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| Virachai Plasai |
ABC Radio Australia
An explosive hearing into a territorial row between Thailand and Cambodia will begin today at the International Court of Justice at the Hague.
Over the years, each side has fought for ownership of the land surrounding Preah Vihear temple, which lies between the two countries.
Now the case should be resolved once and for all.
Delegations from Thailand and Cambodia will make oral statements to the court before a final decision is made.
Correspondent; Zoe Daniel
Speaker: Virachai Plasai, Thai ambassador to the Netherlands
ZOE DANIEL: The 11th century temple at Preah Vihear was a gem of the Khmer empire.
But over the last century, it's become the backdrop to a conflict waged between Thailand and Cambodia.
In 1962 the International Court of Justice at The Hague settled the issue, awarding the temple itself to Cambodia. But ever since, there's been conjecture about who owns the surrounding land, and so the case is back in court.
The Thai ambassador to the Netherlands, Virachai Plasai, is leading the Thai case at the ICJ. He says the disputes over the land didn't really become an issue until 2007, when UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) recognised the temple as a World Heritage site.
VIRACHAI PLASAI: Well, I think the real cause of this is the decision made by Cambodia to go alone trying to inscribe the temple on the World Heritage list (sic!), and they decided to do that around 2007.
That was when things turned bad for both of us, because before that time, there were plans to jointly nominate the temple as a property, while the area around would be under Thai sovereignty and then we would manage this together.
ZOE DANIEL: People have since been killed in armed clashes at the site, which also forced thousands to flee their homes and caused damage to the ancient temple.
Cambodia has now asked the ICJ to determine once and for all who owns the disputed 4.6 square kilometres of land around the temple.
While tensions still run high and each side refuses to accept the other's interpretation, both delegations told the ABC that they will peacefully accept the court's ruling.
However, within Thailand, there's concern that there could be a flare up of violence when the judgment is announced.
The Thai nationalist group the People's Alliance for Democracy, recently staged protests near the temple.
The final and binding judgment of the court could be as early as October.
5 comments:
អាចោរហ៊ុន សែន
ទាមទារប្រាសាទព្រះវិហារឲ្យទៅយួន!
អាចោរហ៊ុន សែន
ទាមទារប្រាសាទព្រះវិហារពីសៀម ឲ្យទៅយួន!
5.51
If you don't have anything to say , just shut your mouth up ok.
It is just wasting of money to bring the case to ICJ again. The best solution between both countries is we should share ownership with Thailand and promote tourism to Preah Vihear temple. This is the win-win situation and Cambodia and Thailand will get equal revenue from Preah Vihear temple.
Pang Sokheoun, Secretary-General of SRP in Sweden.
4:34 may not be the real Pang Sokheun expression of opinion. It sounds like impersonator from Thailand trying to cause Khmer fighting each other. Please just focus on what will benefit Khmer nation as a whole. It is time to unite and fight against thief trying to blur the line to demand something that isn't there in the first place. Thailand always want to joint development which will allow to own part of the temple ground and economic benefits from develop it. Why would Thailand so viciously demanding a piece of land adjacent to the Khmer temple? According the Cambodian international recognized borderline, there are parts of territories that we think it is their land but they would not want that... they want the piece of land near our Preah vihear temple only. What does that tell you?
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