Friday, June 10, 2011

Thai New Diplomat Pledges to Improve Ties with Cambodia

2011-06-10
Xinhua

Thai new-designated ambassador to Cambodia Sompong Sanguanbun on Friday pledged to restore the cold relations between the two countries over border dispute.

"During my mission here, I will try all my best to defuse border tensions in order to restore the neighboring two countries' relation and cooperation," he said during a meeting with Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong.

He added that Cambodia and Thailand are quite similar even language, cultures, religion, custom and tradition.

"Thai government's stance is to see the people of Cambodia and Thailand living in peace and good harmonization," he added.


Meanwhile, the new ambassador suggested that Cambodia and Thailand renew the meetings of the General Border Committee (GBC) and the Joint Border Commission (JBC) in order to resolve border dispute.

Hor Namhong said that Cambodia wished to see "peaceful solution" over the border conflict and this is the reason that Cambodia sued to the United Nations Security Council, the ASEAN, and The Hague.

"Cambodia's stance is to narrow the dispute and expand cooperation with Thailand on all other sectors," he said.

However, the minister reiterated that there will be no GBC and JBC meetings if Thailand has not positively responded to the "package solution" that Cambodian, Thai and Indonesian foreign ministers agreed on May 9 in Jakarta.

Sompong Sanguanbun replaced the outgoing Thai ambassador Prasas Prasasvinitchai, whose diplomatic term in Cambodia ended in April.

Cambodian and Thai border has never been fully completed. The conflict occurred just a week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008.

Thailand claims the ownership of 4.6 square kilometers (1.8 square miles) of scrub next to the temple.

Since then, both sides have built up military forces along the border and periodic clashes have happened, resulted in the deaths of troops and civilians on both sides.

The latest flare-up between the two countries' troops occurred from April 22 until May 3 at the 13th century Ta Moan temple and Ta Krabei temple in Oddar Meanchey province, leaving 19 people on both sides killed and nearly 100,000 civilians fled homes for safe shelters.

The two sides agreed to accept Indonesian observers to monitor a ceasefire on their respective border side on Feb. 22 at the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Jakarta, but the deployment was always delayed because Thailand demanded that Cambodian soldiers and locals be withdrawn from the disputed area of 4.6 sq km near the temple first.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish I can believe you the Siem Sompong Sanguanbun said. Thai soldiers were more brutal than Khmer Rogue, they beat up Khmer as young as 10 years old on the border for fun. If they come across Khmer women, they often get rape. Thanks for so much for the same culture.

Anonymous said...

Sompung Sanguanbun is just another Siem prostitute sent by AH Abishit illegal government installed by Siem military thugs sponsored by the King of Thailand that has no mandate whatsoever in dealing with the neighboring countries!

Sompung needs to talk to the hand! And the hand said bye-bye-bye...

Anonymous said...

The trouble for Thailand starts in this 21 Century, because the young generation and well educated Khmer descents born in Thailand want to have their own freedom as Khmer people and not a mask of Thai people.

Remembered the situation of the former state of Yugoslavia.

Anonymous said...

Dude, you do not need to try your best. Just leave us alone. Remove all your troop from Khmer land, let us develop Preah Vihear in peace, damn, she is belong to us, Khmer built her.

Anonymous said...

The new Thai diplomat pledge to invade more lands from cambodia...