ANALYSIS: The Foreign Ministry is seeking a bilateral resolution to the Preah Vihear land dispute
16/08/2010
Saritdet Marukatat
Bangkok Post
The Foreign Ministry will table the outcome of previous meetings of the JBC held last year and in 2008 for parliament's approval tomorrow, said Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the foreign minister.
Among the items up for parliament approval will be an aerial map of the border dividing the two countries and an agreement to establish a working group to demarcate the boundary.
The constitution requires that all matters that could affect sovereignty be subject to parliamentary approval.
The move follows Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya's announcement last Tuesday that Thailand wanted to hold the JBC meeting soon to place all disputed areas on the negotiating table.
Parliamentary approval of the outcome of the previous two meetings would send a signal to Cambodia that Thai negotiators were ready to deal with the dispute over the unsettled border areas and that foreign assistance was not required.
Thailand and Cambodia would use the memorandum of understanding signed in 2000 by then deputy foreign minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra and Var Kim Hong, the Cambodian adviser on border affairs, as a framework to demarcate the border lines.
The JBC has been assigned to implement the memorandum.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva stressed his intention for the Preah Vihear matter to be resolved bilaterally in a letter sent last Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly and UN Security Council.
"The intention of the Royal Thai Government is to solve the problem of land boundary between Thailand and Cambodia through the implementation of the 2000 memorandum of understanding between the government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the government of the Kingdom of Cambodia on the survey and demarcation of land boundary," the letter says.
The Thai government has reason to emphasise this stance, as the Cambodian government has recently gone on the offensive, asking for help from other countries to help resolve the border dispute with Thailand.
On Saturday, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong sent a letter to current Asean chair Vietnam asking the country to intervene.
That request followed a letter sent on Aug 8 by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council in which he said the dispute over Preah Vihear could lead to bloodshed without international intervention.
The Thai side believes that bringing in outsiders would only further complicate the issue.
The memorandum uses treaties signed by Thailand and France in 1904 and 1907, as well as maps from that time, as a basis for negotiations.
Thai negotiators have said the two treaties reflected France's power in the region at the time and put Thailand at a disadvantage.
However, they believe there is room for negotiations if Cambodia accepted the international accepted practice on border demarcation in which the watershed is used as the dividing line for any area where the borderline is in dispute. That would include the 4.6 square kilometre area near Preah Vihear temple.
A breakthrough in negotiations will take time and will only be possible when relations between the countries warm.
Ties have soured in recent years, first after Thailand tried to block Cambodia's sole listing of Preah Vihear on the world heritage list in 2008, and then after former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was appointed an economic adviser to the prime minister in Phnom Penh.
Thailand's opposition to Cambodia's management plan for Preah Vihear at the recent World Heritage Committee (WHC) meeting widened the rift.
The WHC deferred its decision on the plan partly because of Thailand's opposition to its inclusion of a buffer zone that included land claimed by the two countries. The issue must be resolved before the WHC considers the plan at its meeting next year in Bahrain.
Phnom Penh now wants the dispute over the overlapping area settled quickly, so its plan would not face any further obstacles at next year's WHC meeting.
It hopes that bringing regional or international pressure to bear on Thailand would force the country into a quick settlement on the issue.
The challenge Thailand now faces is to bring Cambodia back to the negotiation table with the JBC.
As evidenced by the letter from the Cambodian foreign minister to Vietnam, Phnom Penh is not keen on working the matter out bilaterally.
"As the current stalemate has extinguished any hope of further bilateral negotiations and in order to avoid any large scale armed conflict... I earnestly seek assistance [from Asean]," the letter quoted by AFP stated.
But acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said he hoped there would not be any outside interference.
16/08/2010
Saritdet Marukatat
Bangkok Post
[Thai negotiators] believe there is room for negotiations if Cambodia accepted the international accepted practice on border demarcation in which the watershed is used as the dividing line for any area where the borderline is in dispute. That would include the 4.6 square kilometre area near Preah Vihear temple. (sic!)Thailand's push for a fresh meeting of the Joint Boundary Commission with Cambodia is aimed at preventing international interference in the dispute over the border area near the Preah Vihear temple.
The Foreign Ministry will table the outcome of previous meetings of the JBC held last year and in 2008 for parliament's approval tomorrow, said Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the foreign minister.
Among the items up for parliament approval will be an aerial map of the border dividing the two countries and an agreement to establish a working group to demarcate the boundary.
The constitution requires that all matters that could affect sovereignty be subject to parliamentary approval.
The move follows Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya's announcement last Tuesday that Thailand wanted to hold the JBC meeting soon to place all disputed areas on the negotiating table.
Parliamentary approval of the outcome of the previous two meetings would send a signal to Cambodia that Thai negotiators were ready to deal with the dispute over the unsettled border areas and that foreign assistance was not required.
Thailand and Cambodia would use the memorandum of understanding signed in 2000 by then deputy foreign minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra and Var Kim Hong, the Cambodian adviser on border affairs, as a framework to demarcate the border lines.
The JBC has been assigned to implement the memorandum.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva stressed his intention for the Preah Vihear matter to be resolved bilaterally in a letter sent last Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly and UN Security Council.
"The intention of the Royal Thai Government is to solve the problem of land boundary between Thailand and Cambodia through the implementation of the 2000 memorandum of understanding between the government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the government of the Kingdom of Cambodia on the survey and demarcation of land boundary," the letter says.
The Thai government has reason to emphasise this stance, as the Cambodian government has recently gone on the offensive, asking for help from other countries to help resolve the border dispute with Thailand.
On Saturday, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong sent a letter to current Asean chair Vietnam asking the country to intervene.
That request followed a letter sent on Aug 8 by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council in which he said the dispute over Preah Vihear could lead to bloodshed without international intervention.
The Thai side believes that bringing in outsiders would only further complicate the issue.
The memorandum uses treaties signed by Thailand and France in 1904 and 1907, as well as maps from that time, as a basis for negotiations.
Thai negotiators have said the two treaties reflected France's power in the region at the time and put Thailand at a disadvantage.
However, they believe there is room for negotiations if Cambodia accepted the international accepted practice on border demarcation in which the watershed is used as the dividing line for any area where the borderline is in dispute. That would include the 4.6 square kilometre area near Preah Vihear temple.
A breakthrough in negotiations will take time and will only be possible when relations between the countries warm.
Ties have soured in recent years, first after Thailand tried to block Cambodia's sole listing of Preah Vihear on the world heritage list in 2008, and then after former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was appointed an economic adviser to the prime minister in Phnom Penh.
Thailand's opposition to Cambodia's management plan for Preah Vihear at the recent World Heritage Committee (WHC) meeting widened the rift.
The WHC deferred its decision on the plan partly because of Thailand's opposition to its inclusion of a buffer zone that included land claimed by the two countries. The issue must be resolved before the WHC considers the plan at its meeting next year in Bahrain.
Phnom Penh now wants the dispute over the overlapping area settled quickly, so its plan would not face any further obstacles at next year's WHC meeting.
It hopes that bringing regional or international pressure to bear on Thailand would force the country into a quick settlement on the issue.
The challenge Thailand now faces is to bring Cambodia back to the negotiation table with the JBC.
As evidenced by the letter from the Cambodian foreign minister to Vietnam, Phnom Penh is not keen on working the matter out bilaterally.
"As the current stalemate has extinguished any hope of further bilateral negotiations and in order to avoid any large scale armed conflict... I earnestly seek assistance [from Asean]," the letter quoted by AFP stated.
But acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said he hoped there would not be any outside interference.
10 comments:
Siemese should start packing and move back to Nanchaoe!
they are scums cheats and thieves...
Cambodia Town
Long Beach, Ca
International conference on Cambodia border with Thailand was neccessary to protect our motherland against invader. We cambodian do not want to play game cat catch mouse anymore.
Did you got that Abhisit Vejjajiva?
Don't waste time with kleptomaniacs.
Press forward by soliciting international involvement.
Cambodia thinks bringing the outsider in would only bring fairness for Cambodia and the issue could be resolved otherwise. This is only talks of action to get Cambodia to agree with them. Cambodia must stay firm with third party mediator. Bilateral negotiation is the worst option for Cambodia.
calm down Thailand! you have to respect the international law. you cannot redraw the map at this time. the Franco-Siam Map should be for the interest of French and Siam at that time, but not for the interest of Khmer. The map had devised a significant amount of Khmer apart from each other.
Youns and Siems will take all Khmers lands, if Khmers are still dump and stupid.
Use every ounce of strength you have and stand up against these blood sucking Thais.
The Thai leeches will continue to suck your blood if you continue to bilaterally play game with them.
Enough is enough. Start blowing any Thai head you can find on in the 4.6km. zone.
we should Thank Samdach Ta who brought the issue to ICJ half a century ago. It gives us a strong point to win over Thailand at this time. Generally, the Thais try at best to avoid referring to the verdict.
please no more talking to thai government, treat them as a pieces of shit.thai goverment play a childist game we will treat them as a child, if they want to be a child it mean child can't talk any sence, childist like thai government; they don't talk with a complete sentence so the only way we can't talk to this childist is throught court, to make sure this thai child understand the law and have to have proof, take this child to the court otherwise this child will say the adult abuses this thai child a gain.
cambodia must not bend to siem interest only! siem is now acting differently only after cambodia want the world body to intervene! can we trust siem? they waited this long to work with cambodia? isn't it kind of too late? let cambodia decide!
cambodia must ask the world body to make strict international law to prevent country like siem to take advantage of cambodia and to harrass cambodia! the law must ask for monetary compensation for the cambodia and the return to cambodia everything siem stole from us! the law must be made to settle all international issues with cambodia once and for all! no more stealing from cambodia by neighboring countries again from now on! instead, cambodia reserves the right to demand the return of all our lost provinces from neighboring countries!
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