Sunday, May 08, 2011

Southeast Asian leaders fail to resolve deadly border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia

Saturday, May 7, 2011
Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Southeast Asian leaders made little headway Sunday in helping Thailand and Cambodia end a deadly border dispute that could undermine peace and stability in the region as it pushes for economic integration.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was also poised to agree to Myanmar taking over the rotating chair as scheduled in 2014 despite doubts about the country’s human rights record, according to draft statement seen by The Associated Press.

The Cambodian and Thai prime ministers held talks Sunday — mediated by Indonesia’s president — as part of efforts to hammer out a lasting cease-fire.

But neither seemed in any mood to back down.

There’s no conclusion,” Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told reporters after the trilateral meeting, providing no details. “We’ll need further talks after this.”


During the plenary session between ASEAN leaders Saturday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called a demand by Thailand to withdraw troops from the area “irrational and unacceptable.”

It’s Thailand that has to withdraw its troops from the vicinity,” he said, warning that unless ASEAN stepped in, the border dispute could undermine many of the regional grouping’s loftier goals of achieving economic integration by 2015.

And returning to his earlier stance, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the dispute, which has claimed nearly 20 lives in the last two weeks, should be settled between the two countries alone.

Also on the agenda of the two-day ASEAN summit that wraps up Sunday was Myanmar’s bid to take over the rotating chair of the 10-member regional grouping in 2014 — which appeared set for approval.

A draft of the ASEAN chairman statement says Southeast Asian leaders “consented to the proposal.”

The regional grouping is supposed to rotate the post every year between its 10 member countries.

Myanmar was forced to skip its turn in 2005, however, after coming under heavy pressure from the international community over slow progress on national reconciliation and human rights.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

ASIAN LEADER IS NO BTTER THAN MURDERER.

Anonymous said...

Thailand intention is to wipe out Khmer culture completely. Yesterday I was in a grocery store and was about to buy a jar of bamboo shoot pickle made in Thailand. And then I read the description on the jar it reads "...for Thais, Vietnamese, and Laos dishes.." I was shock, wow, where is Cambodia? Another product is the Three Ladies rice, on the rice bag there are description in Thais, Vietnamese, and Laos. No where I could find any description written in Khmer for Cambodians. Thus this is not the first time I see many goods from Thailand omitting Cambodia country from the label on food products or give any credit to Khmer culture. Please, Cambodians/Khmers inside and outside of Cambodia, boycott all Goods made in or from Thailand.

Proud to be born a Khmer!

Anonymous said...

If Vietnam respect Cambodia integrity
by not taking Khmer sea water,Khmer
islands,Khmer land along border,Thai
will respect Khmer as a good neighbor
.Thai knew that Vietnam took and planted seven rubber fields in seven Khmer provinces in Cambodia.
Thai knew that Vietnam brought in
6,000,000 Viet immigrants in srok
Khmer.
Thai knew that Viet hided 20,000
troops in seven rubber fields in
Cambodia.
Thai knew that Viet have 500,000
Vietnam in Great Lake.
Thai knew that Cambodia is Viet slave.
So,Thai is jealous of Vietnam.
If Vietnam can do so can Thai.
This what Cambodia has done to itself.
Cambodia depended on Vietnam must
lose land and liberty.

Anonymous said...

You must remove the Vietnamese
delegations out of this Cambodian
and Thailand border dispute in order
to successfully solve the matter.
Take my word! because Hanoi is doing the territory expansion and Hanoi uses Cambodian to jab at Thailand while Hanoi manipulation its people to sneak inside Thailand.