Abhisit responds to Hun Sen

Saturday, May 07, 2011
The Nation

The following is the full text of intervention by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva responding to the Thailand-Cambodia issue during the plenary session on 7 May 2011 in Jakarta.

"Allow me to respond to the statement made by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Thailand recognizes full well that any conflict between ASEAN Member States can undermine ASEAN's community-building efforts.

I can therefore categorically state that Thailand has no intention whatsover to engage in any conflict with neighbours and countries in the region.

The border disputes between Thailand and Cambodia, like many other disputes, are long-standing. In this case, the borders have been delimited by various Treaties such as the Siamese-French Convention of 1904 and the Siamese-French Treaty of 1907. There have also been subsequent developments which have raised disagreements.

"Khmer-Siem Talk" OP-ED by Um Hak (Angkor Borei News)

Preparations Begin for April Border Meeting

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 March 2009

Officials for Thai and Cambodian border committees opened a two-day meeting in Phnom Penh Monday to organize an agenda for dialogue between the two countries in April.

“We only prepared some documents for the border secretariat committee…meeting which will take place next month,” Neang Phat, secretary of state for the Ministry of Defense, told reporters after the meeting.

The meeting was closed to the press following brief opening remarks by officials early Monday.

The April meeting will include finding a joint compromise for the Preah Vihear standoff, following the meeting between both prime ministers last month, Neang Phat said. “We want to avoid clashes between the two militaries.”

Cambodian and Thailand each have soldiers deployed along the border near Preah Vihear temple, in a standoff that has led to several skirmishes and the deaths of at least four soldiers.

Last month, Cambodia lambasted Thailand for firing rockets over the border, in what Thai military officials said was an accident.

Official Explains Temple Negotiations

Ros Chantrabot, Deputy Director of Royal Academy of Cambodia.

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
13 February 2009

"The government has not brought the question to the International Court at the Hague because that court has jurisdiction only over an earlier ruling on the temple itself, not the land nearby, Ros Chantraboth said." [KI-Media note: How can Ros Chantraboth be so confident on this issue?]

Recent border talks between Cambodia and Thailand failed in part because Thai negotiators insisted on using a different name for Preah Vihear temple, an obstacle meant to delay the process, a researcher claimed Thursday.

“The government clearly understands that we can’t change the name, as by law and documents from the past we use only Preah Vihear, even on the Unesco [World Heritage] list,” said the researcher, Ros Chantraboth, vice chairman of the Royal Academy of Cambodia.

In negotiations earlier this month, the Thai side of a joint border committee wanted to call the Cambodian World Heritage site “the Temple of Phra Viharn-Preah Vihear,” a move that hampered talks, the Bangkok Post reported.

“We do not want that to become an excuse in the future,” Ros Chantraboth said, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

Cambodia and Thailand remain at odds over a small strip of land near Preah Vihear temple, with troops have been amassed on both sides of the border since July. Several rounds of bilateral talks have failed to resolve the conflict, which has led to the deaths of at least three Cambodian and one Thai soldier.

The government has not brought the question to the International Court at the Hague because that court has jurisdiction only over an earlier ruling on the temple itself, not the land nearby, Ros Chantraboth said.

Meanwhile, domestic political unrest in Thailand has made further negotiation hard, because the Cambodians don’t know with whom to negotiate, the new government, the opposition, or the military, he said.

Patience was important, he said, in order to maintain peace and stability in the region.