[The Bangkok Post Editorial urges Thailand to] Walk back in to the WHC

4/07/2011
Bangkok Post
EDITORIAL

One of the first jobs of the new government must be an urgent reassessment of the Cambodian border problems. The outgoing government under Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has not handled this issue well. The dead, the wounded and the homeless testify to that. The new government must reverse the walkout at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Paris by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti.

Border relations with Cambodia, attention to our heritage and history and the country's image, all have been harmed in recent months.

It will be an effort to repair this damage and move ahead, but a determined government can handle the problem.

The faint praise and arm's-length "backing" that Mr Abhisit gave to Mr Suwit is instructive. Deeply involved in an election campaign, the premier sensed that the public had little sympathy for the walkout from Paris. Indeed, it was wrong on many levels.

It's the right decision [for Thailand to puul out of the WHC] (whatever!)

2/07/2011
Kamol Hengkietisak
Bangkok Post

Thailand was right to withdraw from the World Heritage Convention as the WHC is intent on accepting the Cambodian government's management proposal for Preah Vihear without caring about Thailand's objections, notes Nha-Kran Laohavilai, Post Today editor.

Nakarn notes that if Thailand accepts the WHC's resolution concerning the management of Preah Vihear temple, it means that an international committee comprising people from several nations would be able to dictate to both the Thai and Cambodian governments that they comply. Since the management of Preah Vihear temple involves construction in the disputed territory claimed by both Thailand and Cambodia, it is possible that eventually the disputed territory will be turned into Cambodian territory.

For three years now _ ever since the World Heritage Committee accepted Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site as proposed unilaterally by the Cambodian government _ there have been constant troop clashes between Thailand and Cambodia along the border, which is contrary to the goal of Unesco's establishment of the World Heritage Committee, which is to advocate peace in listing heritage sites.

[Thailand] Post-election scenario has investors wary

July 2, 2011
By Nophakhun Limsamarnphun
The Nation

A chaotic outcome is expected as a result of tomorrow's general election in which about 35 million Thais are expected to cast their votes.

The voter turnout is likely to be no less than the 74 per cent recorded in the last poll nearly four years ago.

According to Kasikornbank's research, investors should prepare for the worst outcome because political conflicts are unlikely to fade away regardless of which major party wins this election. A new round of political rallies will happen as soon as the conflict resumes. At this stage there are at least three sensitive issues facing the country.

First, there will be a heated debate whether the new Parliament should grant amnesty to 111 and 105 former party executives currently banned from directly engaging in political activities. Fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra is among these former politicians, and he has also been sentenced to a two-year jail-term for abuse of power. Pro-amnesty groups have suggested that such a move would represent a settlement of previous political conflicts. On the other hand, there will likely be fierce opposition from other groups to such a move, especially with regard to Thaksin's criminal cases. According to the research, it is possible there will be street protests against this plan if it is presented to the new Parliament.

Second, it is speculated that there could be extra-constitutional measures taken against the election outcome. Unless a single party wins more than 251 seats in the 500-member House, there could be military and judicial intervention. In addition, mass demonstrations will challenge any extra-constitutional move.

Third, the Thai-Cambodian conflict could also lead to mass demonstrations as the next government will have to make a crucial decision on the Preah Vihear Temple issue after Thailand expressed its intention to withdraw from the World Heritage Convention (WHC). An official withdrawal process will take about 12 months. There has already been heated debate on the pros and cons of WHC withdrawal after the caretaker Abhisit government expressed its support for the move.

Suwit: Thailand will rejoin WHC if... [-Suwit must be day dreaming before the election]

1/07/2011
Apinya Wipatayotin
Bangkok Post

Unesco's request that Thailand reverse its decision to withdraw from the World Heritage Convention can be complied with only if Preah Vihear's listing as a world heritage site is temporarily withdrawn, until there is a clear agreement on the demarcation of the border in the immediate area, caretaker Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti said on Friday.

Mr Suwit announced Thailand's withdrawal and then walked out of a World Heritage Convention (WHC) committee meeting in Paris last week.

The dispute centres on Cambodia's proposed management plan for the temple and the land immediately adjoining it. Bangkok and Phnom Penh both claim sovreignty over 4.6 square kilometres of borderland surrounding three sides of the old Hindu religious ruin, which sits on the end of a promontory.

'Revoke Preah Vihear as World Heritage Site': Suwit [-Dream on, Suwit!]

July 1, 2011
The Nation

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti has called on the World Heritage Committee to revoke the registration of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site in a bid to resolve the border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.

"The World Heritage Committee should review its standpoint over the process to approve the registration of Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage Site," he told senior officials of his ministry.

Suwit has shown a draft decision of the 35th World Heritage Committee meeting and a 3D model of Preah Vihear Temple and its compound to the press.

Thailand’s hard stance on UNESCO under scrutiny

June 29, 2011
Boris Sullivan
Thailand Business News

Thailand announced its departure from the World Heritage Convention with‬ ‪immediate effect on Saturday, after the World Heritage Committee failed to heed its request seeking postponement of the Cambodia’s unilaterally-proposed Preah‬ Vihear Temple management plan, as Thailand fears that it may threaten national sovereignty.

Thailand’s Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, leading the Thai‬ delegation at the 35th session of the WHC meeting in Paris, earlier notified Mr Mounir‬ Bouchenaki, director-general of International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and‬ ‪Restoration of Cultural Property, who represents the director-general of United Nations‬ ‪Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNESCO, that Thailand would leave the World‬ Heritage Convention and would also withdraw from the 21-member World Heritage Committee as the‬ body continues to ignore any negative consequences which may arise from the consideration of the temple management plan which he said overlooks sensitive issues which could adversely affect Thailand’s sovereignty and territory.‬

However, the withdrawal was not fully backed by the Foreign Ministry, a government source said.

[Thai] PM refuses challenge by Hun Sen

WHC decision 'is not Cambodia's concern'

30/06/2011
Bangkok Post

The government has brushed off a challenge by Cambodia that it formally withdraw from the World Heritage Committee, while denying it was playing up the issue for political gain.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday said Cambodia should stop interfering in Thai affairs, after its leader Hun Sen stepped into the debate over the government's decision to leave the WHC.

Hun Sen has challenged the government to officially inform the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) if it was serious about withdrawing.

"If you have the heart of a son, you will write a formal letter to the WHC," he told a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh.

Thailand’s hard stance on UNESCO under scrutiny [-Thailand Foreign Ministry does back the withdrawal]

June 29, 2011
Boris Sullivan
Thailand Business News

Thailand announced its departure from the World Heritage Convention with‬ ‪immediate effect on Saturday, after the World Heritage Committee failed to heed its request seeking postponement of the Cambodias unilaterally-proposed Preah‬ Vihear Temple management plan, as Thailand fears that it may threaten national sovereignty.

Thailands Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, leading the Thai‬ delegation at the 35th session of the WHC meeting in Paris, earlier notified Mr Mounir‬ Bouchenaki, director-general of International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and‬ ‪Restoration of Cultural Property, who represents the director-general of United Nations‬ ‪Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNESCO, that Thailand would leave the World‬ Heritage Convention and would also withdraw from the 21-member World Heritage Committee as the‬ body continues to ignore any negative consequences which may arise from the consideration of the temple management plan which he said overlooks sensitive issues which could adversely affect Thailands sovereignty and territory.‬

However, the withdrawal was not fully backed by the Foreign Ministry, a government source said.

Officials from the Foreign Ministry who attended the meeting together with Suwit in Paris were satisfied with their negotiations with the Cambodian delegation on the draft of the World Heritage Committee’s decision.

[Thai] 2nd Army: No reinforcements to border

29/06/2011
Bangkok Post

No troop reinforcements have been sent to the border with Cambodia, there has been only routine rotation of units, Army Region 2 commander Lt-Gen Thawatchai Samutsakhon said on Tuesday.

He said it was necessary for soldiers to be on alert around the clock. Thai and Cambodian troops had long confronted each other along the border and a clash could occur at any time without warning.

However, Army Region 2 had not sent reinforcements to the border, he said.

Lt-Gen Thawatchai advised the people who want to visit Ta Muen Tom temple in tambon Ta Miang of Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district to postpone their trip for safety reason.

UNESCO chief regrets Thailand's decision to quit World Heritage Convention

BANGKOK, June 28 (MCOT online news) -- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Tuesday said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova has sent a letter expressing her regret over Thailand's decision to withdraw from the World Heritage Convention.

Mr Abhisit, before the weekly cabinet meeting, showed reporters a letter from the UNESCO chief and said briefly that he would address a news conference on Thailand's stance after today's Cabinet meeting.

National Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, as head of the Thai delegation to the World Heritage Committee meeting in Paris, will report the issue to the Cabinet and agencies concerned will study the implication of the UNESCO agency's resolution on Cambodia's management plan for Preah Vihear after Thailand leaves the convention.

Abhisit takes the low road

28/06/2011
Bangkok Post

Editorial

The government's decision to walk away from the World Heritage Convention is troubling on several levels. The group is part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, and Unesco has always been an unreliable arm of the UN. But the reason given by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to quit the WHC seems more of a technical problem than an outright threat to the nation. Indeed, Mr Abhisit's initial attempt to explain why Thailand is pulling all support from the convention is confusing and unconvincing.

According to Mr Abhisit, the members of the World Heritage Committee, meeting in Paris, are determined to move ahead on a plan by Cambodia to manage the Preah Vihear temple. A few words in the draft version of the plan are troubling. The Cambodian-written submission says that the temple needs "restoration" and "repair". The prime minister says that these references might be construed to mean that Thailand had damaged Preah Vihear, maybe during the recent and deadly military battles in the southern area of Si Sa Ket. But Mr Abhisit's justification of a walkout over this possibility is as vague as the wording itself.

Thailand has no one to blame but itself [-Thailand was lying through its teeth]

Puangthong: We ‘should have known’

28/06/2011
Bangkok Post

"Even foreign media based in Cambodia also dislike Hun Sen, but they support Cambodia over the issue."

Chulalongkorn University political scientist Puangthong Pawakapan believes the decision to withdraw Thailand from the World Heritage Convention will cast a negative light on the country's image. The academic shares her opinions with AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK on the issue.

What's wrong with Thailand's foreign policy on the world stage?

We have to look at the overall problem. Thai and Cambodia have been at loggerheads over Preah Vihear since Cambodia managed to get the ancient temple listed as a World Heritage Site in 2008. Thailand's opposition has hurt its image. The country is viewed as losing a boxing match, but it and its fans refuse to accept the defeat.

Does a conflict over the 4.6-sq km disputed area (near Preah Vihear temple) not carry enough weight for the WHC to listen to Thailand?

The Abhisit government explained that the listing of the temple and its management plan has allegedly encroached on Thai soil. But the government failed to produce clear evidence showing the alleged encroachment.

Preah Vihear: From Conflict to Development

Poorly equipped Cambodian soldiers along the border?

Monday, June 27, 2011
Op-Ed by MP

The news that the Thai delegation had decided to walk out on the World Heritage Convention in protest against the latter’s decision to advance Cambodia’s management plan for consideration does not come as a shock to any informed observers. All the signals from the Thai camp leading to this announcement last Saturday night in Paris appeared to convey an air of optimism that the UN body would cave in to Thailand’s obstructive pressure and lobby to derail Cambodia’s management proposal. The signals, misleading as they usually are, had been communicated with the Thai public in mind. Having manufactured or resurrected the row that had been put to bed since 1962, the challenge for this Thai administration has been how to ‘sell’ this unwholesome piece of its business and its largely incoherent strategy over this venture to an increasingly uneasy, sceptical Thai public in this critical period leading up to the forthcoming general election.

Politicians and diplomats the world over are not normally held in high esteem by their educated, thoughtful public. With the exception of an honourable few, this breed of men are a species of their own. However, at least on the issue of Preah Vihear, it is nevertheless, possible to surmise with a high level of confidence which camp has been telling the truth and which has been telling lies.

Thailand Withdraws From World Heritage Convention Over Temple Dispute

Monday, 27 June 2011
Ron Corben, VOA | Bangkok

“I suspect Cambodia will have to come up with a bit of a delay on their part."

Thailand on Sunday withdrew from the World Heritage Convention as Cambodia prepared to present management plans for a 900-year-old temple to a meeting of the committee in Paris. The Thai government says its withdrawal is meant to protect the country's sovereignty; analysts say it further delays implementing a management plan for the historical site.

Thailand’s withdrawal from the World Heritage Convention and the World Heritage Committee came during a Paris meeting after an agreement was reached to place a proposed management plan for the site on the meeting’s agenda.

Thailand has disputed moves by Cambodia to present a management plan for the 900-year-old disputed temple on the Cambodia-Thailand border.

[Thai] Army gears up on border [-Thailand looking for a fight with Cambodia after pulling out of the WHC?]

27/06/2011
Bangkok Post

National army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha praised Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti's decison to withdraw from the World Heritage Convention and said he has ordered soldiers along the Thai-Cambodian border to be prepared.

Gen Prayuth said on Monday the army is overseeing security, monitoring intelligence activities and observing movements along the border in order to protect the country's sovereignty.

More troops and health personnel had been sent to villages near the border area to inform residents about the situation and avert any panic.

"Don't be frightened because I believe no one wants to fight and that holding talks is the solution to the problem," Gen Prayuth said.

"After withdrawing from the WHC, we now have to wait for the decision of the International Court of Justice.

Thai FM holds urgent meeting to ponder next move [-Thailand didn't have a backup plan?]

June 27, 2011
Xinhua

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya on Sunday called an urgent meeting to consider the next move after Thailand withdrew from the World Heritage Convention in protest against the World Heritage Committee's decision to consider Cambodia's management plan of the Preah Vihear temple.

Representatives from Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Culture and Natural Resources and Environment attended the meeting.

Culture Minister Suwit Khunkitti, head of the Thai delegation negotiating with the World Heritage Committee in Paris, said on Saturday his delegation had informed the WHC that Thailand resigned as a member country to the convention.

UNESCO Director-General regrets the announcement of Thailand's intention to denounce the 1972 World Heritage Convention

Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/772

The Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova has expressed her deep regret following the declaration of the Thai Minister Suwit Khunkitti during the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee being held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from 19 to 29 June 2011, on the intention of Thailand to denounce the 1972 World Heritage Convention.

Irina Bokova reiterated that "The World Heritage Convention of 1972 is not only the foremost international instrument for the preservation and protection of the world’s cultural and natural properties which have Outstanding Universal Value, but also widely recognized as an important and indispensable tool to develop and encourage international cooperation and dialogue”.

Contrary to widely circulated media reports, the World Heritage Committee did not discuss the Management Plan of the Temple of Preah Vihear nor did it request for any reports to be submitted on its state of conservation. Moreover, it needs to be clarified that UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre never pushed for a discussion of the Management Plan by the Committee.

The decision of the World Heritage Committee on the Temple of Preah Vihear World Heritage site in Cambodia only reaffirms the need to ensure the protection and conservation of the property from any damage. It further encourages the two countries to use the 1972 Convention as a tool to support conservation, sustainable development and dialogue.

[Thai] PM backs withdrawal from WHC

Preah Vihear draft has territorial implications

27/06/2011
Bangkok Post

A government source said last night Thailand now would not be able to apply to host next year's WHC meeting.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has defended the decision to withdraw Thailand from Unesco's World Heritage Convention, saying its approval of Cambodia's management plan for Preah Vihear temple would put the country at a disadvantage.

At a press conference yesterday, Mr Abhisit said a draft agreement on the management plan proposed by the convention, which sets the criteria for Unesco's list of the world's most important cultural and natural assets, contained some wording from the Cambodian version of the draft.

He said some sensitive words - "restoration" and "repair" - from the Phnom Penh version of the draft had been interpolated into the draft. Such wording could put Thailand at risk of losing territory, he said, because they could be interpreted as apportioning blame for damage to the temple.

Thailand has found the draft unacceptable, prompting it to withdraw from the WHC, Mr Abhisit said.

UNESCO regrets Thai decision to denounce World Heritage Convention

Source: UN News Centre

26 June 2011 – The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today voiced deep regret after Thailand announced it would denounce the global convention aimed at preserving humankind's most outstanding shared cultural and natural heritage.

A Thai Government minister said yesterday in Paris, where the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is currently meeting, that his country did not support the convention, the latest step in a row involving the Preah Vihear Temple, a World Heritage List site that was damaged during border clashes earlier this year between Thailand and Cambodia.

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said in a press statement issued today that “the World Heritage Convention of 1972 is not only the foremost international instrument for the preservation and protection of the world's cultural and natural properties which have outstanding universal value, but also widely recognized as an important and indispensable tool to develop and encourage international cooperation and dialogue.”

Ms. Bokova said she hoped that Thailand would “carefully consider its future course of action” regarding the convention and “continue to be an active participant” in the discussion of world heritage issues.

Temple to remain time bomb [:PAD Thai]

June 27, 2011
By PONGPHON SARNSAMAK,
SAMASCHA HUNSARA
THE NATION

Thailand will withdraw from Heritage Convention, but experts query move

Thailand's defiant decision to pull out of the World Heritage Convention late on Saturday in protest over Cambodia's management plan for Preah Vihear Temple could be another ticking bomb for the new government.

"The next step to withdraw from the World Heritage Committee will be the responsibility of the next government," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told a press conference at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

He had called Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya to meet for 10 minutes at the airport's VIP room before the press conference.

"From now Unesco can consult with Thailand over the next process and Thailand will insist that any activity to recover the disputed areas must be approved by Thailand. We do always ask Cambodia to withdraw troops from the Preah Vihear Temple as it would violate the convention and the intention of the committee," he said.