8/04/2011
Thanida Tansubhapol & Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post
Thailand and Cambodia have resumed Joint Boundary Commission talks in Indonesia to try to resolve their border spat which has seen bilateral relations plunge to their lowest point in years.
Former ambassador Asda Jayanama and Cambodia's top border negotiator Var Kimhong co-chaired the two-day meeting held in Bogor from yesterday.
At the meeting, which will be concluded today , Thailand and Cambodia agreed to work jointly on three issues to support border demarcation, said Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.
"Thailand and Cambodia have reached agreements to prepare for the survey of border posts 1 to 23 in Surin and Si Saket provinces; to select a company to take aerial photos of the disputed border line; and to conduct a study on the opening of a new border checkpoint in Sa Kaeo, opposite Stung Bot in Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province," Mr Chavanond said.
The three resolutions would be put in the record of discussion to be released today. But they would not be implemented until the Thai parliament endorsed the three minutes of the 2008 and 2009 JBC meetings, he said.
"The atmosphere [of the JBC meeting] was good," Mr Chavanond said. "However, Mr Var Kimhong has stressed that Cambodia wants to see the three JBC minutes get parliamentary endorsement so negotiations on other issues could proceed."
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa did not attend the JBC meeting, which lasted about two hours.
He only held separate talks with Mr Asda and Var Kimhong to help the two prepare the meeting procedure and agenda, Mr Chavanond said.
Thailand and Cambodia also agreed that the two nations should quickly turn to the negotiating table should any border clashes take place in the future, he said.
The latest armed clashes flared up in early February around the disputed border area near the Preah Vihear temple. At least eight people were killed and dozens were injured on both sides.
The skirmishes led to intervention by the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations on Feb 22, when the Informal Asean Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held to end the fighting.
At the Feb 22 meeting, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to resume their bilateral negotiations through the JBC and the General Border Committee (GBC) mechanisms.
The two nations also agreed to accept observers from Indonesia, as the current chair of Asean, to monitor the respective sides of the border to observe the commitments made by both sides to avoid further clashes.
Mr Natalegawa said yesterday that the JBC meeting had made progress on the issue of observers.
Meanwhile, Mr Kasit yesterday said his ministry would take over from the Defence Ministry the task of defining the roles of Indonesian observers and the locations along the Thai-Cambodian border where they would be posted.
The ministry originally only had responsibility for extending diplomatic immunity to the observers while they were stationed in Thailand.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and the Indonesian foreign minister would be briefed about the change on the sidelines of Asean-Japan Special Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta tomorrow, he said.
The transfer of responsibility was decided on after Mr Kasit talked to Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon on the phone on Wednesday.
Thailand and Cambodia agreed at their meeting in Jakarta on Feb 22 to accept Indonesian observers to be stationed along their common border.
The move has upset the Thai military which announced on Tuesday it would not allow the observers to enter the disputed area.
But Mr Kasit said he had agreed with Phnom Penh and Jakarta that Indonesian observers could inspect the area. Fifteen Indonesian observers would be deployed in Thailand and 15 in Cambodia.
They would be allowed to approach the disputed area but would not be permitted to enter it. They must not be armed or wear military uniform, and must arrive as diplomats.
Gen Prawit said he had told Mr Kasit that he could make any decision himself during the JBC meeting [in Indonesia] as long as it did not violate the laws and the constitution of Thailand.
"No problem. I believe the minister knows what he should do," he said.
8 comments:
The island's history is as old as any Asian mainland. An 1856 record mentions the island: "... King Ang Duong (of Cambodia) apprise Mr. de Montigny, French envoy in visit to Bangkok, through the intermediary of Bishop Miche, his intention to yield Koh Tral to France (cf. “The Second [French] Empire of IndoChina”)". Such a proposition aimed to create a military alliance with France to avoid the threat of Vietnam on Cambodia. The proposal did not receive an answer from the French.
While the war between Annam, France, and Spain was about to begin, Ang Duong sent another letter to Napoleon III to warn him on Cambodian claims on the lower Cochinchina region: the Cambodian king listed provinces and islands, including Koh Tral, under Vietnamese occupation since several years or decades (in the case of Saigon, some 200 years according to this letter). Ang Duong asked the French emperor to not annex any part of these territories because, as he wrote, despite this relatively long Vietnamese occupation, they remain Cambodian lands. In 1867, Phu Quoc's Vietnamese authorities pledge allegiance to French troops just conquering HaTien.
After Cambodia gained independence from France, sovereignty disputes over the island were raised since there was no colonial decision on the island's fate. Dating back to 1939, the Governor-general of French Indochina, Jules Brévié had drawn a line to delimiting the administrative boundaries for islands in the Gulf of Thailand: those north of the line were placed under the Cambodian protectorate; those south of the line were managed by the colony of Cochinchina. Brévié made the point that the decision merely addressed police and administrative task, and that no sovereignty decision had been made. As a result, Phu Quoc remains under Cochinchina administration.
Phu Quoc has been a sleepy historical backwater most of its life. The temple on Cau rock was built in 1937. During the Vietnam War the island housed South Vietnam's largest prisoner camp (40000 in 1973, cf. Ngo Cong Duc, deputy of the Vinh Binh province, quoted in "Le régime de Nguyen Van Thieu à travers l'épreuve", Etude Vietnamienne, 1974, pp. 99–131).
After Mainland China fell under the control of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, General Huang Chieh led 30,000 Republic of China Army soldiers to Vietnam and they were stationed at Phu Quoc Island. Later, the army moved to Taiwan in June 1953. There is currently a small island in Kaohsiung, Taiwan's Chengcing Lake that was constructed in November 1955 and named Phu Quoc Island in memory of the fleeing Chinese soldiers in 1949.
In 1967, during the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, Norodom Sihanouk aimed to make the border internationally recognized; in particular, in 1967, the North Vietnamese government recognize theses borders. As written in an article from Kambudja magazine in 1968 (and quoted in the Sihanouk website), entitled "border questions", this border definition recognize that Phu Quoc island is in Vietnamese territory, even if Cambodian claims have been made later.
On May 1, 1975, a squad of Khmer Rouge soldiers raided and took Phu Quoc Island, but Vietnam soon recaptured it. This was to be the first of a series of incursions and counter-incursions that would escalate to the Cambodian–Vietnamese War in 1979.
By Dr. Hun Manet,
Koh Tral Island must not be forgotten
By Ms. Rattana Keo
Why do Koh Tral Island, known in Vietnam as Phu Quoc, a sea and land area covering proximately over 10,000 km2 [Note: the actual land size of Koh Tral itself is 574 square kilometres (222 sq miles)] have been lost to Vietnam by whose treaty? Why don’t Cambodia government be transparent and explain to Cambodia army at front line and the whole nation about this? Why don't they include this into education system? Why?
Cambodian armies are fighting at front line for 4.6 km2 on the Thai border and what's about over 10,000km2 of Cambodia to Vietnam. Nobody dare to talk about it! Why? Cambodian armies you are decide the fate of your nation, Cambodian army as well as Cambodian people must rethink about this again and again. Is it fair?
Koh Tral Island, the sea and land area of over 10,000 square kilometres have been lost to Vietnam by the 1979 to 1985 treaties. The Cambodian army at front line as well as all Cambodian people must rethink again about these issues. Are Cambodian army fighting to protect the Cambodia Nation or protecting a very small group that own big lands, big properties or only protecting a small group but disguising as protecting the Khmer nation?
The Cambodian army at front lines suffer under rain, wind, bullets, bombs, lack of foods, lack of nutrition and their families have no health care assistance, no securities after they died but a very small group eat well, sleep well, sleep in first class hotel with air conditioning system with message from young girls, have first class medical care from oversea medical treatments, they are billionaires, millionaires who sell out the country to be rich and make the Cambodian people suffer everyday.
Who signed the treaty 1979-1985 that resulted in the loss over 10,000 km2 of Cambodia??? Why they are not being transparent and brave enough to inform all Cambodians and Cambodian army at front line about these issues? Why don't they include Koh Tral (Koh Tral size is bigger than the whole Phom Phen and bigger than Singapore [Note: Singapore's present land size is 704 km2 (271.8 sq mi)]) with heap of great natural resources, in the Cambodian education system?
Look at Hun Sen's families, relatives and friends- they are billionaires, millionaires. Where did they get the money from when we all just got out of war with empty hands [in 1979]? Hun Sen always say in his speeches that Cambodia had just risen up from the ashes of war, just got up from Year Zero with empty hands and how come they are billionaires, millionaires but 90% of innocent Cambodian people are so poor and struggling with their livelihood every day?
Smart Khmer girl Ms. Rattana Keo,
very disturb press release by Thai Foreign Ministry concerning the use of cluster boom.
http://www.mfa.go.th/web/35.php?id=27006
Interesting press release:
http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/news/?id=3141
In respone to Dr. Hun Manet by Ms. Rattana Keo,
KAMPUCHEA KROM AT A GLANCE
Kampuchea Krom is composed of 68,965 square kilometers, 21 provinces and municipalities, two large islands - Koh Tral and Koh Tralach, 171 districts, 1,368 communes, 14,778 villages, more than 13 million Khmers, more than 567 Buddhist pagodas and more than 20,000 Theravada Buddhist monks.
99% of populations are Theravada Buddhists.
The Khmer kings, governments, regimes and citizens have never relinquish (give up) this part of their country to foreigners.
Kampuchea Krom has been under an ongoing colonial control since her division from motherland, Cambodia.
June 4, 1949 is the date that the Khmer Kampuchea Krom citizens grieve. The Khmer Kampuchea Krom people have organized Buddhist Service annually to honor the fallen Khmer Buddhist monks and heroes, who sacrificed their lives for Kampuchea Krom and Theravada Buddhism.
Colonial France divided, ceded and transferred Kampuchea Krom to colonial Vietnam on this date. The freedom of Khmer Kampuchea Krom has been mostly stripped by the Vietnamese ruling regimes and governments since. The French colonial administration committed injustice upon the more than 13 million Khmers of this beautiful fertile land.
Justice remains elusive for Cambodia, Kampuchea Krom and her citizens.
And...The struggle to regain freedom and human rights by the Khmers in Kampuchea Krom continues as long as injustice commits by the ruling Vietnamese regime(s) has not produced a fruitful result.
Koh Tral (Tral Island)
in Vietnamese - Phu Quoc island
circa 1939 Vietnamese encroached and conquered
Koh Tral Island has an area of 567 square kilometers; about 62 kilometers long and between 3 kilometers and 28 kilometers wide. The island physically is located closest to Cambodia's Kep seaside city. Visitors can see Koh Tral Island from the coastline of Kep. It is about a 30-minute motorized boat ride.
The struggle will continue against the Vietcong government until there is a solution to the Khmer people! The talking, the discussion, and the struggle will continue...
"Thailand and Cambodia also agreed that the two nations should quickly turn to the negotiating table should any border clashes take place in the future, he said."
=This is old dirty Siem trick by using negotiation to prolong border conflict! Just say no to Siem style negotiation!
Koh Tral will not be forgotten!
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