Bangkok Post
The Foreign Ministry will be keeping a close eye on parliament today as three minutes from the Joint Boundary Commission are deliberated again.
The joint parliament postponed consideration of the minutes from Friday last week after it took five hours to debate the documents, which have been put on the parliament's agenda four times already.
The documents are opposed by some senators and members of the yellow shirt People's Alliance for Democracy and Thai Patriots Network who fear that approval could lead to Thailand losing territory in its border dispute with Cambodia.
They are calling for the revocation of the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding signed by Thailand and Cambodia which facilitated the JBC meeting and the proposal of the minutes.
However, if these opponents to the proceedings looked at the issue with more open minds, they would see that the three minutes do not threaten Thai sovereignty.
They are merely a starting point for smoothing further negotiations between both countries, particularly regarding the dispute over the border area surrounding the Preah Vihear temple.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya has defended the MoU, saying it is an existing tool and a framework for negotiations on the border problems.
"More importantly, the MoU is vital to show the World Heritage Committee [WHC] that border negotiations surrounding the Hindu temple between Thailand and Cambodia have not been concluded," he said.
Recognising that the dispute is ongoing led the WHC to postpone making a decision on Cambodia's proposed area management plan for Preah Vihear under the World Heritage listing process.
Under the MoU, Thailand and Cambodia have set an agreement and a master plan for the joint survey and boundary demarcation.
The tasks include searching for and restoring all 73 original boundary markers, preparing Orthophoto maps (scale 1:25,000) of the area, surveying the landscape and conducting border demarcation.
As Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva put it last Friday, Cambodia is closely following the debate and is seeking to turn a bilateral dispute into an international issue. It has already successfully attracted the attention of the United Nations and Asean.
If it was claimed that Thailand did not sincerely try to hold talks through bilateral mechanisms, Cambodia might more easily rouse further foreign intervention.
Mr Abhisit yesterday ordered the Foreign Ministry to explain the issue to the public more fully.
Nobody wants Thailand to lose a single piece of land, but if the issue continues to be influenced by politics, those involved should share responsibility for the consequences.
3 comments:
It's Easy... use all yours men and firepowers to win the treaty or Pra Viharn.
You Siem try and You Siem will die!
Cambodia is not responsibile for Siem dirty politic cause by Siem political leaders!
Cambodia is a neutral country!
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