A large fuss over nothing

9/02/2010
Bangkok Post
EDITORIAL

"Thai-Cambodian relations are a serious matter, far too serious for trivial rumours and unfounded fears. The fuss over the Hun Sen tour was unwarranted."

The government's appeal to the extreme political groups to stay away from the Cambodian border could have carried more weight if the ministers themselves had been calmer. Both Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his deputy for security, Suthep Thaugsuban, helped to fan rumours and fantasy over the visit of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen to disputed border areas.

What was at most a minor kerfuffle over the Khmer leader's border tour turned into tension that at times seemed close to hysteria.

On the second day of Hun Sen's tour, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep appeared on television to issue what he claimed was an even-handed appeal. He hoped both the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) would stay away from the border. Their presence could worsen relations and heighten tension. A small group of yellow shirts, in fact, had travelled to a separate border region, near the Poipet-Aranyaprathet crossing, in late January. Officials said the group had attempted to plant border markers as a symbolic protest, but were turned back by Thai troops.

Such protests are, indeed, unnecessary, counter-productive and even an incitement to violence. The minority faction of the yellow shirts involved in trying to usurp the government's role in Cambodian relations should be denounced by all right-thinking citizens. The first to speak should be Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, because before his appointment, he was involved in unfortunate statements by the PAD against government-to-government relations.

Mr Suthep's appeal for calm rang a little hollow, coming as it did after several days of high-volume excitement from his own office over Hun Sen's plans for a border tour. The Khmer leader fully publicised his trip, and his government informed the Thai authorities of every detail.

In retrospect, the several days of reported "tension at the border" of Si Sa Ket and Surin provinces are curious. While the tour was clearly an opportunity for Hun Sen to once again state Cambodia's position on disputed border territory, there was virtually no chance of any violence while the prime minister was present. As Mr Suthep himself finally stated, there were no surprises that Hun Sen visited Preah Vihear temple and then went on to other sites at or near the frontier.

But then, for reasons that remain unclear, Thaksin Shinawatra became embroiled in the affair. Mr Abhisit professed not to know whether the fugitive ex-premier was in Cambodia - indeed, whether he would accompany Hun Sen to the Thai border. It seems obvious that anti-Thaksin activists started and spread this rumour, but the government either knows or should know of Thaksin's travels, and could have scotched this drama at the start. Mr Abhisit then actually gave credit to more unfounded gossip that Thaksin was taking Cambodian citizenship. It is difficult for the government to call for calm when its senior members are directly involved in causing a media uproar. Mr Suthep's constant updates on border security in the Northeast helped to feed concern that incidents along the Cambodian frontier were a real national threat. By addressing the outlandish rumours about Thaksin, and discussing them as if they were true, Mr Abhisit actually bought into the slowly escalating media reports that border security was somehow at risk.

Thai-Cambodian relations are a serious matter, far too serious for trivial rumours and unfounded fears. The fuss over the Hun Sen tour was unwarranted.