the Cambodia's Council of Ministers, wrote in the letter seen by Reuters on Friday.
"We therefore request that you withdraw the already disseminated, very wrong and not internationally recognised map and replace it," he said.
Both countries have a heavy military presence along the border, where deadly clashes have occurred in the past three years.
At the centre of the row is the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, ownership of which was awarded to Cambodia in a 1962 international court ruling. However, many Thais have never fully accepted the decision and the temple has been used by both countries to stoke nationalist fervour.
Thailand last year withdrew its pledge of support for Cambodia to list Preah Vihear as a UNESCO World Heritage site, arguing that jurisdiction of land around the temple had never been settled.
The move angered Hun Sen, who has since formed a provocative alliance with exiled Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, giving him a base close to home in his fight to bring down the Thai government.
Hun Sen is accused by Bangkok of colluding with the billionaire, offering him a home and a job as an economic adviser, to escalate a five-year political crisis in Thailand.
Google is currently locked in a dispute with China and last month said it was reviewing its business operations there after a series of sophisticated cyber-attacks.
(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Martin Petty)
Cambodia, which is embroiled in a bitter diplomatic row with Thailand over the demarcation of the frontier, said the Google Earth map was "devoid of truth and reality" and called for its immediate removal because it was not internationally recognised.
Cambodia made the complaint in a letter issued a day ahead of the first-ever visit to the border region by its outspoken prime minister, Hun Sen, a move likely to raise tension between the historic foes.
"(The map) is devoid of truth and reality, and professionally irresponsible, if not pretentious," Svay Sitha, secretary of state of the Cambodia's Council of Ministers, wrote in the letter seen by Reuters on Friday.
"We therefore request that you withdraw the already disseminated, very wrong and not internationally recognised map and replace it," he said.
Both countries have a heavy military presence along the border, where deadly clashes have occurred in the past three years.
At the centre of the row is the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, ownership of which was awarded to Cambodia in a 1962 international court ruling. However, many Thais have never fully accepted the decision and the temple has been used by both countries to stoke nationalist fervour.
Thailand last year withdrew its pledge of support for Cambodia to list Preah Vihear as a UNESCO World Heritage site, arguing that jurisdiction of land around the temple had never been settled.
The move angered Hun Sen, who has since formed a provocative alliance with exiled Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, giving him a base close to home in his fight to bring down the Thai government.
Hun Sen is accused by Bangkok of colluding with the billionaire, offering him a home and a job as an economic adviser, to escalate a five-year political crisis in Thailand.
Google is currently locked in a dispute with China and last month said it was reviewing its business operations there after a series of sophisticated cyber-attacks.
(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Martin Petty)
17 comments:
Google must change and replace the internationally recognized map of Cambodia. It is so unethical and unprofessional to placed such irregular map without permission from the government of home-country of Cambodia. In this case, however, it can create a worse atmosphere between Cambodia and Siam while the troops of both sides have been deployed along the border since 15 July 2008 and are always on alert.
Goodle must replace and write an apologies to the People of Cambodia as awhole.
it's would be nice if ki can post the map of google so we can understand more?
It's about time that RGC now start doing something about this:
ATTENTION: H.E. Hor Nam Hong & Sok An, please request google to change the following areas to reflect internationally recognized map:
PREAH VIHEAR BORDER AREA
TA MOAN THOM BORDER AREA
POIPET-ARANYAPRATHET BORDER
VINH TE CANAL BORDER WITH VIETNAM
in yuon or vietnamese is Vinh Te, in khmer is Prek Krobao.
a khmer in France
Hun Sen try to kiss ass Chinese by using Google as his political agenda.
HERE IS THE WEB SITE OF GOOGLE MAP OF CAMBODIA...ZOOM IN AND OUT AS YOU LIKE. COMPARE CAMBODIA MAP AT THE UN WITH IT. TO A TRAINED PERSON, ONE CAN SEE IMMEDIATELY THE DIFFERENCE...NOTICE THAT THE 4.6 KM2 PREAH VIHEAR AREA IS IN THE THAI SIDE, NOT CAMBODIA PER WORLD COURT VERDICT OF JUNE 15, 1962. CHECK TA MOAN TEMPLE AREA...
CHECK POIPET, NOTICE THAT THE BORDER SHOULD BE AT THE BRIDGE AND RIVER NOT 300-500 M INSIDE CAMBODIA AS SHOWN. CHECK PREK KROBAO CANAL BORDER WITH VIETNAM...NOW THE NEW BORDER IS WEST OF THE CANAL?!
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=11.55,104.916667&spn=10,10&t=h&q=11.55,104.916667
THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT MUST DEMAND ALL INTERNET WEB MAP MUST COMPLY WITH UN RECOGNIZED MAP...IF NOT, CORRECTION IS NEEDED IMMEDIATELY. IF LEFT UNCHECK, IT WILL DO UNREPARABLE HARM TO THE TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF CAMBODIA...
The government of Cambodia should also check the mistake made by wikipedia on Preah Vihear and the border agreement of 1907.
Google, an internationally known as high-tec firm in the world and employed lots of professionals and experts in the area should not have made such shameful remarks to Khmer people. The question lie at the heart of its doing as it is intentional or unprofessional. Recently, you had acted as good guy who wants to end the the complete operations in China just because you accused Chinese government of e-violation of privacy. However, today, you made a very clumsy, irresponsible, unprofessional and unethical mistake which causes severely international conflict. We need your immediate justifications and equal treatments. Your credibility is a result of professionalism NOT politically/geographically biased.
like father like son (skair siem=siem's dog).
The Sam Sary Affair
Sam Sary was a Cambodian politician who participated in the so-called Bangkok Plot against Prince Norodom Sihanouk[1]. He was a son of Sam Nhean, a prominent politician in the 1940s and father of Sam Rainsy, presently a leader of the main Cambodia's opposition party. He was a close confidant of the then Prince Norodom Sihanouk but had a fall-out with the Prince when he was exposed in corruption, selling import licenses and a second time during his tenure as a Cambodian ambassador to London in 1958, for beating his impregnated female housemate. He was alleged to have beaten her so badly that she escaped to the protection of the London police. The scandal made headlines in the London tabloids and he was recalled to Cambodia and stripped of all of his duties. [2]He disappeared mysteriously in 1962, presumably killed by the government or CIA agents, whom he was working for.
He was involved in election fraud and intimidations
In January 1958 Sam Sary was appointed by Norodom Sihanouk as Cambodia's ambassador to London, thus extricating him from a scandal involving smuggling of large quantities of high grade Cambodian pepper.[2] According to Time Magazine he brought an entourage of four woman who were his official wife, with their five children, including Sam Rainsy and three mistresses. Six months later Sam Sary was involved in another scandal when one of his female servants--Iv Eng Seng, who bore him a child went to the London police accusing him of severely beating her for "minor mistakes".[2] By other accounts her name was Soeung Son Maly and she used to date Saloth Sar (Pol Pot) later dumping him for more prosperous Sam Sary.[3] Sam Sary was recalled back to Phnom Penh, but not before he had put his side of the story to the British press. He admitted beating his servant,saying:
I corrected her by hitting her with a Cambodian string whip. I never hit her on the face, always across the back and the thighs—-a common sort of punishment in my country.
He argued his right to do so because
the embassy is "Cambodia in London."
After coming back to Cambodia Sam Sary became more and more anti-Sihanouk. Despite the risk of incurring Sihanouk's displeasure Sam Sary started a newspaper, openly critical of the Prince's policies. He tried to start his own political party but without success. His anti-Sihanouk activities were dubbed the Sam Sary Affairs.
Some commentators agree that Sam Sary worked with US Intelligence services, which he might have contacted in 1956 while visiting the US. On 13 January 1959 in speech delivered in Kampong Cham Sihanouk told his listeners that he knew about US intelligence plots to overthrow him. While this speech had not clearly implicated Sam Sary, a week after the speech was delivered he fled to Thailand. After a shadowy existence in exile he disappeared in 1962, probably put to death by his foreign paymasters. 1[1]
I want to see SRP play a role in helping our homeland even it means against Abishit government SRP adorns.
HOW ABOUT VIETNAM BORDER NO ONE IN THE GOVERNMENT CARE? VIET ALREADY TOOK KHMER LAND AND THAI TOOK JUST MAP.WHO IS THE REAL ENNEMY?.
this goes to show even google is ignorant about cambodia's international borderlines. we all have to educate google people by providing them with the international map of cambodia so they can demarcate it correctly, really! i bet they don't even know where cambodia is located in the world. go figure!
Google can do better than that... They are undermine themselves by not doing the right thing and perhaps was influenced by Thailand to use such a map. It is a shame to have business mixing with politics.
Do Ah Hor Nam hong ever complaine to Google like the way he coplained about the sneaker?
Do Ah Hong know what is he doing?
I heard people want to organize an organization represent the Khmerrouge Victimes!
One small purpose that sound so loud is about getting compansation as a group or and small token to organize a religion ceremony!
That sound so sad and scary to me!
Today Cambodia people kind of thinking that money can solve anything from get away from raping to muder, to accid attack!
Do we want to send a maasage that what Khmerrouge Victimes want is not justice and thruth but money? Money is more iportant than justice and life?
Mr. Chom Mey the Self called KhmerRouge Victime Who Only Dared to Loook At Duch in Eyes to Eyes, preferes some money and 50% justice!
What is 50% justice ?
Justice for the Camodian now (Since we all victimes) is the thruth of what happening! Since real thruth could never be found or not only just one thruth! we want to hear the lawyers crose exame of who saw or involve with the crime!Specially the higher
rank!
We want this process of justice to teach the next generation of how not to let the crime to be happening against from the point of view of the King down to a poor hadicape citizen!
We want notthing more thant gathering as many thruth as posible. NO money nor imprison any body! But what was wrong who did wrong, and how was wrong!
So the whole country or may be the whole world can create a system that prevent the crime of genocide to happen again any time any where else!
No MONEY for the wrong reason please! our country is corrupted to the core! They are selling justice for money and thing that for peace and forgiveness!
My relative lives can not be replaced by any money! But the thruths that help prevent the evil to strike again any where on earth!!
2:15 AM
2:27 AM
FYI.
Thais owned part of GOOGLE if you al may know.
There is a rumor around Bang-cock that Abhishit sneak in the Royal Palace's back door every night to get bang up his ass by bhumibol...sirikij is so jealous and soak in tears! :-)
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