Progress on Border Talks With Thailand

Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC

"Neither side discussed the ongoing border conflict directly."

Cambodia and Thailand have made progress on border talks and demarcation, following more than three years of military standoff.

Var Kimhong, head of Cambodia’s border committee, said obstacles to border agreements were “annihilated” in talks Feb. 13 and Feb. 14.

Technical teams that had been previously prevented from meeting could now resume talks, he told VOA Khmer after his arrival from Bangkok on Tuesday.

Border teams will now begin the demarcation process for contested border areas near Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province.

Preah Vihear demarcation delay agreed

Bandhit: Hopeful of progress

Thailand, Cambodia to mark out rest of border

15/02/2012
Thanida Tansubhapol
The Phnom Penh Post

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed not to demarcate the disputed area along the border near Preah Vihear temple.

However both countries will start the demarcation process from the first pillar that borders Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province and Thailand's Surin province.

They reached the agreement yesterday at the conclusion of the two-day Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission meeting in Bangkok.

The meeting was jointly chaired by Thai delegation head Bandhit Sotipalalit and his Cambodian counterpart Var Kim Hong, who is also senior minister in charge of border affairs.

Cambodian Official Says Border Talks with Thailand Make Significant Progress

2012-02-14
Xinhua 

Cambodia's border chief said Tuesday that the two-day border talks with Thailand had made remarkable progress, and both sides have agreed to resume the search for remaining border markers from March 5.

"It is a positive step towards solving the border issues between the two countries," said Var Kimhong, senior minister in charge of border affairs, in Tuesday evening before his return from attending the fifth meeting of Thailand-Cambodia Joint Commission on Demarcation of Land Boundary in Thailand.

He said the Cambodia-Thailand border demarcation process has begun in June 2006, but it was stalled since 2008 when the two countries had sporadic border clashes.The issue became thornier as the Thai constitutional laws require that every agreed minutes signed by both sides should go through the Thai Parliament.

"From now on, there will be no more obstacles for border talks as the Thai side dropped the idea that the agreed minutes should receive approval from the Thai Parliament," he said.

Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission begins Bangkok meeting

BANGKOK, Feb 13 (MCOT online) - The fifth Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission meeting opened in the Thai capital Monday morning, focusing on surveying and border demarcation.

The two-day meeting, hosted by Thailand, ends Tuesday afternoon.

Bandit Sotthiphalarit, Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission chair, led the Thai delegation including representatives of the Royal Thai Survey Department, the army's Directorate of Operations and other concerned agencies, while Var Kim Hong, chairperson of the Cambodian Border Commission, is co-chairing the meeting with his Thai counterpart.

Thai foreign ministry spokesperson Thani Thongpakdi said the discussion is focusing on the progress of survey and border demarcation, the arrangement of aerial photography mapping, and opening a new border crossing at Thailand's Sa Kaeo province and Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province as proposed by Cambodia.

Thai-Cambodian JBC meeting begins

13/02/2012
Bangkok Post

The 5th Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meeting opened this morning at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel in Bangkok.

The two-day meeting is co-chaired by the head of the Thai delegation, Bundit Sotiplarit, and his Cambodian counterpart Var Kim Hong.

Foreign Ministry Thani Thongpakdi said the meeting would discuss the progress of the surveying and demarcation of the Thai-Cambodian boundary, the opening of a new permanent checkpoint at Stung Bot between Sa Kaeo and Bantey Meancheay, as proposed by Cambodia, and the selection of companies to take aerial photographs for mapping of the border.

The JBC co-chairmen will hold a press conference on the results of the meeting at 2.30pm tomorrow.

Border Committees To Meet in Bangkok [-Another useless bilateral talk?]

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
20 July 2009

Border committees from Cambodia and Thailand will hold a meeting in Bangkok Tuesday to seek a solution to a long-running border dispute near Preah Vihear temple, defense officials said Monday.

Cambodia’s border committee will leave Tuesday morning, led by Defense Minister Gen. Tea Banh, who will meet his Thai counterpart, Prawit Wongsowon.

Both sides have added more troops to their entrenched positions along the northern border in recent weeks, following escalating rhetoric over Preah Vihear temple. Unesco added the temple to its World Heritage listing, under Cambodia, in July 2008, but Thai officials have recently requested it be jointly run.

The 2008 listing sparked demonstrations in Thailand and led to the occupation of a pagoda by Thai troops in a disputed border area near Preah Vihear temple on July 15, 2008. Both sides amassed troops in the days that followed, and neither side has backed down in subsequent months. At least seven soldiers have died in skirmishes over the past year.

“The Cambodia-Thailand general border committee will hold a meeting in Bangkok from 21 to 22 July aimed at strengthening cooperation between Cambodian and Thai soldiers along the border,” Chhum Socheath, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, told VOA Khmer on Monday.

“The meeting is intended to make an effort to reduce the tense situation on the battlefield,” he said. “The meeting, however, will not provide a quick result, but I hope it can reduce this on the battlefield and will also build confidence between the two countries.”

On the agenda are means to reduce the numbers of soldiers deployed on the border and to begin the installation of border demarcation, he said.

Border cooperation is important to prevent cross-border terrorism and crime, such as the trafficking of drugs, weapons, artifacts and people, he said.