Thai Yellow Shirts Protest Against Leaders, UNESCO Temple Listing

Friday, 17 June 2011
Daniel Schearf, VOA | Bangkok

"But, the point right now is they [Cambodia] want the land around Phra Viharn to register as a world heritage [under Cambodia]. And, we can't let that happen."

Thailand's royalist Yellow Shirts have protested outside the United Nations Cultural agency in Bangkok, urging it to withdraw world heritage status for a Cambodian temple near disputed territory. They also paraded through the Thai capital encouraging people not to vote in July 3 elections. The nationalist movement has stopped supporting the current government, saying it is too weak on the border dispute.

At least 2,000 yellow-dressed protesters demonstrated Friday outside of the Bangkok office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

They nationalists want UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, which meets Sunday in Paris, to de-list a temple in Cambodia near disputed territory.

The 900-year-old Khmer Hindu temple called Preah Vihear in Cambodia and Phra Viharn in Thailand was declared a world heritage site in 2008.

[Thai] Activists hold forum on disputed Preah Vihear temple with Cambodia

SI SA KET, Dec 26 (MCOT online news) -- Leaders of the activist Yellow Shirt group, the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) Sunday conducted a public forum in the northeastern Thai province of Si Sa Ket on the historic ruins of the ancient Preah Vihear temple, disputed with neighbouring Cambodia.

More than 500 people attended the forum while top PAD leaders retired Maj- Gen Chamlong Srimuang and Pipop Thongchai demanded that the Thai government to revoke the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Thailand and Cambodia in 2000.

The two PAD core leaders also urged supporters to join a major rally to be held in the Thai capital in late January.

The International Court of Justice at The Hague in the Netherlands in 1962 ruled that the 11th century temple belongs to Cambodia.

UNESCO named it a World Heritage site in 2008 after Cambodia applied such status. Cambodia submitted a management plan for the temple recently to the UNESCO World Heritage Commission, which deferred its decision until next year.

Both countries claimed a 1.8 square mile (4.6 sq km) tract of land near the cliff-top Preah Vihear temple.

Trouble brews on [Thailand's] eastern front

Suthep: Clashes with PAD

Ultra-nationalist PAD plans rally to warn of Cambodian encroachment on Thai soil

4/12/2010
Bangkok Post

The People's Alliance for Democracy is all set for yet another gathering on Jan 25 to alert the country to what it claims is an impending territorial invasion by Cambodia.

The ultra-nationalist alliance has turned on the government it holds culpable for what it has called the loss of Thailand's territory on the eastern front.

The PAD's friendly relations with the ruling Democrat Party soured after the party played along with its coalition partners' demands for a charter rewrite. The alliance slammed the proposed amendments as blatant self-interest.

Its ties with the Democrats took a turn for the worse when Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, speaking to Democrat supporters in the South, chided the PAD for attacking him.

Mr Suthep also went where he had never gone before: he insisted Sondhi Limthongkul, an influential co-leader of the PAD, was ''no lesser evil'' than ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

His remarks, however, took Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva aback. In a verbal warning, he said his deputy should learn to hold his tongue so as not to needlessly invite hostility.

The PAD has shaken off its Democrat-leaning image and is pressing ahead with its planned rally on Jan 25 in Bangkok. But the government has reminded the alliance that the emergency decree remains firmly in place in the capital and any threat to security will be met with swift prosecution.

The alliance originally planned to hold the rally on Dec 11. But its key figures figured that since December is a month of joyous occasions, most notably His Majesty the King's birthday tomorrow, the gathering should be deferred until Jan 25.

The PAD, nonetheless, has maintained it is fully justified in organising a gathering. It says the country must wake up to the expanding Cambodian occupation of border areas in Si Sa Ket province.

A reliable source in the alliance said Chamlong Srimuang, another PAD co-leader, is leading a band of disciples of the Santi Asoke Buddhist sect to the rally. The sect is headquartered in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket and its centre is only a stone's throw from the border.

Standing in the centre's backyard, one can see the enlarging settlement of Cam bodian villagers who allegedly encroach on Thai soil, the source said.

The 2nd Army, which has jurisdiction over the Northeast, has also claimed there are startling discoveries that support the alleged expanding territorial encroachment, the source added. However, no details were given.

A senior military officer belonging to the PAD said new evidence has come to light that reinforced the belief that Thailand has lost land to Cambodia.

''We need to rally to let people know how serious this problem is. We'll bring forth compelling evidence [of alleged territorial loss] and demand the return of the land,'' the source said.

The border dispute, the source added, is a highly nationalistic issue that will attract a large rally turnout and provide impetus to the PAD gathering.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Patriotic Games

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

Abishit bluffing on withdrawing from UNESCO?

[Thai] PM in a bind on Preah Vihear

July 30, 2010
By Tulsathit Taptim
The Nation

Many people have observed that it was very "un-Abhisit" for the prime minister to threaten to burn the bridges with Unesco without eloquently explaining what on earth was going on in Brazil.

Abhisit Vejjajiva's scathing attacks on the Samak Sundaravej government two years ago over its support for Cambodia's attempts to register Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage Site have limited the prime minister's options. In the 2008 showdown, Abhisit and other Democrats deplored the Samak administration's move as something that might undermine the future Thai stand when it comes to the controversial temple and surrounding areas.

Defending its decision to support Cambodia's registration efforts, the Samak government pointed to two basic legal points. The first was the World Court ruling in 1962 declaring that the temple was on Cambodian territory. The second was Article 61 of the World Court ruling, which states: "No application for revision may be made after a lapse of 10 years from the date of the judgement." Article 61 featured prominently in Cambodia's application document to Unesco, with "LAPSE OF TEN YEARS" written in capital letters.)

The Democrat camp led by Abhisit at the time pointed out Article 60 of the court's ruling. This article allows warring parties to reserve doubts and observations concerning rulings and, unlike Article 61, this one does not spell out any time frame. Which article carries stronger weight is debatable, but the battle line was clearly drawn. The Democrats were saying that any Thai move that could weaken Thailand's "silent protest" against the World Court ruling had to be avoided.

Now that the temple has become a World Heritage Site and the Cambodians are seeking to submit its management plan to Unesco, the Democrats, now in government, find themselves in an awkward position. Supporting the management plan could easily be regarded as hypocrisy and everything could blow up in Abhisit's face.

Ironically, the Abhisit government has found itself more or less in the same situation as the Samak administration. On one hand, there is nothing Thailand could have done to change the fact that the temple belongs to Cambodia. On the other hand, any act to directly or indirectly support Cambodia's sovereign rights could dash any lingering hope for Thai-land to re-file the temple dispute case and, probably worse, embolden Cambo-dia to make related territorial claims.

The Thai delegation led by Natural Resources Minister Suwit Khunkitti went to Brazil somewhat in the dark, not knowing if the Cambodians had sneaked in any sensitive territorial information when they proposed the management plan. When the People's Alliance for Democracy staged a sit-in in front of the Unesco Bangkok office on Wednesday, Abhisit had no choice but to act tough.

In fact, there are considerable safeguards. It is stated clearly in Unesco rules that declaration of a World Heritage Site is not legally binding when overlapping territorial claims are concerned. And a management plan for a World Heritage Site is even less likely to enable one party to assert new territorial claims.

But it doesn't matter now whether concern that Phnom Penh could gain the upper hand over disputed areas surrounding the temple if Thailand supports the management plan is solid or not. The issue has become politically charged, with nationalism about to simmer. One wrong move and what Abhisit said in Parliament to the Samak government in 2008 would come back to haunt him big time. The Pheu Thai Party, surely, must be combing the video and audio archives of the Thai Parliament right now. Abhisit can only hope Unesco will delay the issue, or he will come under great pressure to make good his threat, regardless of whether the management plan is Cambodia's secret tool to gain more ground, literally, or not.

Thailand Continues Claims on Disputed Border

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
11 February 2010

Sean Pengse, a Cambodian border expert living in France, said the International Court in fact used the 1904-1908 map when deciding on Preah Vihear temple, thereby legitimizing Cambodia’s claims to the area.

While Bangkok continues to insist that a 4.6 kilometer stretch of land near Preah Vihear temple belongs to Thailand, Cambodian officials and border experts say the issue should be put to rest.

Phnom Penh claims the stretch of land, west of the 11th-Century temple, rightfully belongs to Cambodia, according to surveys and maps made in 1904 and 1908, when the country was under French protection. Thailand maintains that its own mapping of the area puts the strip of land under its possession.

The impasse over the area has stirred nationalistic sentiment on both sides, which have sent thousands of heavily armed troops to adjacent positions, leading to several skirmishes over the past 19 months and the deaths of at least eight soldiers.

Neither side has been able to diffuse the situation, while rhetoric between prime ministers Abhisit Vijjajiva of Thailand and Hun Sen of Cambodia has escalated in recent days, culminating in Hun Sen calling Abhisit “stupid” and “crazy” on Monday.

The Thai News Agency this week quoted Abhisit saying the Thai government will not give up the contested strip of land.

The news agency also reported that Thailand would petition Unesco to review a map submitted by Cambodia in 2008, when Preah Vihear temple was award World Heritage status under Cambodian ownership.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan told VOA Khmer Tuesday such claims showed a misunderstanding of the law by Thai officials.

“Unesco does not have any jurisdiction to make a judgment over land at all,” he said.

Cambodian officials have said Thailand lobbied Unesco using its own map. Thailand may petition again, officials said, because representatives of the UN body, which protects cultural heritage, have changed.

Cambodia’s map was recognized by the International Court of Justice in 1962, when it ruled that Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia, Phay Siphan said.

However, Thai spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said Tuesday that the 1962 decision did not include the 4.6 kilometers of land now claimed by both sides.

Sean Pengse, a Cambodian border expert living in France, said the International Court in fact used the 1904-1908 map when deciding on Preah Vihear temple, thereby legitimizing Cambodia’s claims to the area.

The Thai authorities “can do whatever, but the decision is legitimate and uses this French map,” he told VOA Khmer.

Cambodia failed a chance to resolve the matter when it did not immediately file a complaint with the UN Security Council when Thai troops occupied a pagoda in the disputed area in July 2008, sparking the standoff.

Panitan said Tuesday both sides remained committed to solving the problem bilaterally and asked that other countries not interfere. Thailand was pleased with Hun Sen’s commitment to bilateral talks, he added.

The problem will be solved ahead of a Unesco World Heritage meeting scheduled for later this year, he said.

The committee is scheduled to meet July 25 through Aug. 3 in Brasilia, Brazil. Cambodian officials say they will submit a plan for the conservation of Preah Vihear temple at the meeting.

Hun Sen, Thaksin and corrupt coalitions

October 30, 2009
By Frank G. Anderson
Column: Thai Traditions
UPI Asia Online

Nakhonratchasima, Thailand — Last April the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s English-language daily, ran an article passing on a “leak” from the Royal Thai Air Force that it had tracked former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s private jet as it crossed the border into Cambodia, once each at Phnom Penh and Koh Kong.

At the time, Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh denied any contact between Cambodia and Thaksin. He rhetorically asked why Thaksin would want to come to Cambodia, and added that his country could do nothing to help the fugitive prime minister. He also said, "I have never seen Thaksin come here to Cambodia.”

So perhaps a few eyebrows were raised when Cambodia’s prime minister indicated in late October that he had a warm place in his heart for Thaksin.

Hun Sen, as he arrived in Thailand on Oct. 23 for the latest ASEAN summit, loudly proclaimed that Thaksin was welcome in his country and that he would not extradite him to Thailand if so requested by Thai authorities. He even pointed out that Article 3 of a Thai-Cambodian extradition treaty prohibits the extradition of those accused of political offenses. He went further to suggest that he would appoint the fugitive to be his economic adviser.

In response, Thailand’s current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva politely but pointedly told the Cambodian leader that he should not let himself be used as a pawn, but should work with other ASEAN members to meet the organization’s goals

Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thuagsuban subsequently had a two-hour talk with Hun Sen explaining the Thai government’s position regarding Thaksin. Suthep came out of the meeting publicly confident that Hun Sen would not make any more such comments. Perhaps privately he knew better.

According to claims by the anti-Thaksin People’s Alliance for Democracy, the ousted prime minister had already established friendly relations – allegedly in the form of personal financial benefits – with the Cambodian government in parlaying Thai sovereignty over the temple of Khao Phreah Vihear that sits on the two countries’ border for offshore oil concessions from Cambodia, that Thaksin would allegedly benefit from.

Hun Sen’s apparent disregard for Thailand’s sensitivities is not really all that difficult to understand. Like Europe and other countries that considered hypocritical certain policies by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, so too it is likely that Cambodia feels Thailand is hypocritical – saying one thing but doing quite another.

Thai people, unsurprisingly, have different opinions concerning Hun Sen’s comments in support of Thaksin, but most appear to be critical. One pro-PAD activist, in fact, threatened to lead a large group of protesters to surround the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok, mostly because of the Khao Phreah Vihear temple dispute, but also because of what is viewed as Cambodian government interference in domestic Thai politics.

One protest leader who did demonstrate against the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok said, “Hun Sen's action intentionally showed hostility to Thailand, its government and its military as well as the Thai people. It is interference in Thai politics.”

As if for Thailand to further shoot itself in the foot over the issue of handing Cambodia hundreds of acres of land around Khao Phreah Vihear, Thai TV viewers were treated to a speech by Lt. Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, an army specialist and flamboyant individualist, in a recent TV interview.

When asked about the real problem behind the Khao Phreah Vihear issue and why the army could not resolve what Thailand views as seizure of its territory, Sawasdipol replied, “The army … it’s a ‘play golf’ army, ‘country club’ type. That’s why.” This is the same man who had earlier helped train guards for the pro-Thaksin Red Shirts until told by his superiors to stop, and who had allegedly been involved in violence against the People’s Alliance for Democracy in 2008.

Thailand’s relations with its “friendly neighboring countries” Cambodia, Burma, Laos and Malaysia have been traditionally less than ideal – for the majority of people in each nation, that is. But for business and political sleight-of-hand on both sides, the relationship has been very lucrative. Thaksin and look-alike “investors” gained immense fortunes through various deals with all these countries, including telecommunications contracts, oil concessions, lumber operations, construction and more.

For his part, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has his hands full keeping together a weak political coalition that has been described as one where everyone gets what he wants, and may abandon the ship, sinking the coalition, if he doesn’t.

This coalition includes Pranawm Phokham, parliamentarian from Nakhonratchasima and board member of the Motherland Party, which is composed of both pro- and anti-Thaksin members. A glittering example of the fruit of Pranawm’s labor during his political life includes a multimillion dollar resort home, now under construction near a controversial forestry reserve region of Wang Nam Khiew in Nakhonratchasima province.

Pranawm was one of 28 members of parliament who voted for Abhisit to become prime minister. Quid pro quo for Pranawm may include Thailand’s own version of its U.S. counterpart, “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
--
(Frank G. Anderson is the Thailand representative of American Citizens Abroad. He was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer to Thailand from 1965-67, working in community development. A freelance writer and founder of northeast Thailand's first local English language newspaper, the Korat Post – www.thekoratpost.com – he has spent over eight years in Thailand "embedded" with the local media. He has an MBA in information management and an associate degree in construction technology. ©Copyright Frank G. Anderson.)

Yellow shirts to protest at Cambodian Embassy next month

Sat, October 24, 2009
The Nation

Protesters led by People's Alliance for Democracy on Saturday threatened to protest and surround the Cambodian Embassy next month unless Cambodia withdrew its troops from area adjacent to Preah Vihear Temple.

The threat was made when they organised a brief protest at Puk Tien Beach in Cha-Am district Saturday, demanding the withdrawal of troops from the area immediately.

"We will protest at the Cambodian Embassy next month. Unless its government withdrew troops from the disputed area, we will surround the embassy."

Some 30 people gathered at the beach, about ten kilometers from meeting venue of Asean Summit, also in responding to harsh remarks by Cambodia that it would not extradite former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to Thailand.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said upon arrival in Hua Hin to attend the summit on Friday that he would make Thaksin his economic adviser.

The statement fuels tension in the relation with the Thai government which wanted Thaksin to returnn to Thailand to serve jail term on abuse of power and corruption charges.

The protesters held banners, reading that Hun Sen was not welcomed by Thai people.

Thailand and Cambodia have been at the loggerhead over the disputed area near the Hindu temple for long time but the issue was heated a year ago as it was listed as a world heritage site.

Hun Sen, Cambodia's agent provocateur?

Hun Sen: ‘‘I am the leader of Cambodia who was elected by the will of the people, not by robbing power.’’

7/10/2009
Pavin Chachavalpongpun
Bangkok Post Opinion

I was caught in the abhorrent situation wherein some 1,000 protesters, mostly students, torched the Royal Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh on the night of January 29, 2003. Elsewhere in the capital, the protests grew more aggravated. So-called Cambodian patriots ransacked Thai-owned establishments, including the Royal Phnom Penh Hotel and the office of Thai Airways International.

A few days earlier, Thai actress Suvanand Kongying had been wrongly accused of claiming that Angkor Wat was Thailand's property.

That misquote immediately stirred up a sense of nationalism inside Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen angrily responded: "Suvanand is not even worth a blade of grass at Angkor." Former premier Thaksin Shinawatra reportedly tried for two hours to reach Hun Sen by phone, and it was obvious the Cambodian leader was avoiding a conversation.

Was Hun Sen's anger really about protecting the dignity of the Cambodian nation? The circumstances surrounding the outburst was that a Cambodian general election was around the corner, so a conflict with Thailand could have been used to favour his political allies and undermine his opponents.

If the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) is a master manipulator of Thai nationalism, can Hun Sen be an "agent provocateur" who exploits nationalistic rhetoric to gain political points at home?

Since the flare-up in the Preah Vihear dispute, Hun Sen has never minced his words about the failure of Thai leadership. He has even provoked armed conflict with Thailand.

In referring to the Democrat government, Hun Sen once proudly declared: "I am the leader of Cambodia who was elected by the will of the people, not by robbing power." Recently, he intensified bilateral tensions by ordering his troops to shoot any Thai crossing the border illegally. His encouragement not only served to fulfil a nationalistic need in Cambodia, but also worked in turn to legitimise the PAD's activities.

Over the past years, Hun Sen has been able to strengthen his popularity thanks to the lingering dispute over the Preah Vihear temple. As Southeast Asia's longest serving leader apart from the Sultan of Brunei, Hun Sen has successfully ridden the wave of Cambodian nationalism to further solidify his rule.

At the height of Thailand's domestic crisis last year, Hun Sen suggested that Thailand give up its Asean chairmanship. In so doing, he seemed to declare himself the chief defender of Asean.

When Thailand planned to host the Asean meeting in Hua Hin in March this year, Hun Sen sarcastically said that it would be too costly and difficult for him to attend the gathering. Obviously, he later changed his mind.

Hun Sen has on numerous occasions warned Thai troops to stop trespassing on Cambodian land, calling the contested territory a "life-and-death battle zone".

The PAD has continued to play into Hun Sen's hands by inflating the incident and calling for the Thai military to push back Cambodian "intruders".

As much as the temple issue has been held hostage by Thai politics, it has also been used to preserve the legitimacy of the Cambodian leadership. The successful inscription of the temple on the list of Unesco's World Heritage sites was much publicised to voters as a result of Hun Sen's charismatic leadership. (Cambodia's general election was held on July 27, 2008).

Scenting an ideal electoral opportunity, Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party pushed the hot issues of corruption and inflation into the background while promoting a nationalistic election theme. The party announced that Hun Sen and his close allies were strong but peaceful leaders who were solely responsible for uniting Cambodians against Thai aggression.

After a series of armed clashes, Cambodia had no plans to make peace but demanded Thailand pay compensation for damages resulting from the confrontation on the border. In its diplomatic note, Cambodia stated: "The attack with heavy weapons by Thai troops on Cambodian territory caused much damage and set a Cambodian market ablaze. The material losses to 319 families, who had lost their livelihoods when the fire destroyed their market stalls, amounted to more than US$2.1 million."

The attempt here is not to paint a gloomy picture of the Cambodian leadership, but rather to highlight that the temple issue and the rise of nationalism have their roots deep in the power politics within Thailand and Cambodia. While it is convenient for Hun Sen to condemn the arbitrary use of Thai nationalism, he himself has taken advantage from Cambodian nationalism.

In an interview, Sam Rainsy, a French-educated former finance minister who leads Cambodia's prominent opposition party, described Hun Sen as a politician who succeeds very well in one thing: "Survival at the helm of the Cambodian state." His ability, Mr Rainsy said, is clinging on to power through political intrigues which he then resolves with an iron fist. This has lasted for almost 30 years now. "When you have only this ambition - clinging to power for the impunity it provides - it is catastrophic for the country," Mr Rainsy said.

Professor Chanvit Kasetsiri rightly noted that among the neighbouring countries of Southeast Asia, none seems more similar to Thailand than Cambodia. Both nations share similar customs, traditions, beliefs and ways of life. This is especially true of royal customs, language, writing systems, vocabulary, literature, and the dramatic arts. In light of these similarities, it seems surprising, therefore, that relations between Thailand and Cambodia should be characterised by deep-seated "ignorance, misunderstanding and prejudice". Indeed, the two countries have what can be termed a "love-hate relationship".

Today, this love-hate relationship is being firmly sustained by the incessant use of nationalism, which may offer some political benefits in the short-term but will surely create a long-lasting negative impact on the bilateral relationship.

Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.

Thai Nationalism Heats Up

Monday, September 21, 2009
By PAVIN CHACHAVALPONGPUN
The Irrawady

Thailand has not only been plagued by divisive domestic political turmoil. Its relations with neighboring Cambodia have also deteriorated and intensified, resulting in fatal clashes along their common border.

Competing political factions have incessantly used nationalism to legitimize their political activities. The violent confrontation between Thai nationalists and Cambodian villagers in the past few days could further strain this vulnerable bilateral relationship.

Nationalism in Thailand has become a highly destructive force both in domestic and international politics. From late 2007, in their campaign to topple the governments that emerged from the post-coup elections, the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), and some elements of the Democrat Party, claimed to represent the true face of Thai nationalism.

In this, they claimed to stand on the side of righteousness by protecting the nation’s territorial integrity, to rid the people of corrupt politicians, and in their duty to challenge an allegedly predatory neighbor.

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and successive pro-Thaksin governments were grouped together with alien foreigners, like Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was regarded as a deranged person. These alien characters were represented as having a single objective: selling the country out and tarnishing the good reputation of Thailand built up by past monarchs.

The conflict over the Preah Vihear Temple, to the PAD, was indeed a conflict between those who are true Thais versus Thaksin suporters. It saw its duty as that of protecting Thailand’s national interests, and the best way to do so was to stir up nationalistic feelings.

At first glance, nationalism seemed to serve the political need of both the PAD and the Democrat Party. Both were unable to unseat Thaksin-backed governments of Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat and to uproot Thaksin’s influence in politics. The Preah Vihear Temple issue emerged at the right moment when the PAD and also the military that supported anti-Thaksin sentiment were facing a legitimacy crisis themselves.

But little did they know that in employing the Preah Vihear conflict to eliminate Thaksin, the PAD was also jeopardizing its position in politics, and in particular endangering its representation of Thai nationalism. It played along with the theme of lost territories, falsifying historical facts and portraying Thailand as a vulnerable state perpetually victimized by immoral foreigners.

In this paranoid narrative, Thaksin was helping immoral foreigners to take away the country’s sacred assets and pride. The PAD then adopted certain nationalistic tactics against its opponents, such as condemning them for selling out the country and through its own rhetoric provoking military confrontations with the Cambodians.

The reality is that Preah Vihear Temple belongs to Cambodia, according to the International Court of Justice ruling of 1962. But the loss became an unacceptable political reality because it deals with the national pride that has been deeply ingrained in the mindset of Thais.

The outcome of these political tactics has been destructive. Thai domestic politics has become increasingly polarized. Thailand’s relations with Cambodia have reached a critical point, verging on full-blown war. Who has gained what out of this nationalistic crusade?

As a consequence, the issue of overlapping territories returned to the attention of the Thai public. The spirit of nationhood was high. Thaksin was once again labeled as a Thai who betrayed his motherland.

However, the PAD also became a casualty in the game of nationalism. It opened up a Pandora’s box of bewilderment about Thai self-identity. Was the PAD brand of nationalism a reflection of the Thai way to express love for country?

Didn’t its call for war with Cambodia run against its earlier representations of Thainess: of being a peaceful nation, as enunciated in the words of Thailand’s national anthem?

The PAD might have found nationalism an effective way of deposing of the Thaksin-backed regimes in the past, but the nationalist flame has been fanned and the conflagration has shown the potential to rage out of control.

The latest clashes near the Thai-Cambodian border demonstrated that the PAD is not willing to give up its nationalist tactics.

This is perhaps due to the fact that the PAD recently transformed itself into a legitimate political party—the New Politics Party. It now hopes to exploit the Preah Vihear Temple issue to score political points should elections be called by the current government in the next few months.

It is therefore anticipated that the temple issue will become more intense as Thailand heads into an even more uncertain future.

Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

Abhisit creating more tension over Preah Vihear

Friday, 10 July 2009
Letter to The Phnom Penh Post

Dear Editor,

Since Preah Vihear temple was registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in Cambodia on July 7, 2008, I have been following the situation closely by reading your online news as my main source, and other online sources.

I found that Thailand often aims to make claims without any credibility or basis in fact over the Preah Vihear temple and the surrounding land.

Although I have never blogged about those nonsenses, I have decided to write this letter to you and offer my opinion after hearing that the current Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has made a statement that could start a new chapter of violence.

According to the Thai daily newspaper The Bangkok Post [June 17, 2009], Abhisit said that "the registration of Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site had brought about conflict and losses, and this would appear to be against UNESCO's objectives in having heritage sites."

In fact, such a statement does not solve the conflict but creates a new one.

It appears that the dispute did not start after the registration of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site. It started decades ago, although the World Court ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia.

The gunbattles and loss of lives that happened after the listing of Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site were purely created by Thailand in order to make it easy to claim and appear to be against UNESCO's objectives.

This is very dangerous because Thailand could continue to promote violence by trespassing in order to support its theory.

The real problem is not what the Thai prime minister has said, but it is because the Thai troops keep trespassing, and that is a fact.

To solve the conflict, the simplest solution is not to create a new one.

From day one when the Thai prime minister came to power without a vote, I started to question his knowledge and ability to solve this conflict and correctly interpret the verdict of World Court's rule in 1962.

Unfortunately, he failed that test.

Sam
Flordia, USA

Noppadon Pattama urges Abhisit to take back Preah Vihear temple: Noppadon poli-sicks?

Noppadon Pattama (Photo: Reuters)

Thaksin's Ex-Lawyer Urges PM to Bring back Preah Vihear
25 May 2009
Thai Asian News Network

The former lawyer of the fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra is urging the prime minister to take back Preah Vihear Temple, and says that failing to do so would constitute negligence. He also said that foreign countries are waiting in line to issue visas for Thaksin. Meanwhile, he claimed that Hong Kong has already responded to Thailand and have indicated that they can't extradite the former PM since it is a free country and there is no extradition treaty.

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's ex-lawyer Noppadon Pattama said he will submit a letter to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. When Abhisit was still the opposition leader, he submitted a no-confidence motion concerning Preah Vihear temple. As Abhisit is now head of the government, Noppadon said he should take back the Preah Vihear Temple and use the watershed to delineate the border between Thailand and Cambodia. He said that if the prime minister does not move forward in this effort, he will be considered to have failed in his duties.

Noppadon also revealed that Thaksin is currently living in Dubai, and says that he is in the process of buying an island in Montenegro.

Noppadon confirmed that Thaksin holds many passports, but does not have a Cambodian or German passport as reports have claimed. The lawyer admitted that many countries are ready to issue passports to Thaksin, including a European country which is allegedly issuing Thaksin a residence visa that will allow him to live in the country for many years, since they believe that Thaksin has not received political justice.

However, concerning Thailand's request to Hong Kong to help capture Thaksin and extradite him here, Noppadon indicated that from his understanding, Hong Kong has already sent a letter back to Thailand saying that they cannot proceed with the request, since Hong Kong is a free country and the two countries do not have an extradition treaty.

Puea Thai accuses Abhisit of allowing Cambodia to build the entrance to Preah Vihear temple on Thai soil

Puea Thai files motion against PM

11/03/2009
BangkokPost.com

The Puea Thai party filed a motion of no-confidence in Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva with Senate Speaker Prasobsuk Boondej on Wednesday.

Yasothon MP Peeraphan Palusuk represented the party in filing the motion for a parliamentary censure debate.

The letter gave several reasons for demanding Mr Bhisit's removal: his rise to power was not according to the democratic process, his support for the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), his role in appointing a PAD member to his cabinet, and negligence in failing to protect Thai territory by allowing Cambodia to build the entrance to Preah Vihear temple on Thai soil.

The speaker said he needed 15 days to verify the names of the MPs backing the motion.

PAD still misleading public on a 'non-issue'

PREAH VIHEAR

Friday September 19, 2008
THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL
Bangkok Post

Although former prime minister Samak Sundaravej erred on various occasions during his seven months in office, his arch enemy the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has not always been in the right either, on some issues of national interest. Among them is the Preah Vihear temple issue.

The PAD persists in demanding that the government abide by the Constitution Court's ruling, which states that the joint communique of June 18 between Thailand and Cambodia - which supports the listing of the temple as a World Heritage site - is unconstitutional.

The PAD has refused to accept the fact that the joint communique lost its validity after the Central Administrative Court on June 27 ruled to withhold the effect of the joint communique.

On July 1, Noppadon Pattama, Thailand's foreign minister at the time, dispatched letters to Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and PM's Office Minister Sok An; Cambodian Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong, and Director-General of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Koichiro Matsuura, asking them to disregard the joint communique of June 18, 2008.

Copies of the letter were also sent to the 21-member World Heritage Committee (WHC) and related organisations on July 2, during the meeting on world heritage sites held in Quebec, Canada.

Representatives of Cambodia, the WHC and Unesco informed the Thai representatives at the Quebec meeting that they would not quote the wording in the joint communique and would not use it as a basis in the proposal to nominate Preah Vihear temple for World Heritage status.

In addition, ICOMOS, an agency which prepared the report for the WHC meeting, withdrew its report which mentioned the joint communique between Thailand and Cambodia.

Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has clarified that under the fifth point of the WHC's resolution in the Quebec meeting, it noted that the joint communique must be disregarded, following the decision of the Thai government to suspend the effect of the joint communique in comformity with the Thai Administrative Court's interim injunction on this issue.

The World Heritage Committee's resolution clearly demonstrates that the WHC has heeded the Thai Foreign Ministry's request to disregard the joint communique, according to the ministry's press release.

To make sure that the troublesome document remained invalid, Mr Noppadon's successor, Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag on Aug 25 sent a letter to his Cambodian counterpart Hor Nam Hong, reminding him of the court's ruling.

Besides the issue of the joint communique, the PAD has also misinformed the public about the WHC's resolution, which the PAD says allows for seven other international partners to manage the 10,000-rai conservation area adjacent to Preah Vihear temple, an area which belongs to Thailand.

In actual fact, the WHC's resolution asked Cambodia, in collaboration with Unesco, to convene an international coordinating committee (ICC) for the safeguarding and development of the nominated property no later than February 2009.

The WHC also requested Cambodia to invite Thailand and not more than seven other appropriate international partners to join in forming the ICC, to examine general policy matters relating to the safeguarding of the outstanding universal value of the property.

However, the property proposed for inscription has been downsized and comprises only the temple of Preah Vihear and not the wider promontory with its cliffs and caves.

This means that the ICC's work would not encroach on the overlapping area claimed by Thailand and Cambodia as well as other areas inside Thai territory, but would only concern the Preah Vihear temple.

Inviting Thailand to join the ICC would pave the way for the country to take part in examining the policy of Preah Vihear temple's conservation so that it would not affect Thailand's territorial sovereignty, the Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry has repeatedly informed the press and the public about the advantage Thailand would gain from joining the ICC.

Unfortunately, the PAD has continued to act as if it never heard anything from the ministry on this subject, and made use of the temple issue to attack the Samak government.

A similar attack against the new Somchai government is also likely.

The blame game [in Thailand]

Monday, July 07, 2008
By Veera Prateepchaikul
Bangkok Post

The Surayud government did not sign a document officially pledging support for Cambodia's temple listing bid. In any case, there is no law which states that the Samak government must follow all decisions made by its predecessors.

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Veera Prateepchaikul is Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Post Publishing Co Ltd.

My sympathies are with Surayud Chulanont, the privy councillor.

The retired general should have been left to live a quiet and peaceful life after spending almost two years as a lame duck prime minister in the military-installed government. Suddenly out of the blue, he is rudely dragged into today's hottest political controversy, the Preah Vihear temple issue, thanks to Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama.

The embattled foreign minister told the Constitution Court on Friday that it was the Surayud government which committed itself to support Cambodia's bid to list the ancient ruins as a World Heritage site during a meeting of the World Heritage Committee held in Christchurch, New Zealand last year.

In other words, Mr Noppadon has blamed the Surayud administration for the blunder by the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej for its signing of the joint communique with the Cambodian government pledging Thailand's "active support" for Cambodia's unilateral bid to inscribe the temple as a World Heritage site.

What a surprise! The Samak government has followed in the footsteps of the Surayud government which it has held in contempt for being a puppet of the military dictatorship.

Is the Surayud government now a convenient scapegoat? And will that mean Mr Noppadon and the Samak government will not be held accountable if Thailand is put at a disadvantage or its territorial sovereignty is in the future put at risk should Cambodia succeed in its listing effort?

But wait. Even if the Surayud government actually committed itself to supporting Cambodia's listing bid, the incumbent government cannot escape blame. There is no law which states that the Samak government must follow all decisions made by its predecessors.

And, in this particular case, the Surayud government did not sign a document officially pledging support for Cambodia's temple listing bid.

The Samak government is completely free and fully authorised to make its own decisions. After all, no one put a gun to the head of Mr Noppadon and forced him to sign the joint communique.

So if the government had the best interests of the country in mind, it should have made the right decision and not put itself in hot water.

Finger-pointing now will not improve the situation, but will only further cast the government in a bad light. What the government needs to do is to accept the mistake in stride and to try to rectify it to mitigate the negative consequences which could arise in the future.

Asking the World Heritage Committee to postpone consideration of the temple, as the government plans to do, is moving in the right direction, although the Cambodian side must be given a clear explanation of the government's sudden about-face.

As far as Cambodia is concerned, it is determined to go ahead with the application to list the Preah Vihear temple even without Thailand's support. Which should not be surprising. After all, the temple issue has been politicised by all parties in Cambodia, especially Prime Minister Hun Sen's party, in the runup to the July 27 election.

Given the national sensitivity over the temple issue both in Thailand and Cambodia, and the potential that dangerous nationalist sentiments can be fuelled by provocateurs for political gain, it would be wise and reasonable for the World Heritage Committee to put on hold Cambodia's bid to list the temple until the next meeting.

The temple issue has been politicised more than enough in this country to the extent that the good neighbourly relations between Thailand and Cambodia are now at stake.

Likewise, I hope that Cambodian politicians will not whip up anti-Thai sentiment after the July 27 election if the World Heritage Committee does not rule in its favour. For this will not help improve the strained relations either. It's time for cool heads from both sides of the border.