Thai Gen. Wibulsak Neepal: "We will not leave the area. It is part of our territory too. Our troops must be present to exercise our sovereignty"

Park reopens on Thai-Cambodian border

BANGKOK, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- A long-popular park along a disputed stretch of the Thailand-Cambodia border known for its cliffs and vistas reopened Tuesday after being closed for months.
Tourists hadn't been able to take in the scenery of Pha Mor E-Daeng cliff and the rest of Khao Phra Viharn national park in Si Sa Ket since last July. Cambodia's ancient Khmer temple ruins of Preah Vihear remain closed, however.

Kalayani Thammajari, chairwoman of the Si Sa Ket tourism association, said the reopening was widely welcomed by local businesses, the Bangkok Post reported.

"We are ready for tourists as we have waited for months for this," Kalayani said. "We expect massive tourist arrivals. Many of them are likely to come for a glimpse of the disputed area."

Thai Lt. Gen. Wibulsak Neepal said it's hoped the reopening will alleviate tensions between troops the two countries have stationed in the disputed region. He said reopening the park should encourage Cambodia to open the doors to its mountaintop temple once more.

He said he had invited his Cambodian counterpart, Gen. Chea Mon, to his army's headquarters in Nakhon Ratchasima for talks about cutting troop levels in half.

"(But) we will not leave the area. It is part of our territory too. Our troops must be present to exercise our sovereignty," he said.

Talks fail to advance solution to border row

Monday, 09 February 2009
Written by Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

What's in a name?
Tensions over the long-disputed border territory flared in July last year after Cambodia was allowed to unilaterally list Preah Vihear temple as a United Nations World Heritage site. Subsequent talks between Cambodia and Thailand have not led to a resolution of the dispute. The last set of talks ended Wednesday in Bangkok with negotiators unable to agree on a common spelling for the temple’s name.

CAMBODIAN and Thai military officials meeting in Phnom Penh on Friday failed to broker a deal on withdrawing troops from the disputed border area, but continued to advance a line of cooperation between the sides.

"[We] have agreed to push all existing Cambodian and Thai committees to work together fully in order to resolve the remaining issues effectively," Defence Minister Tea Banh told reporters after meeting with his counterpart Prawit Wongsuwon, while revealing no concrete signs of progress.

The pair later met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong.

Keeping in touch

Hun Sen told reporters outside the Foreign Affairs Ministry that he recommended both sides "meet frequently to cooperate with each other in order to avoid armed clashes".

Firefights broke out in the area in October, leaving three Cambodian soldiers and one Thai soldier dead.

While he made no announcement of progress, Hun Sen pledged there would be no more "military confrontations" between the two countries and approved of the idea of a military withdrawal from hotly disputed Preah Vihear temple.

Currently, about forty troops from each side are stationed around the 11th-century religious site.

Hun Sen is expected to discuss border demarcation with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the upcoming Asean summit scheduled for February 27 to March 1 in the Thai coastal resort town of Hua Hin.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING AFP

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: A two-head Siemese

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Thailand 'won't withdraw' from temple [-Another Thai flipflopping?]

Wibulsak Neepal

7/02/2009
Bangkok Post

Thailand denied on Saturday a statement by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that it had agreed to a proposed troop withdrawal plan from disputed territory surrounding the Preah Vihear temple.

Lt-Gen Wibulsak Neepal, commander of 2nd Army Region, said no agreement on troop pullout was reached in a Friday meeting between Mr Hun Sen and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan during the latter's visit to Phnom Penh.

"There is no agreement. The matter has been raised during the defence minister's self-introduction visit to Cambodia after assuming office,'' he said.

He said that a troop withdrawal proposal would be developed by a working committee set up to handle border demarcation disputes and that he expected an outcome soon.

However, the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission, which is working to resolve the outstanding issues, met in Bangkok this week without making any progress. The delegations could not agree on the name of a military team which will monitor the border area and on the name for the temple.

Lt-Gen Wibulsak stressed that even if a troop pull-out agreement was reached, Thailand was unlikely to withdraw all forces from the disputed areas. Those in charge of coordination would remain in place.

He also said troop withdrawal would not put Thailand at a disadvantage, saying the military has procedures to follow to uphold sovereignty.

Lt-Gen Wibulsak noted that the army was considering reopening Pha Mor E Daeng in Kantharalak district in Si Sa Ket province to tourists. The area was off limits following border tension.

A source said Saturday the Cambodian prime minister demanded Thailand pull its troops out from the disputed area along the border.

"We never agreed. If we do, it will not be easy to send them back in again,'' said the source.

Supreme Commander Gen Songkitti Jaggabatara said Saturday border disputes were raised during the meeting but no agreement was reached.

He said the issues would be worked out by joint committees set up to demarcate and develop the Thai-Cambodian border.

"But we do agree there should not be any incident in the border areas,'' said the supreme commander.

Gen Songkitti was apparently referring to clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops in October last year which left four soldiers dead.

Tension along the border flared up last July when Cambodia moved to have the temple of Preah Vihear listed as a world heritage site.

[Thai] Armed forces chief denies troop withdrawals at Preah Vihear

BANGKOK, Feb 7 (TNA) -- Thailand's Supreme Commander Gen. Songkitti Jaggabatara on Saturday denied an international news report from Phnom Penh that Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to withdraw their troops from the disputed Preah Vihear temple.

The Thai rebuttal followed a news report Friday quoting Cambodia's prime minister after meeting Thailand's Defence Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan as saying that the two countries had resolved their main differences and had agreed to withdraw their troops Preah Vihear.

The report quoted Prime Minister Hun Sen as saying that the withdrawn troops would be replaced by joint observer teams next month to facilitate de-mining and border demarcation.

But Gen. Songkitti said Gen. Prawit's one-day official visit to Cambodia was meant only for introducing himself to Cambodian leaders after his appointment.

Despite it not being on the agenda, Gen. Prawit and Mr. Hun Sen discussed the Preah Vihear issue, but they only agreed that clashes should not occur there again, which is a positive sign, Gen. Songkitti said.

Regarding troop withdrawals from the temple area, Gen. Songkitti said, the issue would be left for further discussion by concerned committee members.

Tensions at the Thai-Cambodian border arose after Preah Vihear was awarded world heritage status by the United Nations last year. The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the 11th-century temple belongs to Cambodia, but the demarcation of the surrounding land remains in dispute.

Songkitti's slap on Hun Sen's face: No deal for troop withdrawal between Hun Sen and Prawit

Songkitti Jaggabatara

No deal on troop withdrawal at border: Songkitti

7/02/2009
BangkokPost.com

Thailand and Cambodia have not agreed on troop withdrawal from disputed area around the Preah Vihear temple when Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Supreme Commander Songkitti Jaggabatara said Saturday.

Gen Songkitti, however, said Thailand and Cambodia have discussed about border conflicts, and agreed that clashes along the border should not happen in the future.

On the troop withdrawal, committees in charge of the matter will have to discuss more thoroughly on the issue in order to solve the conflicts along the Thai-Cambodian border.