Thursday, April 28, 2011

Border conflict festers

April 28, 2011
The Nation

Abhisit will seek talks with Hun Sen, doubts his intentions; Cambodian PM vows to raise issue at Asean summit, says does not want clashes to spread

Efforts to bring peace to the borders of Thailand and Cambodia have got nowhere as leaders of the two countries have yet to offer ways to settle the armed conflict, despite saying they are ready to talk.

Both nations claim they did not trigger the border skirmishes and have called on each other to stop shooting.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told the House of Representatives yesterday that he would seek an opportunity to talk with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on the sidelines of the Asean Summit in early May in Jakarta.

Hun Sen's move

However, Hun Sen said he would raise the border conflict at the Asean meeting, rather than talking bilaterally with his Thai counterpart.

"Cambodia will raise the issue at the Asean summit next month, so Abhisit and I can negotiate during the Asean Summit," Hun Sen was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency.

"Even though there are no Cambodia-Thailand border issues on the agenda for the Asean Summit, I will raise them with Asean leaders," he said.


Thailand and Cambodia have been in military conflict over the boundary in two major areas - Preah Vihear in Si Sa Ket, and Ta Muen Thom in Surin.

Hun Sen said Cambodia would talk to Thailand over the conflict at Ta Muen and Ta Kwai bilaterally, but needed a third party for the Preah Vihear dispute.

The Preah Vihear Temple issue has been raised with the United Nations Security Council and Asean, he said. "We have to respect the role of Asean. All the negotiations about the disputed border areas near Preah Vihear Temple must be with the participation of a third party."

Abhisit said he doubted the Cambodian leader's motives, saying: "If you are ready to talk, why do you keep firing guns?"

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told the House yesterday his government would do all it could to push Cambodia into bilateral talks to settle the dispute. He urged the legislative body to help convince Cambodian leaders to restore peace along the border.

Kasit met US Ambassador to Thailand Kristie Kenney to brief her on the conflict with Cambodia. He urged Washington to help persuade leaders in Phnom Penh to sit together with Thailand for peace talks. The minister also met envoys from Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and Canada for the same purpose.

Kasit said Thailand was not an aggressor and wanted to live peacefully with Cambodia.

Hun Sen said Cambodia does not want conflict with its bigger neighbour Thailand and called for a ceasefire, saying: "Cambodia doesn't want the conflict to spread further. Cambodia is small, poor and has small armed forces, but don't forget that ants can hurt an elephant."

Peace effort fails

An attempt to open peace talks between senior officials of the two neighbours failed yesterday as Defence Minister Prawit Wongsu-wan changed his mind at the last minute about meeting his Cambo-dian counterpart Tea Banh. He was reported to be disappointed over reports in the Cambodian media about the conflict, according to a military source. He was told that the Cambodians claimed he was seeking peace talks because the Thai military had admitted it was defeated and had lost the battle, the source said.

Prawit flew to China yesterday as originally scheduled and will seek a meeting with Tea Banh after the trip later this week, according to his secretary Noppadon Intapanya.

Fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops at Ta Muen and Ta Kwai temples continued for the sixth day yesterday with exchange of small arms fire in the border area.

The fighting erupted last Friday after Cambodian troops attempted to take a position in the Phnom Dangrek mountain near the Hindu temple. The fighting has left six dead, including a civilian on the Thai side, and injured more than 50 so far.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is ah thailand lost for flip flop with the meeting and started the war. UNSC needs to listen to hun xen requested for senting observer since Asean can't do the job right. Don't cry ah thailand because u started first, not khmer. Soon, there will be no more thailand on the map.

Anonymous said...

Hun SEn murdered thousands cambodian people k5, 1997 coup...shooted in the head one by one with no regret but Hun Sen is very coward to Viet and Thai.

Thai PM, it is time that you shoot PM Hun Sen families in the head as they did to cambodian people.

Thai f16 and f18 must bomb Hun Sen base not the border. From thai air base to Hun Sen base only take 20 minutes of flight.

Thai PM must use F16 to bomb Hun Sen.

Anonymous said...

Var Kim Hong does recognize that Cambodia, if compared to the colonial Service Geographique de l’Indochine scale map 1/100,000 and the 1985 delimitation treaty, will loses 9,000 hectares; and compared to U.S Army Mapping Service scale map 1/50,000 with the 1985 Treaty, would lose about 7,900 hectares to Vietnam. This statement was confirmed by Var Kim Hong to Mr. Touch Bora Esq through a telephone conversation on 30 August 2002 at 4:30 p.m. (Sydney time), which Mr. Touch Bora Esq wrote in his letter dated on 9 September 2002 sent to Sam Dach Ta Noroudom Sihanouk concerning over border affairs.
In fact, the loss is absolutely more than the 1000 square kilometers stated by MP Sam Rainsy in his statement, if we add the size of the historical water of 30000 square kilometers awarded to Vietnam under the 1982 Agreement which has been into affect and now already become under the full control of Vietnam. And this would not be the last if the equidistance principle be used to delimit the maritime boundary, Cambodia will lose an additional area of sea and seabed measuring at least 860 square nautical miles from the Brevie Line to the north, analyzed by Mr. Touch Bora Esq or another 10000 square kilometers confirmed by Mr. Sean Pengse, the President of the Cambodian Border Committee Worldwide, which exclusively include another Koh Poula Wai to Vietnam added to the previous lost islands- Koh Tral (Dao Phu Quoc) and Koh Poulo Panjang (Dao Thu Chu).

This is why sVar Kim Hong said in front of Students´s Movement for Democracy (SMD), and Sam Dach Ta Norodom Sihanouk on 22 Janaury 2000 during our audience with him concerning the border resolution with Vietnam that; “If we want peace, we must sacrifice our flesh to the tiger.” The truth is discovered now that, “Sacrifice the flesh to tiger actually means cutting our land to the Viet.” This word was clearly spoken out from his mouth and there were Sam Dach Ta as witness and 31 members.

We must condemn this Var Kim Hong for his role in helping the traitorous regime of Hun Sen.

Smart Khmer Girl Ms. Rattana Keo,

Anonymous said...

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,

Anonymous said...

No need a biliteral talk because simply it will never work. For more than three years these issues have not been solved. Preah vichear has been listed by the unesco as a khmer world heritage. So, it is up to khmer to do whatever we like to the temple and its surrounding area of 4.6km. This is not to count on the land we already lost to the land for centuries ago. If you look at other temples in Thailand, they were originally belonged to khmer because they looked as a duplication of the ankhor or other temples in the khmer land. So, Thai people should appreciate and respect us by leaving us alone for once. The Viets have helped us in many ways but never did the Thai. From 1979, Viets not only gave us rice to eat but also saved the whole nation. Unlike Thai, they helped to killed us by dumping us into the mine-field from 1979-1983. Most khmer overseas had to face with alot of crisis before arriving into the first world.

So, we have to continue to work with the Viets and help each other out in term of protecting both of our nations. So, far half of khmer nations are khmer-viets and there is nothing you can do about it. As a matter of fact both of our nations become much better and stronger than ever. The only thing we need to do is to continue to promote unity and love for each other. Wisdom

Anonymous said...

8:29 AM,

You are bullshit and still serving your dirty and secret Vietcong who create the Killing Fields.

How much land lost to Vietnam?

How big were the natural resources of Cambodia have been gone to Vietnam?

Do you know Koh Tral? Koh Tral is the largest island of Cambodia in the Cambodian Sea. Vietnamese people illegally live there and named Koh Tral to be Dao Phu Quoc.

When my friend went to Koh Tral to visit, Vietnamese asked him, what nationality are you? Khmer, he said. Then, he was pissed by those Vietnamese people there.

You are just brainwashed by CPP Yuon members and Hun Sen who serve disgraceful Communist Hanoi. Are you Khmer or Yuon when you are so blind and did not know who were behind the Killing Fields secretly? I was a survivor of Killing Fields from 1975 to 1979. I have seen those Youn or Vietnamese Secret agents who hid or pretended to be Khmer Rouges armies all over the places in Cambodia. You have no doubt that Khmer Rouges were so busy fighting with Southern Red Vietnamese armies to get Khmer/Kampuchea Krom (Southern Vietnam) and saved those Khmer people living there.

There were many secret Vietnamese people and agents who could write and speak Khmer languages very well and who hiding among Khmer Rouges and innocent Khmer people in the Killing Fields. They killed Khmer people, forced people to starve to death, over work, they trained young kids to hate their own parents and become cruel and so on.

You need to open big eyes and eyes to know that. I know you are living in Peace and so am I.

What idiot are you?

Anonymous said...

don't believe evil siem asshole bullshit because they were the one to not allow observers and international intervention, etc, really! it's not about siem's claim not wanting to burden the international community, etc as they is just a lame or poor evil siem exuse to further bullying and stealing from cambodia like they always do. siem show they do not want peace and friendship with cambodia and thus picking a fight with cambodia, you know! and they called their country a civilized country! how hypocritical and fake and dreamy they are. shame on siem assholes!

Anonymous said...

don't forget, even cambodia have our own national interest, too, you know! cambodia is not about evil siem, ok! get used to it, ok!

Anonymous said...

Gods and Buddas won't help you Ah Hun Sen and his families, relatives or friends because they murdered thousands of Cambodian people life during their life time on Earth.

Arun said...

If 1 and 2 did not start the trigger,in communist stragedy must has #3 start it.
Find out..Who is #3