Thailand agrees to send representative to JBC meeting

April 5, 2011
By Nuntida Puangthong, Piyanart Srivalo
The Nation

Asda Jayanama, chief of the Thailand-Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission (JBC), will be representing Thailand at the JBC meeting in Indonesia later this week, though it is unlikely that the leader of the General Border Commission (GBC) will go.

Asda will attend the meeting in Bogor on Thursday and Friday, even though the Parliament is refusing to consider minutes of the previous JBC meetings, secretary to the foreign minister, Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, said.

The JBC, which oversees land demarcation between Thailand and Cambodia, faced controversy when the parliament hesitated to consider the minutes of its previous three meetings. The lawmakers are still unclear on whether the minutes need to be passed before JBC meets again, while the Constitution Court refused last week to rule on the need of the Parliament to approve such documents. The issue is still pending.

To avoid legal consequences, no documents will be signed at the upcoming meeting, Chavanond said, adding that the officials would only review progress of the previous work and focus on topics that do not involve changes to the boundary. Basically, the meeting would discuss which agency should be put in charge of taking aerial photographs for boundary survey and demarcation, he said.

As Asean chair, Indonesia facilitated meetings between Thailand and Cambodia after a border skirmish in February claimed several lives on both sides. Asean has been planning to dispatch Indonesian observers to the disputed areas adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple, but the plan has not materialised yet because the Thai military is reluctant to let them in.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that Thailand would not discuss the observation plans in the upcoming meeting. The issue would first have to be discussed among various concerned agencies, including the Foreign and Defence ministries, he said.

At a meeting yesterday, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Abhisit that he - as co-chair of the GBC - would not attend the meeting in Indonesia because talks on the issue should be held in Cambodia or Thailand, not a third country.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said last week that his country was ready to attend both JBC and GBC meetings in Indonesia though Thailand was sending mixed signals.