Cambodian, Thai defense officials to discuss troop pullout

PHNOM PENH, September 2 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian and Thai senior defense officials will meet here next week to discuss troop pullout from the demilitarized zone surrounding the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, said deputy Prime Minister Sok An on Friday.

The meeting is scheduled on September 7-8 in Phnom Penh.

"The issue of troop withdrawal will be discussed at the meeting," he told reporters at the Phnom Penh International Airport before his departure for the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) in China's Nanning.

"According to the information Cambodia has received, the Thai government led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has already agreed to accept the Indonesian observers to be deployed in the provisional demilitarized zone," said Sok An.

At least 1,500 Cambodian troops leave disputed border with Thailand

31 August 2011

PHNOM PENH (BNO NEWS) -- Cambodia withdrew approximately 1,500 troops from the disputed border area with Thailand on Wednesday as the two neighboring countries' military tension have eased since July, one official said.

Maj. Gen. Seak Socheat, deputy commander of the front-battle region 3, told the Xinhua news agency by telephone that the troops were pulled back from the Thmar Doun area between the 13th century Ta Moan temple and Ta Krabei temple, 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of the Preah Vihear Temple.

"The pullback was made at the order of Prime Minister Hun Sen," Socheat told Xinhua. "It's the sixth time Cambodian troops have pulled back from the disputed border with Thailand."

Dozens of people from both countries, including troops and civilians, were killed during armed clashes at the two temples which took place from April 22 until May 3. The violence forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee for safer areas.

Cambodia, Thailand to discuss 2nd phase of troop redeployment at disputed border area

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian and Thailand have agreed to arrange a second-phase troop redeployment at the disputed border area near the Preah Vihear Temple in the eponymous province of Cambodia, foreign minister Hor Namhong said here on Wednesday.

Both sides will convene a meeting between Head of the Cambodian Temporary Coordinating Task Force and Head of the Thai Regional Border Committee (RBC) On Aug. 29 in Cambodia to discuss the second-phase of redeployment, said Hor, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, who just returned home from Thailand after having a meeting with his Thai counterpart Tej Bunnag to end the 37-day-long military standoff at the two countries' border area.

Both troops started to face off there on July 15 and the personnel gradually accumulated to over a thousand in the coming weeks. However, major evacuation occurred on Aug. 16 and there are now only dozens of officers and soldiers left near the area.

In addition, Hor said Wednesday at the airport, both ministers also agreed to recommend to their governments that the next meeting of legal experts and the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) be convened in early Oct. 2008 to discuss the issues related to the survey and demarcation of the relevant sectors under the term of reference and master plan of JBC.

On July 15, Thai troops went into the border area to fetch three trespassers who had intended to claim Thai sovereignty over the Preah Vihear Temple. The troops stationed there ever since, thus triggering the military stalemate.

On July 28, foreign ministers from Cambodia and Thailand held a meeting in Siem Reap province and agreed to mull the possibility of evacuating troops from the border.

On Aug. 3, Thai troops entered the Tamone Toch and Tamone Thom temples in neighboring Otdar Meanchey province of Cambodia, thus aggravating the standoff.

On Aug. 16, most of the troops at the Keo Sikha Kiri Svara Pagoda and within the surrounding area of the Preah Vihear Temple were evacuated according to both sides' agreement.

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

In 1962, the International Court of Justice decided that the 11-century temple and the land around belongs to Cambodia, which rankled the Thais and has led to continuous disputes.