Arguing will not resolve Preah Vihear temple issue

14/02/2011
Thanida Tansubhapol
Bangkok Post

Thailand and Cambodia should take one step back to restore peace at the border and jointly develop the disputed area instead of embarking on a fight to get it all.

What has happened at the border between Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket and Cambodia's Preah Vihear province is a proof that unless Preah Vihear temple and the 4.6 square kilometre overlapping area are permanently resolved, future relations between Phnom Penh and Bangkok will remain troubled.

The war of words between Thailand and Cambodia over the past weeks followed by the armed fighting along the border and then the diplomatic dogfight show that neither Thailand nor Cambodia has gained anything.

The fighting started on the evening of Feb 4 after the foreign ministers of Thailand and Cambodia had just agreed in the morning during the Joint Commission meeting to keep the peace and avoid violence along the border. They also agreed to let the Joint Boundary Commission resume talks by the end of this month. Things did a 180 degree turn in less than six hours and the successful talks became a failure.

More Thai perfidy: Virachai Plasai reveals that Thai politicians want a larger share of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Development Area

Virachai transfer peculiar

Friday May 09, 2008
Bangkok Post

A source from the army believed the transfer was related instead to Mr Virachai's resistance to political pressure applied in the Preah Vihear negotiations. According to the source, Mr Virachai was pressured to compromise Thailand's interests in the Preah Vihear temple dispute in exchange for a deal where Thailand would take a larger area in the Thai-Cambodian Joint Development Area - a deal which would benefit certain politicians. But he refused to yield.

The recent removal of a senior officer from the Foreign Ministry might not be so glaring if the person removed was not widely-respected Virachai Plasai, chief of the Treaties and Legal Affairs Department and a chief negotiator in the dispute involving Preah Vihear temple, which Cambodia wants to register as a World Heritage site. Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said the ministry was handling many issues, and he wanted to put the right the man in the right job to ensure good ''coordination with the minister''.

That explanation has raised questions because Mr Virachai is highly respected in the ministry for his academic background and French language proficiency. In the government's talks with Cambodia over the temple, those skills have proven essential, as most of the documents are in French.

He also earned his degrees, from bachelor's to a doctorate in law from France.

Ministry officials were shocked to learn about the transfer. Many said they were baffled by the minister's remark that he wanted to put the right man in the right job, because they already had him - Mr Virachai.

''Although Mr Virachai is strict with staff in preparing documents for any negotiations, he has taught his staff a good deal,'' said one official who asked not to be named.

In an unprecedented personal letter, permanent secretary Virasakdi Futrakul wrote to staff at the Treaties and Legal Affairs Department on Wednesday, one day after Mr Virachai's lightning transfer.

The letter was copied and distributed around the ministry.

The permanent secretary said he was proud to have worked with Mr Virachai, especially in the negotiations over borderlines with Laos and Cambodia.

Mr Virachai had performed well in the talks.

The Thai delegation comprising staff from the ministry and other agencies were proud that Thailand had such a good ambassador, who worked hard to protect Thai sovereignty and the national interest.

''I believe in his discretion and integrity. I'm confident that Mr Virachai will also succeed in his new job [as a legal adviser to the permanent secretary and over the ministry's human resources],'' said Mr Virasakdi.

With all that praise, the formal reason for transferring Mr Virachai to become ambassador attached to the ministry looks odd.

Ministry sources say Mr Virachai's lightning transfer was probably due to his refusal to share a classified document from the CTX bomb-detector case with certain politicians, who wanted to see the document to help former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the alleged corruption scandal.

A source from the army believed the transfer was related instead to Mr Virachai's resistance to political pressure applied in the Preah Vihear negotiations.

According to the source, Mr Virachai was pressured to compromise Thailand's interests in the Preah Vihear temple dispute in exchange for a deal where Thailand would take a larger area in the Thai-Cambodian Joint Development Area - a deal which would benefit certain politicians. But he refused to yield.

If these rumours are true, these politicians have betrayed the people, the nation, and gone against the oath they took in front of the King. The explanation for Mr Virachai's sudden transfer looks highly suspect - so what is going on?

UNDP recommends joint development of overlapping Thai-Cambodia oil fields [-Why does Cambodia have to share its resource with Thailand?]

PHNOM PENH, March 27 (Xinhua) -- An United Nations Development Program (UNDP) conference has suggested that a joint development area (JDA) is probably the best way to begin developing offshore oilfields claimed by both Thailand and Cambodia, local media reported Thursday.

Elinar Risa, former advisor to the Timor-Leste Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, said that JDAs, where neighboring countries agree to split income from overlapping oil and gas fields, are in most cases preferable to continued disputes, according to the Mekong Times newspaper.

JDAs can reduce political tensions and increase investor confidence, Risa said during the UNDP Fuelling Poverty Reduction with Oil and Gas Revenues Conference in Phnom Penh.

A JDA deal between Timor-Leste and Australia sees income from overlapping fields split 90/10 in favor of Timor-Leste.

A 27,000 square km offshore area, larger than the total area off all Cambodia's undisputed potential oil fields and thought by experts to hold rich hydrocarbon deposits, has been claimed by both Cambodia and Thailand.

Cambodian officials have argued that any income should be evenly split between the two countries but there is yet to be any binding agreement.

Thailand: 26,000-square-km of overlapping (sea?) borders under dispute with Cambodia

Thailand to talk with Cambodia over JDA project

March 9, 2008
The Nation (Thailand)

Foreign Minister Noppadol Pattama said Saturday that the Thai Foreign Ministry and Energy Ministry would negotiate with Cambodian to launch a project of joint development areas.

Noppadol said Thailand and Cambodia have some 26,000 square kilometres of overlapping areas along the border and the areas were rich with natural gas and oil resources.

He said it was estimated that the areas had natural gas worth Bt3.5 trillion and oil worth Bt1.5 trillion so the two country should jointly develop the areas.

He said talks would be held how to divide benefits from the project between the two countries.