Thai-Khmer: The Pursuit of ... the Confrontations

The following is a translation from French with the help of Google service

THAI-KHMER: Pursuit of ... the Confrontations

Before leaving for New York, the Thai foreign minister, Kasit Piromya, took care to denounce Russia, China and India for "encouraging Cambodia to attack" Thai troops earlier this month. The prosecution was free, but the image of a possible Cold War around Preah Vihear was launched. The decision of 14 February by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the Cambodian-Thai dispute was in favor of Bangkok: nothing was said on the merits, but only on the form. The pretext raised revealed even futher irresponsibility: the current conflict Cambodian-Thai is not threatening peace in the world - especially it does not (yet) affect the direct interests of the Superpowers. The Thais have reason to shout victory.

The recommendation for the parties to "hold up ... to a permanent cease-fire" without sending peacekeepers nor mandated observers, is simply wishful thinking, if not another platitude of the Security Council, when one knew that since 2008 the Thais and the Khmers have always agreed to a ceasefire after every each deadly confrontation, and only to start the fight all over again. Could we allow this problem to ASEAN to take care of? Will the Thais accept that? Through the voice of Singapore, recently, the general argument that ASEAN uses to convince the antagonists would neither be legal nor political, but economical - the regional development. The role of ASEAN as "coordinator" of the Cambodian-Thai negotiations is purely diplomatic, otherwise it might put a hard test on its own strength and effectiveness, and even its future. Cambodia, being too weak on all fronts in comparison to Thailand, does not have much to expect from ASEAN to enforce its legitimate rights over Preah Vihear.

The tactics of the Thais (since the 50s) is to drag their bilateral negotiations to wear out its opponent. As discussions on many levels are carried on, the Thais also carry out military provocations (threatening patrols, forced occupation of land, firing shots to intimidate, etc...) to "give weight" to their verbal arguments. They can afford it. They also have time as well, just as Mr. Kasit Piromya had told reporters in New York that its negotiations with the Khmer could take "decades", and he also reminded the example of the talks between China and Russia - two Permanent Members of the UNSC - on the demarcation of the border between these two countries. The goal repeatedly declared by the Thais is to push Mr. Hun Sen and his Government to accept a new delimitation of the Cambodian-Thai border in Preah Vihear – a first step towards a complete revision of the land and maritime borders between Thailand and Cambodia. In support of this approach, Thai leaders have already signaled that recent "corrections" of the border between Vietnam and Cambodia could be taken as an example in the “closed door” negotiations that they will conduct with Mr. Hun Sen as well.

Ultimately, the UNSC and ASEAN, obsessed with Thailand, have completely forgotten the decision rendered by The Hague International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1962 on Cambodia’s sovereignty over Preah Vihear temple, as well as the "plot" of territory where the temple stands on. They now only see the cannon shots exchanged between Thais and Khmers in a "disputed" zone, without attempting to examine the merits of the contest by each party involved. So far, Messrs. Hun Sen and Hor Nam Hong did not make use of the ICJ argument regarding Cambodia’s sovereignty that could have cut short any sterile discussions, this was what they should have done early on in the conflict. They should also insist on the implementation of the provisions of the 1991 Paris Agreements on Cambodia which recognized and guaranteed the territorial integrity of Cambodia, which Thailand, the United Nations and ASEAN were also signatory parties also.

By abandoning or neglecting the legal bases, we abandon all sense of justice and fairness in all negotiations and, inevitably, we fall back into the spiral of clashes that are becoming bloodier and whose outcome is unknown, and of which Mr. Hun Sen and his friends are accountable for in front of the Khmer people.

Paris, February 17, 2011

For the Cambodia’s Border Committee in France and Worldwide

Dy Kareth

Vice-President