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| Peace making: Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya speaks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa (left) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok on Tuesday. ASEAN dispatched Marty to Cambodia in a bid to defuse the Thai-Cambodian border crisis. Reuters/Chaiwat Subprasom |
Abdul Khalik
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In a sign that efforts by Indonesia as ASEAN chair can provide a climate conducive to Cambodia and Thailand resolving their border conflict amicably, the two countries are likely to agree to establish lines of communication with each other.
After separately talking more than three hours with his Cambodian and Thai counterparts on Monday and Tuesday respectively, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said, during what he coined “shuttle diplomacy”, he got the impression both countries wanted to solve their border conflict peacefully, through diplomacy and negotiation.
Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia would work further to establish hot-line communications to avoid miscommunication and misunderstanding, as the current cease-fire was still fragile, Marty told The Jakarta Post in a telephone call from Kuala Lumpur during his transit home on Tuesday.
“Both countries should ensure that the cease-fire holds. The source of the incidents on the ground is often miscommunication. That’s why a third country, such as Indonesia, should be included in the lines of communication to avoid misunderstanding and reduce the likelihood of more incidents on the ground. We will explore it further,” he said.
Thailand and Cambodia blamed each other for provoking intense exchanges of gunfire since last week that have killed at least three Thais and eight Cambodians, and energized the ultra-nationalist Thai “yellow shirt” protesters, demanding that Thailand’s government step down.
After talking with Marty, Reuters reported from Bangkok that Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said he planned to meet his Cambodian counterpart soon in a third country to discuss how to end the fighting, the fiercest since the early 1990s, when Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge rebel forces operated in the area.
Marty said the conflict must be solved through bilateral talks between the conflicting countries with the help of a regional body such as ASEAN and through the multilateral forum in the United Nations concurrently, without contradictions between each level of effort.
“All three levels of diplomacy can be used to solve the problem simultaneously without a particular effort offsetting the other, as they are complementary. However, at the end of the day, the issue must be addressed and can only be addressed bilaterally, because this is a border issue that needs to be negotiated between them,” he said.
The UN Security Council has rejected Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s call for an urgent council meeting. Marty said ASEAN and the UN, however, continued to work together closely to address the problem.
“The UN Security Council would like to hear reports from Indonesia before taking any steps,” Marty said.
Reuters reported from the Thai-Cambodia border area that the situation remained tense and uncertain.
In Cambodia’s northern frontier areas, pigs and chickens roamed deserted villages. Schools and temples were turned into makeshift refugee centers.
On the Thai side, villages such as Ban Sangam, in Si Sa Ket province about 7 kilometers from the border, were eerily quiet, aside from the occasional rumble of military trucks.
Somsak Suvarnsujarit, the governor of Si Sa Ket province, said 16,654 people had been evacuated.
“There is still a lot of uncertainty,” he told Reuters.
Reasons behind the fighting remained murky. Some analysts say hawkish Thai generals and nationalist allies may be trying to topple Thailand’s government or create a pretext to stage another coup and cancel elections expected this year.
Others say it may be a breakdown in communication channels at a time of strained relations over Cambodia’s flying of a national flag in the disputed area and the laying of a stone tablet inscribed with “This is Cambodia.”
5 comments:
Throughout the history the Siem thieves always ally with major powers to steal what belong to Cambodia!
During WWWII the Siem thieves ally with Hitler to declare war on United States and United Kingdom. And at the same time the Siem thieves ally with Japan to annex large of portion of Cambodian territories during the Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia.
Now in the 21st century, the Siem thieves once again ally with major power such as United States and declare war on Cambodia! There is a clear pattern of Siem thieves bad behavior and that is they will never up their blind ambition to steal what belong to Cambodia and to kill any Cambodian people who are their victim!
The Siem thieves will do it all over again in a heart beat if opportunity present! So Cambodia will never have peace and stability!
Hi
Let UN peacekeeper destroy Kingdom of dog disappear from this world, that like intruding next door neighbors.
Not like living peacefully, but like disturbing the others. Thai nationals arose from theft, since had been no land till have had it.
Thailand was used to be slavers of Cambodia for ages. I would like USA not to associate with Kingdom of dog anymore. when you are strong is to be tied with you , when you are weak, THAILAND ABANDON YOU
chao chao`
More bullshiteral talk with kapik? Buy why? Do not change the ICJ decission and accept any condition with Thai. We are the owner of land and preah vihear already, anc we have the deed and title.
The right khmer person will talk about issue with thailand and also vietnam.
Everyone is righteous in their mind, when situation arises, their righteousness is hidden, or no action.
very sad world of so called " humanity "
We are thai people living near the border ,we need peace ,we want tolive with peace,we want to unit with family each other ,so we ask the thai government please stop the war and let the UN solve the problem about the border,the war make us hurt and lost every thing.
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