Opposition and civil society appeal to the govt not to negotiate with Thailand on Preah Vihear issue

24 June 2009
By Phan Sophat
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Officials from the opposition party and from civil society in Cambodia appealed to Cambodian government leaders not to accept negotiations to Thailand’s plan to review for a joint listing of Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.

The appeal was made immediately after Thai PM declared that his government will ask the UNESCO World Heritage committee to review the decision to list Preah Vihear temple.

Thailand’s TNA news agency quoted Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailand PM, claiming that Suthep Thaugsuban, Thailand’s deputy PM, will travel to Cambodia to explain about Thailand’s stance. Abhisit said also that he is confident that border issues between the two countries will be resolved peacefully.

Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodian Confederation of Union (CCU), said: “Bilateral negotiations should end because we have seen for umpteenth times that we couldn’t win, and the results are naught. Thailand’s actions never respect any of their promises, they kept on moving their troops [to the border] continuously.”

Lawyer Sok Sam Oeun, Executive Director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, also said: “The government should tell its Thai counterpart that for other issues, we can talk to each others, but for this kind of issues, there is no need to negotiate.”

About the idea of negotiation with Thailand, SRP MP Yim Sovann said: “We should review the [1991] Paris Peace Agreements in which a number of signatory countries raised about the defense of our national integrity.”

Up until the evening of Wednesday 24 June, Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs, told RFA that there was no official letter from Thailand to negotiate the Preah Vihear issue, unlike what was reported in the news which indicates that [negotiations] will take place on Saturday.

Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of ministers, said that he does not know if Hun Sen will accept to meet to negotiate with the Thai officials or not, however, he spoke about Thailand’s goals: “There’s nothing important to explain to Samdach Dek Cho [Hun Sen], they should apply the agreement made by the joint Cambodian-Thai border committee instead.”

According to Cambodian military source, the military situation at the Preah Vihear temple is still confrontational between the two countries, and this situation started when Thailand sent in several hundreds of Thai black-clad troops to the Wat Keo Sekha Kiri Svarak Pagoda on 15 July 2008, right after UNESCO listed Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.

Cambodia and Thailand to begin troop redeployment

Friday, 15 August 2008
AP & Neth Pheaktra
The Mekong Times

Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to a gradual “redeployment” of troops near Preah Vihear temple ahead of talks next week on territorial disputes, a Cambodian army general said Thursday.

The redeployment, slated to begin during the weekend, will first apply to Thai and Cambodian troops stationed inside the compound of a Buddhist pagoda near Preah Vihear temple, Cambodian Deputy Defense Minister General Neang Phat said.

The number of troops from both countries will be reduced “to the lowest number possible,” Neang Phat said, adding that security officials from the two countries had reached the agreement during a meeting Wednesday in Thailand’s Surin province.

Neang Phat said that both countries will pull troops back from Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda compound during the weekend before foreign ministers of both countries meet in Thailand Monday.

A similar step will be taken for troops stationed in areas surrounding the Buddhist pagoda and Preah Vihear temple after the foreign ministers’ meeting, he said.

“Both sides have agreed to minimize troop forces stationed in Keo Sikha Kiri Svara to avert confrontation,” said General Neang Phath, secretary of state for the Ministry of National Defense.

About 800 local troops and 400 from Thailand have been facing off in the area for a month.

Moving troops from the Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda is considered significant, since it is where the troops first deployed. The two sides came close to a shoot-out on July 17 when Cambodian monks sought to celebrate Buddhist lent in the pagoda.

Troops on both sides raised their weapons, but no shots were fired, and the Cambodians eventually backed down.

The border standoff erupted near the temple last month when UNESCO approved Cambodia’s application to have the complex named a World Heritage Site. Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej had backed the bid, sparking demonstrations by anti-Thai government protesters who claimed the temple’s new status would undermine Thailand’s claim to the surrounding area.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear and the land it occupies to Cambodia. The decision still rankles many Thais even though the temple is culturally Cambodian, sharing the Hindu-influenced style of the more famous Angkor complex.

The dispute has not been resolved despite two rounds of talks since last month, with the countries referring to two different maps.

Cambodia uses a French colonial map demarcating the border, which Thailand says favors Cambodia. Thailand relies on a map drawn up later with American technical assistance.

Both countries are also facing a military standoff at the Ta Moan temples on the border in Oddar Meancheay province. Cambodian military officials there said Thursday that, following high-level military talks, Thai troops have made good on their promise not to lock fences that would block access to Cambodian civilians and soldiers. Pol Thein, regional commander of the Ta Moan Thom temple area, said Cambodian and Thai troops are stationed in teams around 30 meters from the temple. Cambodian troops stationed in the area appealed for support from people for provisions.

Thai army chief welcomes Cambodia talks on temple feud

Thai soldiers sit in a trench along the Thai and Cambodian border near Preah Vihear temple, in the disputed area between the two countries. Thailand's army chief welcomed Tuesday talks with Cambodia to resolve a two-week tense military standoff, but refused to commit to withdrawing troops from their border. (AFP/File)

BANGKOK (AFP) - Thailand's army chief welcomed Tuesday talks with Cambodia to resolve a two-week tense military standoff, but refused to commit to withdrawing troops from their border.

Cambodia and Thailand agreed during talks on Monday to consider pulling troops out of disputed land near an ancient temple, but did not commit to any firm steps to end the standoff.

"The resolution from the meeting between Cambodia and Thailand will help relieve tension and improve the situation," General Anupong Paojinda said.

"Lowering the troops at the border, however, needs to receive an order from the government first," he told AFP by phone.

Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP that "we hope that the situation will be eased" following the 12-hours of talks in the Cambodian tourist town of Siem Reap.

Foreign ministers from both countries emerged from the talks late Monday promising to ask their governments to redeploy the thousands of soldiers stationed around a small pagoda near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple.

The ruins of the Khmer temple, which sits on a mountaintop overlooking the jungle, belong to Cambodia, but the most practical entrance begins at the foot of a mountain in Thailand.

Both sides claim some of the surrounding territory and say a full resolution of the decades-long dispute is likely to involve protracted negotiations.

The latest conflict has enflamed nationalist sentiment in both countries. In Cambodia, holding a strong stance on the temple helped Prime Minister Hun Sen win general elections on Sunday.

In Thailand, embattled Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is threatened by nationalist protesters who have made the temple a core issue in calling for his resignation.

Cambodia, Thailand Resume Talks On Border Standoff

SIEM REAP, Cambodia (AFP)--Foreign ministers from Cambodia and Thailand opened a new round of talks Monday to try to resolve a nearly two-week military standoff over an ancient temple.

Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong and his newly appointed Thai counterpart Tej Bunnag met around 10:20 a.m. local time.

Talks between Thailand's armed forces chief General Boonsrang Niempradit and Cambodia defense minister Tea Banh ended a week ago without resolution, with neither side backing down on their territorial claims.

Thousands of soldiers have deployed since July 15 to a small patch of land around the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, which sits atop a mountain overlooking the Cambodian jungle.

The ruins of the Khmer temple belong to Cambodia, but the entrance begins at the foot of a mountain in Thailand, and both sides claim some of the surrounding territory.

Neither country expects a resolution to the conflict Monday, but they hope to lay out a plan for tackling unresolved issues on the border.

"The foreign ministers will raise only their main policies, but issues regarding the border and troops need to be discussed in more detail and that will require work by different committees," Cambodia's government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said.

Thai foreign ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat told reporters Thailand was committed to resolving the crisis through negotiations.

"This is a complicated issue but with the long relationship between the two neighboring countries, the two can find a solution to solve this problem," Tharit said.

The negotiations took place at an upmarket hotel in the Cambodian tourist town of Siem Reap, whose name translates to "Thailand defeated," a legacy of ancient conflicts between the neighbors.

Nationalist tensions last erupted in 2003 in a controversy over Angkor Wat, after a Thai actress implied the ruins belonged to Thailand.

The remarks sparked a night of riots in which Bangkok's embassy and several Thai-owned businesses were burned and looted in Phnom Penh.

The latest dispute has again fueled nationalist passions in both countries.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia, but surrounding land remains in dispute.

Cambodia had asked the United Nations' Security Council to take up the latest conflict over the temple, but suspended its request to allow the current talks to proceed.

Cambodia informs compatriots about Thai encroachment of its territory

Cambodian military police patrol Preah Vihear temple, 245 km (152 miles) north of Phnom Penh, July 21, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

PHNOM PENH, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has spoken more seriously about its border dispute with Thailand, as its foreign ministry issued a letter Tuesday to its compatriots to tell about the Thai occupation of its territory and the ensuing Thai military threat.

"On July 15 2008, the armed forces of Thailand encroached on Cambodian territory in the vicinity of the Preah Vihear Temple," said the letter dated Monday and made public Tuesday morning.

"Thailand has violated the international boundary of the two countries which had been delineated since 1908 by the Mixed Commission composed of representatives from Siam (now called Thailand) and a delegation of the Protectorate Power (namely France) representing Cambodia at that time," said the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the letter addressed to all the kingdom's compatriots.

"To date, the diplomatic efforts of the Royal Government of Cambodia to persuade Thailand to withdraw its troops and return to the status quo prior to July 15 2008 have been to no avail," it said.

"The negotiations were not successful because Thailand insisted on using a map drawn unilaterally, thus violating Cambodia's territory," it said.

Therefore, the ministry decided to "request for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to find a solution to the problem in accordance with international law," it added.

Hor Namhong, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, is currently meeting with the ambassadors from the five permanent member countries of the UN Security Council and will hold a press conference before Tuesday noon to make clear Cambodia's latest reaction to the dispute.

Earlier Monday, he asked Singapore, the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to rally the foreign ministers of Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos, to find a way to help ease the tension at the Cambodian-Thai border.

"Thai troops with artillery and tanks are building up along the border, constituting a very serious threat not only to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia, but also to peace and stability in the region," he told ASEAN in a letter.

Also Monday in Thailand, bilateral top-level talks failed to produce any consensus in regard with the military standoff near their border.

Last Tuesday, three Thai protesters trespassed the border to reclaim the temple, but were immediately arrested. Thai troops then came in to fetch them, thus triggering face-off with Cambodian soldiers there. Bilateral military build-up occurred dayby day. Currently, the troops there are widely estimated at thousands.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the 11th century classic Khmer-style Preah Vihear Temple, together with the land it occupies, to Cambodia. The decision has rankled the Thais ever since.

The temple straddles the Thai-Cambodian border atop the Dangrek Mountain and was listed as a World Heritage Site on July 7 by the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.

Patience key to temple feud

Tuesday July 22, 2008
Bangkok Post

Truth be told, there is little expectation the high-level Thai-Cambodian talks will bring about a breakthrough to resolve the simmering border conflict around Preah Vihear, the 900-year-old Hindu temple recently listed as a World Heritage Site.

Still, both neighbouring countries must keep firmly in mind that continued discussion - even if it does not seem to produce stunning results at the moment while promising to drag on for a long time - is at present the best possible course of action and the only workable common ground which must be maintained at all costs.

The senior defence talks led by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Gen Tea Banh, and Thai Supreme Commander Gen Boonsrang Niempradit, is a step in the right direction. It is solid proof to the world that while both countries appreciate the concern of international bodies such as Asean, at this stage both Thailand and Cambodia are capable of bringing their contention to the negotiating table, not the battlefield. An international mediator, which Asean has proposed itself to be, might be necessary if the situation shows a tendency to deteriorate. At the present time, however, while bilateral negotiations are still ongoing, the offer for mediation is much appreciated but not yet imperative.

Yesterday's meeting, coordinated by the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee, was called after both countries sent their soldiers into the 4.6sqkm overlapping area claimed by both countries. The resulting military build-up and standoff has sent border tensions soaring. The delegations from both countries deserve a little leeway, by all means. Based on letters exchanged between Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Prime Minister Hun Sen, Phnom Penh and Bangkok remain adamant in their holding on to a different map showing a different borderline.

In his latest letter, Mr Hun Sen reaffirmed that according to the ''Annex I map'' drawn up by the French in 1908 and used by the International Court of Justice in its 1962 judgement, the temple of Preah Vihear is ''legally located approximately seven hundred metres inside Cambodian territory''. Bangkok, meanwhile, has consistently disputed that the border line as shown in the Annex I map does not conform to the true watershed line, usually held as the mark for demarcation. The 4.6-sqkm area to the west of the temple is where the two lines overlap, and where the dispute is focused.

Evidently the dispute itself is one of a stalemate in nature, with neither side likely to yield. This is without considering that domestic politics in each country - the elections in Cambodia scheduled for Sunday and the anti-government forces in Thailand bent on using the issue to rouse public support - have come into play and turned an already difficult negotiation into a politically sensitive one.

It will take some very creative initiatives by both sides to break this impasse. The process will take time, and patience is exactly what the general public in both countries must accord the negotiating parties.

One thing the Thai delegates should learn from past handling of the whole Preah Vihear issue, is that it is definitely better to share the information regarding the negotiations with the public. Monopolising such a controversial issue and keeping it secret would only raise suspicions, which could fuel a belligerent attitude that could in turn easily be abused to provoke violence. This is exactly what Thailand and Cambodia cannot afford.

Temple dispute: a way out of the impasse

Tuesday July 22, 2008
WILLIAM ROTH
Bangkok Post

From the daily reporting of the current dispute involving the Preah Vihear temple, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the average reader to discern what the ''true'' facts are. Various factions on both sides of the border, official and unofficial alike, make conflicting assertions regarding the issues, and the fires of nationalism are being stoked for what seem like clearly political purposes.

Tensions are, understandably, rising and the risk of physical confrontation increases by the day.

It is with these concerns in mind that the following analysis is offered, in the hope that it might shed fresh light on the situation and contribute to a solution beneficial to both countries.

There are three distinct aspects to the current impasse at the Preah Vihear temple: the Legal, the Political, and the Practical.

The Legal

In 1959, Cambodia brought the issue of the sovereignty of the temple to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In its Application, Cambodia expressly requested the Court ''to adjudge and declare... that the territorial sovereignty over the Temple of Preah Vihear belongs to the Kingdom of Cambodia''.

Since that was what was requested in the initial Application, that was the issue on which the Court rendered its final judgement on June 15, 1962: ''The Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia.''

In retrospect, at least for Cambodia, its initial request in 1959 turned out to be too limited in scope. The Court, in deciding the case, fully adopted Cambodia's assertion that Thailand had in fact accepted the boundary in the area of the temple as marked on a map prepared by the French in 1907. While Cambodia tried, shortly before the Court's judgement in 1962, to modify its claim to ''adjudge and declare that the frontier line between Cambodia and Thailand, in the disputed region in the neighbourhood of the Temple of Preah Vihear, is that which is marked on the map of the Commission of Delimitation between Indo-China and Siam (Annex 1 to the Memorial of Cambodia),'' Thailand rightly objected on the basis that ''the claim to a region 'in the neighbourhood of the temple of Phra Viharn' constitutes an enlargement of the claim presented by the Government of Cambodia in the Application instituting these proceedings and throughout the written pleadings.''

However, from the Court's opinion (the full text of which can be found at http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/45/4871.pdf), it appears inescapable that the Court would have awarded the surrounding land, ''in the neighbourhood of the temple of Phra Viharn,'' to Cambodia had Cambodia so framed the request in its initial Application.

Indeed, in discussing Thailand's claim that the boundary in the area was intended to be the watershed line, the Court said that there is ''no reason to think that the Parties attached any special importance to the line of the watershed as such, as compared with the overriding importance, in the interests of finality, of adhering to the map line as eventually delimited and as accepted by them. The Court, therefore, feels bound, as a matter of treaty interpretation, to pronounce in favour of the line as mapped in the disputed area.''

It is upon this basis that Cambodia, today, claims the so-called ''disputed area'' (often also referred to as ''the 4.6-sqkm overlapping zone''), whereas Thailand relies upon the technically narrow judgement of the Court that only thing legally binding on Thailand under international law is that ''the Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia''.

The Political

From the outset of the filing of the case with the ICJ, the Thai government tenaciously fought back with every conceivable argument. Its main contention _ a good one _ was that it was the original intention of the parties in 1904, when a Commission was tasked with delimiting the border between then French Indo-China and Siam, that the border along the area of the Dangrek Range where the temple sits should be the ''watershed line,'' arguably putting the temple within Thailand.

Moreover, on a more emotional level for the Thai people, when approaching the area of the temple from the Thai side, it seems visually impossible to think that the temple and its immediate surrounding area could possibly be in Cambodia! The temple appears to be a natural continuation of the landscape of Thailand, after which there is a precipitous and very dramatic vertical drop into what is concededly Cambodian territory. As a result, access to the temple is usually made from Thailand, while access from Cambodia - at least up to the present time -requires an arduous uphill climb.

There is no question that Thailand felt, and still strongly feels, that the 1962 decision of the ICJ was wrong and that the Thai people were flat-out ''robbed'' of what was rightly theirs.

This understandable feeling of hurt and dismay is by no means lessened -and indeed must be exacerbated - by the reasons the Court found in favour of Cambodia. To put it bluntly, if somewhat crudely, the Thai government repeatedly botched this matter from 1907 to 1959. From the Court's meticulous and careful recitation of the facts, it is clear that over the years there were numerous opportunities for Thailand to rectify or ''fix'' the matter in Thailand's favour, but on each occasion the opportunities were either ignored or missed entirely.

These facts amply support the Court's conclusion that the Thai government, by its own conduct, implicitly had accepted the Annex I map as accurately marking the border with Cambodia.

Nonetheless, from Thailand's perspective today, the temple and the surrounding area all should have belonged to it, and the current effort to assert sovereignty over the ''disputed area'' adjacent to the temple is based on an understandable desire to retain as much land in the area as it possibly can.

By contrast, the Cambodians are justly proud that a magnificently located temple, built by their Khmer ancestors, is recognised not only as being in Cambodian territory, but is now a World Heritage Site!

Needless to say, on maps published by Cambodia, the border with Thailand is in conformity with the Annex I map relied upon by the ICJ, making the temple and the surrounding ''disputed area'' clearly Cambodian territory.

The Practical

From the above discussion it should be plain that both sides, Cambodia and Thailand, have understandable, and indeed strong, ''claims'' to the disputed area.

And that is precisely the problem.

The current fight over this area is being waged on the basis of ''sovereignty'': the disputed area is either Cambodian or Thai, allowing no room for compromise.

Cambodia undoubtedly feels that, from a legal standpoint, if the case involving the disputed area were once again to go before the ICJ, Cambodia would win.

The Thai government most likely thinks the same thing, and so, politically, it will never agree to such a venue (''once burned, twice shy!'').

(In 1959, Cambodia was able to bring Thailand to the ICJ because, in 1950, Thailand had accepted the Court's jurisdiction for a period of 10 years. That acceptance has not been renewed, and so without Thailand's express consent, Cambodia today cannot force Thailand to have the ICJ adjudicate the current boundary dispute.)

However, the disputed area surrounding the temple itself also contains related Khmer artefacts, and in administering the temple, particularly as a World Heritage site, the entire area (perhaps even beyond the ''disputed area'') should be administered as a single entity. Indeed, the World Heritage listing provides both countries with an excellent opportunity for increased tourism and accompanying revenue.

But so long as the two countries remain at loggerheads over the sovereignty issue of the disputed area, progress on joint administration of the entire area most likely will be difficult and lengthy.

As a result, not only will Thailand lose the opportunity to reap the obvious immediate benefits of being the only viable gateway to a new World Heritage Site (access from Thailand currently is denied because of the ''tensions''), but these delays in administering the site are giving the Cambodians time to develop their own competing tourist infrastructure _ including plans to provide easier access to the temple from Cambodia itself.

Rather than continue arguing endlessly about which country owns the disputed area, a much better approach would be for both countries to immediately agree that it is something akin to an ''international peace park,'' with neither side claiming ''sovereignty''.

Instead, a joint commission could be established to provide security in the disputed area, and, in close cooperation with the World Heritage Committee, provide overall administration for a larger area reasonably related to the temple compound.

In this way both countries could immediately begin to benefit from a site which, historically, has been considered sacred to the people on both sides and one without borders.

William Roth teaches International Law at Chulalongkorn University. He visited the temple in 2001.