Cambodia: Jointly develop maritime zone

August 31, 2011
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

Cambodia yesterday called for resumption of negotiations with the Thai government to settle the dispute in an overlapping area in the Gulf of Thailand and jointly develop the maritime resource, while also rejecting the Thai opposition Democrat Party's accusation of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra having a personal interest in the project.

The Cambodian National Petroleum Authority issued a statement calling on Thailand to honour the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the area of overlapping maritime claim signed by the two countries in 2001. The Mo aimed to jointly develop the area in the gulf, which is claimed by both sides and is believed to have abundant petroleum resources.

The Abhisit Vejjajiva government decided to scrap the MoU signed during the time of the Thaksin administration after Thaksin was appointed Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's adviser in November 2009. Abhisit accused Thaksin of having personal interest in the maritime deal and the likelihood of him disclosing information that would benefit Phnom Penh under the 2001 MoU.

However, the denunciation of the MoU did not come into effect as the Abhisit government did not officially inform Phnom Penh of the decision.

The Cambodian petroleum authority said in its statement that negotiations between the two countries during 2001-2007, before the Abhisit administration came to power, was fruitful. It said the negotiations resulted in many proposals for joint development of the area and profit sharing.

The statement alleged that the Abhisit government tried to make a secret deal, which Phnom Penh disagreed with, on the maritime area. Abhisit sent his deputy Suthep Thaugsuban for talks with Cambodian leaders many times, including two behind-the-scene meetings with Deputy Prime Minister Sok An in Hong Kong and Kunming in August 2009 and July 2010 respectively.

While asking for transparency from previous governments which had deals with Phnom Penh openly "why under the Abhisit government was there a need for secret meetings", it said.

The opposition Democrats raised the question of Thaksin's personal business deal on oil and gas concession in overlapping area in the Gulf of Thailand in Parliament last week when the new government under Yingluck Shinawatra delivered its policy address. Thaksin, who is Yingluck's brother, had reportedly planned to visit Phnom Penh from August 19-21 but later changed his mind.

The Cambodian petroleum authority accused Abhisit of attempting to derail negotiations between the governments of the two countries on the maritime deal. The Democrat allegations of Thaksin of having a personal interest is groundless, it said.

"So far, the new government [under Yingluck] has not held any meeting or raised any proposal with Cambodia to resolve the overlapping area, let alone any proposal to settle the dispute in exchange for any private individual's gain," the statement said.

Thaksin's legal adviser Noppadon Pattama said yesterday that the former prime minister, who is now in China after his high-profile visit to Japan, did not have any plan to visit Cambodia or any of Thailand's neighbouring countries.