Thais arrested by Cambodian soldiers after across controversial temple

BANGKOK, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian soldiers on Tuesday arrested three Thais who climbed over a fence from the Thai side to the overlapping area at the entrance of controversial Preah Vihear Temple which stands at the Thai-Cambodian border.

According to the report of Thai news network The Nation, Thai army failed so far to convince the Khmer side to free the three detained in the morning of Tuesday.

Local newspaper the Bangkok Post said on its website that a monk is among the arrested.

It is reportedly that the three were in an attempt to put a Thai flag on the disputed area. But Cambodian soldiers spotted and detained them.

Thai authorities are trying to negotiate with Cambodia about their release, said the post.

The Preah Vihear Temple, which straddles the Thai-Cambodian border atop the Dangrek Mountain, was listed as a World Heritage Site on July 7 by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.

Thailand's Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama resigned last Thursday after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had overstepped his authority in supporting Cambodia's application to have the temple classified as a World Heritage Site.

Cambodia started seeking the status of World Heritage Site for the temple in 2001, hoping for influx of tourists and international funding that normally accompanies the designation.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the 11-century classic Khmer-style temple and the land it occupies to Cambodia, a decision therefore rankling Thais.

Cambodia nabs three Thai protestors at controversial border temple

Tue, 15 Jul 2008
DPA

Bangkok - Cambodian soldiers on Tuesday detained three Thai protestors, including one Buddhist monk, who had crossed the border to demonstrate against the listing of Preah Vihear temple as a UN World Heritage Site despite Thailand's opposition. State-run Thai TV PBS said the three men, identified as Phicharn Thapsorn, 35, Chanikarn Singnok, 64, and Buddhist Monk Khamphor, were detained by Cambodian soldiers Tuesday.

The group had crossed in to Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, from the Thai Khantalak district in Si Sa Khet province on Monday, the TV station said.

Preah Vihear temple, known as Phra Viharn in Thailand, was named a World Heritage Site at a UNESCO meeting in Quebec earlier this month, despite Thai opposition to the listing.

The ancient Hindu Khmer temple, perched on a 525-metre-high cliff on the Dangrek Mountain range that defines the Thai-Cambodian border, has been the source of a sovereignty dispute for decades.

An ownership spat between Cambodia and Thailand led to a suspension of diplomatic relations in 1958 and eventually ended up in The Hague for an international settlement in 1962. Cambodia won.

The temple reemerged as a source of bilateral tensions in 2006 when Cambodia first proposed listing the monument as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Thailand objected, and succeeded in blocking the subscription attempt in 2006 and 2007 on the grounds that parts of the temple compound were still subject to a border dispute.

Cambodia redrew the Preah Vihear inscription map this year, excluding the disputed territory. It was approved by the World Heritage Committee on July 7.

The Thai government at first backed the proposal, but then withdrew support when the issue became a political hot potato.

Residents of Si Sa Khet province, about 400 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, have been protesting the listing since early July, prompting Cambodia to shut access to the temple from the Thai side of the border.