Maps of Ta Moan and Ta Krabei temples by EU edited by Bora Touch

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Please find below: Maps of Ta Moan and Ta Krabei temples by EU edited by Bora Touch, Esq.

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Cambodian, Thai military commanders agree to ceasefire over border row

PHNOM PENH, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian and Thai military commanders on Wednesday agreed to a ceasefire again, Lt Gen Chhum Socheat, the spokesman for Cambodian Ministry of Defense, said Wednesday.

The latest ceasefire promise was made on Wednesday morning between Cambodian Major General Chea Mon, commander of Military Region 4, and Lt Gen Thawatchai Samutsakorn, commander of Thai Army Region 2, in a 30-minute meeting at O'smach border checkpoint in Oddar Meanchey province, Chhum Socheat said. "Both sides have agreed to six points."

"The most important agreed point is the ceasefire," he said, adding that both sides agreed to allow two soldiers of each side to standby at Ta Mon temple and Ta Krabei temple in order to make the situation to return to normalcy as it was before April 22.

Cambodia did not ask for ceasefire with Thailand: Phay Siphan

Col Neak Vong, deputy commander of Cambodia’s 402nd Brigade, centre, shakes hands with Thai soldiers after holding negotiations with Col Adul Boonthamcharoen, commander of the 26th Pararanger Military Regiment,on a ceasefire at Ta Muen Thom temple in Phanom Dong Rak district of Surin province yesterday. NOPPARATKINGKAEO

03 May 2011
By Phorn Rina
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Click here to read the original article in Khmer

Following the ceasefire agreement between Cambodian and Thai troops, a report indicated that this ceasefire was requested by Cambodia because (1) it needs to collect the remains of its dead soldiers, (2) Cambodia lacks weapons and (3) Cambodia lacks food.

On 02 May, The Bangkok Post quoted Thai military claiming that the ceasefire in Ta Moan Thom temple was done upon Cambodia’s request.

The same Thai military source added that Colonel Neak Vong, the commander of RCAF brigade 420, was the direct negotiator with Thailand and he allegedly told his Thai counterpart that Cambodia needs a ceasefire so that it may collect the remains of dead soldiers whose body are rotten. He also allegedly said that Cambodian soldiers lack weapons, as well as food, following the 10-day border clash.

In reaction to the claim above, Phay Siphan, spokesman of the Cambodian government and secretary of state at the Cambodian Council of Ministers, told RFA in the evening of 02 May that the Thai military quote by The Bangkok Post is exaggeration of the truth with the aim of encouraging Thai soldiers and population only.

Legal team will be set up to deal with Cambodia's ICJ move on temple

May 2, 2011
The Nation

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is preparing to establish a legal team to deal with Cambodia's move to seek International Court of Justice (ICJ) clarification over its 1962 ruling on the Preah Vihear Temple.

The premier will raise the issue with his Cabinet at its meeting tomorrow.

A military source, meanwhile, disclosed that in the face of the military build-up near the Prasat Ta Kwai and Prasat Ta Muan Thom on Cambodian soil, Thai Army chief General Prayut Chan-ocha ordered that reinforcements be readied to boost the Thai military strength in the border areas. It added that the rapid-deployment force from the First Army Region was among the chosen reinforcement units.

The border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia has spiralled into clashes from time to time in recent years after Cambodia unilaterally sought to get the Preah Vihear Temple inscribed as a world-heritage site on its soil.

Thai, Cambodian troops clash again at border

Sunday, May 01, 2011

BANGKOK (AP) — Troops from Thailand and Cambodia have exchanged fire again at the countries' disputed border.

Thai regional army spokesman Col. Prawit Hukaew says the two sides exchanged automatic weapons fire overnight and before dawn Sunday as the conflict entered its 10th day.

Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan says the fighting took place around the Ta Krabey and Ta Moan temples, which are in a disputed zone between the two nations.

No casualties were reported. At least 16 people have been killed and nearly 100,000 displaced since fighting began April 22.

Thailand and Cambodia fought six times since 2008 over land disputed for more than half a century, but analysts say domestic politics on both sides is driving the current conflict.

Fighting resumes along Thai-Cambodian border, spreads to new area

Cambodian soldiers inspect a multi-rocket launcher near the Cambodian-Thai border in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, 26 April 2011. Border clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops after four days of fighting killed and injured soldiers on both sides and forced thousands of civilians to evacuate their villages near two disputed temples. Both sides blame the other for instigating the fighting. EPA/MAK REMISSA

Apr 28, 2011
DPA

Phnom Penh/Bangkok - Cambodia said fighting between its forces and Thailand had resumed in four places along their disputed border as of early Thursday.

Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said the clashes, which started the previous evening, involved heavy artillery and small arms fire, and were focused on the border around the contested temples of Ta Moan and Ta Krabei in north-west Cambodia, as well as a village called Thmar Doun, which lies between the two temples.

Phay Siphan said fighting had also broken out at the border crossing town of O'Smach further east.

Hundreds of civilians fled O'Smach town late Wednesday, the Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported Thursday.

Phay Siphan said Bangkok had not replied to the proposal by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that the nations' two leaders meet at the May 7-8 regional summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta.

Thai-Cambodian border skirmishes continue for 6th day

BANGKOK, April 27 (Xinhua) -- The border clash occurring nearby Ta Muen Thom and Ta Kwai temples in the disputed areas adjacent Thailand's northeastern Surin province early Wednesday morning marked the sixth straight day of fighting between Thailand and Cambodia.

New round of small arms firing erupted near the 13th-century temple ruins at about 5.30 a.m. on Wednesday morning and lasted for thirty minutes, according to Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, the Thai army spokesman.

The spokesman told Xinhua over the telephone that Cambodian troops move toward the disputed areas triggered firing which involved exchange of small arms and mortar shelling.

Thai-Cambodia clashes continue for 6th day as civilian death raises toll to 14

Thai soldiers on armored personnel carriers take a position at the border during fighting between Thailand and Cambodia in Surin province, northeastern Thailand Tuesday, April 26, 2011. The worst fighting in years between Thailand and Cambodia spread Tuesday to a third stone-walled temple, as the neighbors exchanged artillery fire in border clashes that have killed 13 soldiers and displaced 50,000 villagers. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

April 27, 2011
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SURIN, Thailand — Officials say Thailand and Cambodia have traded fire for a sixth day as an increasingly bloody border dispute drags on.

Thai army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd says one Thai civilian was killed Tuesday by Cambodian rocket fire, bringing the total dead in the wave of clashes that began Friday to 14.

Military officials from both nations say Wednesday's fighting centered around two crumbling stone temples from the Khmer Empire at Ta Moan and Ta Krabey which have been caught in crossfire since the weekend.

Gunfire exchanges broke out again at Cambodian, Thai border

Cambodian armored vehicles stand by in Banteay Ampil of Oddar Meanchey province on April 25, 2011. (Xinhua/Sovannara)

Cambodian soldiers leave for the disputed border area in Banteay Ampil of Oddar Meanchey province on April 25, 2011. (Xinhua/Sovannara)

Cambodian soldiers leave for the disputed border area in Banteay Ampil of Oddar Meanchey province on April 25, 2011. Cambodian and Thai troops exchanged gunfire in the disputed border area for the fourth consecutive day on Monday. (Xinhua/Sovannara)

PHNOM PENH, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Gunfire exchanges between Cambodian and Thai troops over the border area at the Ta Moan temple and Ta Krabei temple in Oddar Meanchey province broke out again late Monday, said a field military commander on Monday.

"The fighting started again this evening at 6:15 p.m. at the two temples," Suos Sothea, deputy commander of the artillery unit, told Xinhua by telephone from the battle fields.

"Thai forces have fired both small guns and heavy artilleries on our troops over the areas," he said.

"We have also exchanged some gunfires to defend our territory integrity from invasion," he said.

Cambodia Says Thai Shells Damaged Ancient Temples

By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia April 25, 2011 (AP)

Cambodia accused Thailand of damaging two ancient temples during three days of border clashes that killed 12 people, as Southeast Asian diplomats struggled Monday to find a way to end the repeated deadly flare-ups.

A precarious calm held Monday in the disputed border region where Ta Moan and Ta Krabey temples lie. The nearly 1,000-year-old stone temples date back to the Khmer empire that once ruled over much of both Cambodia and Thailand.

The land around the temples and several other crumbling stone monuments has fueled profound nationalistic fervor in both countries for decades. While a wider war seems unlikely, several cease-fires have failed to prevent new border violence.

Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said the two temple complexes, caught in crossfire over the weekend, had been hit by bullets and shells, but there was no word on how bad the damage was. Thailand authorities had no immediate comment on the allegation.

[Thai] Army accuses Cambodia of plot to seize temples [-Another LAME Thai excuse?]

Suffer the little children: A woman feeds her children with corn seeds as they hide in a water drainage pipe in Ban Nong Waeng of Buri Ram’s Ban Kruat district. Food is scarce in the village which has been affected by the fighting. TAWATCHAI KEMGUMNERD

Heavily armed troops, tanks 'leave Preah Vihear base'

25/04/2011
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post

The Thai army has accused Cambodia of trying to seize Ta Kwai and Ta Muen Thom temples in a plot similar to its present occupation of the 4.6 square-kilometre overlapping border near Preah Vihear temple.

Phnom Penh has reportedly removed soldiers and tanks from its Preah Vihear military base, next to the disputed main border area near Si Sa Ket province, to fortify its troops near the two temples at the Thai-Cambodian border in Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district, said army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd citing a late military report.

This showed Phnom Penh is focusing more on the overlapping border near Surin by first trying to seize Ta Kwai temple. Fortunately, Col Sansern said, Thai troops managed to control the situation, preventing its occupation.

Cambodian, Thai troops exchange gunfire for third straight day

PHNOM PENH, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The gunfire exchange between Cambodian and Thai troops over the border disputed area at the Ta Mon Thom and Ta Krabey temples in Oddar Meanchey province began again on Sunday morning, marking the third straight day of deadly clashes, said a military commander on Sunday.

"The fighting started again this morning at 10:05 a.m. at the two temples," Suos Sothea, deputy commander of the artillery unit, told Xinhua by telephone from the battle fields on Sunday.

"Thai troops have opened gunfire on our troops first, starting from small arms and then using artilleries to shell on our troops, " he added.

It is the third straight day of armed clashes between the two countries' troops. The first two-days of clashes on April 22-23 had killed at least 6 Cambodian soldiers and injured 16 others.

New fighting claims more lives

Cambodian soldiers prepare a BM21 rocket launcher near the Cambodia-Thailand border in Oddar Meanchey.

Thai soldiers in military trucks head toward the Thai-Cambodia border.

CAMBODIA SAYS THAI SIDE DROPPED CHEMICAL WEAPONS; KASIT CALLS FOR TALKS

24/04/2011

Bangkok Post

Up to 10 soldiers from both sides have so far been killed after a second day of fighting with Cambodia on the border in Surin province, with no apparent end to the conflict in sight.

An area near Ta Muen and Ta Kwai temples along the Thai-Cambodian border in Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district was rocked by five hours of gunfire and heavy artillery exchanges which killed one Thai soldier and injured 11 more yesterday morning.

Three Thai soldiers were killed and 13 others injured when fighting broke out on Friday, the first clashes between the two sides since February.

Cambodia says it has lost six troops since the border conflict erupted.

Jewel in the jungle [... that belongs to Cambodia!]

KI-Media Note:
The correct name of the Khmer temples are: Prasat Ta Moan, Ta Moan Thom and Ta Moan Toch

Surin boasts an ancient Hindu Khmer shrine which attracts very few visitors

19/08/2010
Karnjana Karnjanatawe
Bangkok Post

While strained relations between Phnom Penh and Bangkok have temporarily halted public access to Preah Vihear (aka Phra Viharn), another jewel of Khmer civilisation located close to the Thai-Cambodian border is still welcoming tourists from all nations.

The ornately carved north gate to Prasat Ta Muen Thom, the largest structure in the temple complex.

About an hour's drive south of Surin town, in Phanom Dong Rak district, is another sanctuary dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva. Commissioned by King Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181 to circa 1220), the prolific temple builder whose credits include the elegant Angkor Thom, Ta Muen Thom is the largest structure by far in the Prasat Ta Muen complex.

The last leg of the journey from the provincial capital was along an unsealed road. Our small tour party arrived at this tranquil, practically deserted spot to be met by a volunteer guide, a student from nearby Ban Nong Kanna School. The temple faces south, overlooking the frontier, and from our vantage point we could clearly see two Cambodian soldiers behind a barbed-wire fence. They looked relaxed as they puffed on their cigarettes - one lollinh on a hammock, the other on a folding chair - but they were alert, their eyes following our every movement as we picked our way around the site.

Ta Muen Thom comprises five sandstone buildings. The central prang (stupa), which no longer has a roof, contains a badly damaged statue of Nandi, Shiva's mount, plus a phallic Shiva lingam and an interesting carved lintel. It is flanked by a pair of smaller pagodas. Two ancillary buildings called banalai (repositories for sacred scripture) lie to the southwest and northwest.

Prasat Ta Muen Tot seen through its gate.

This area sustained a great deal of damage from shells during the Cambodian Civil War and when Thai troops reclaimed it they had to clear landmines laid by the Khmer Rouge. A soldier on patrol, part of a small detachment based next to the entrance to Ta Meun Thom, warned us not to stray into the thick vegetation bordering the temple grounds in case we stepped on stray mines.

In 1991, the Fine Arts Department set aside a budget at 32.4 million baht to restore these ruins and a team of experts apparently spent three years working here. Although shattered artefacts and block of sandstone are still scattered here and there, the soldier we spoke to assured us that the renovation programme had been completed.

"We get visitors coming here practically every day," he said. "There's tension elsewhere along the frontier, but we haven't had any conflicts with the Cambodian along this stretch of the border."


About 200 metres north of Prasat Ta Muen Thom is another historic ruin called Prasat Ta Muen Tot. It is believed to have once been used as a hospital, but precious little of the original structure is still standing today.

Within easy walking distance - a two-minute drive in our vehicle - of the latter, on an island of cropped grass surrounded on all sides by dense jungle, is the final site in this complex. Prasat Ta Muen (aka Prasat Bai Kreme) is believed to have built as a dhamma sala, a rest house for pilgrims. It no longer has a roof and the only object of note here is the lintel over the main entrance.

While larger and better preserved shrines to Shiva can be found on both sides of the border, the Prasat Ta Muen complex is well worth a visit if you appreciate Khmer art from this period and enjoy wandering off the beaten track.

Almost completely hemmed in by the jungle, Prasat Ta Muen (aka Prasat Bai Kreme [KI-Media note: Thmor Bay Kriem]) is five metres wide and 12 metres high.

[KI-Media note: This map is WRONG, the Ta Moan temples are locate inside Cambodia. These temples belong to Cambodia]

----------------------
More INFO

To get to the Ta Muen ruins from Surin town, firstly take Highway 214 to Prasat. Then switch onto Highway 224. After entering Phanom Dong Rak, turn onto 2407, a local road which leads to the temple complex.

For more details, visit the Tourism Authority of Thailand website (www.tourismthailand.org) or call 1672.

Alternatively, you can phone the Surin Provincial Administration Organisation on 044-512-600 or the TAO (tambon administration organisation) responsible for Prasat Ta Muen on 044-508-240.

Tamone Thom and Tamone Touch temples are clearly situated within the territory of Cambodia: You Aye

Re: "Travelling a royal road to the Khmer Empire", April 22.
Letter to The Nation

In this article, the author wrote that Phimai is "the birthplace of a number of Khmer kings" and that Tamone Thom - not Ta Muen Thom - temple is inside Thai territory (Surin province).

To provide your readers with more accurate information about the Khmer Empire and the true story of Tamone Thom, I wish to draw your attention to the following:

The world is well aware that during the prosperous Khmer Empire, the Khmer kings built thousands of temples including Phimai and Phnom Rung. Claiming that Phimai was the birthplace of a number of Khmer kings is a groundless affirmation.

Regarding Tamone Thom and Tamone Touch temples, according to the Minutes on the Demarcation N22, on Sector 4 (Le Proces Verbal d'abornement N22 sur Secteur 4) dated December 30, 1908, of the Commissions of the Delimitation of Frontiers between Indochina and Siam, and the Topographic Plate Indications of the boundary pillar N23 in that region, these two temples are clearly situated within the territory of Cambodia.

HE Mrs. You Aye
AMBASSADOR OF THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA

[Thai FM] Sompong to visit Siem Reap for border talks

November 3, 2008
The Nation

Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat will join his Cambodia counterpart Hor Namhong in Siem Reap on November 12 for another round of talks on resolving the Preah Vihear border dispute.

It would be the third such meeting following the two in July and August between former foreign minister Tej Bunnag and Hor Namhong.

Sompong, who succeeded Tej more than a month ago, would discuss the areas with overlapping claims near the Khmer sanctuaries of Ta Muen Thom and Ta Muen Kwai Krabey.

The agenda was set at the second ministerial meeting in Thailand's resort beach town of Cha-Am in August, ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said Monday.

Enemies turn allies in temple battle

Oct 18, 2008
By Stephen Kurczy
Asia Times Online (Hong Kong)

PREAH VIHEAR and PHNOM PENH - Comrade Neak Vong spent nearly two decades fighting against the Cambodian government. Now, he and other former Khmer Rouge soldiers are fighting on behalf of their former adversary in what some fear could escalate into a full-blown war with neighboring Thailand over claims to ancient temples and their surrounding territories.

Along the Thai-Cambodia border, where fighting broke out on October 15 between Thai and Cambodian troops, loyalties have blurred as longtime enemies fight for the same cause. Ten years after a nearly two-decade civil war between the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian government ended, military generals from both sides have picked up their weapons in a standoff with Thailand.

Currently the secretary general of staff for the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, Neak Vong fled with the Khmer Rouge to Cambodia's northwest when Vietnamese forces pushed the genocidal Maoist regime into the border jungles in 1979. For the next 17 years, the cadre sparred with Thai troops to the north and Cambodian troops to the south while he guarded several ancient temples and their surrounding land.

In 1996, he laid down his arms as Khmer Rouge Brother Number Two, Ieng Sary, led the first wave of defections to the government. Ieng Sary today is in detention facing war crimes at the United Nations-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal in Phnom Penh. Neak Vong, however, is back on the frontline, called on by the Cambodian government to help maintain sovereignty over one of the three disputed temples on the Thai-Cambodia border.

He now leads 550 Cambodian troops at Ta Moan temple, 200 kilometers west of Preah Vihear temple where fighting erupted Wednesday and left two Cambodian soldiers dead. "I'm used to fighting with Thailand along the border," Neak Vong recently quipped.

The current military standoff at Preah Vihear temple began in mid-July days after Cambodia successfully listed it as a United Nations World Heritage Site. Hundreds of Thai demonstrators had amassed nearby to protest what they considered an attempt to steal Thai land and, in response, Cambodia chain-locked the Thai's entrance gate and stationed a number of soldiers at the temple. Within weeks, Thailand locked Cambodia out of Ta Moan temple and stationed a number of solders there. Both scenes quickly devolved into military standoffs.

Fighting for Cambodia aligns Neak Vong with the man he fought against during the Khmer Rouge's guerilla war, Som Bopharoat, one of the Cambodian military commanders now leading operations to defend Preah Vihear temple for Cambodia. Som Bopharoat's headquarters sit at the highest point of the 800-meter-long temple structure.

A meter from his camouflage green tent, a sheer cliff drops 575 meters to the sparsely inhabited Cambodian plains. In a recent interview outside his tent, Som Bopharoat recalled fighting Neak Vong and the renegade Khmer Rouge in the 1990s. Both sides would eavesdrop on the other's radio communications, he said, sometimes breaking into a frequency to curse and threaten the other.

"I heard the enemy's voice through the radio," he recalled. "After they defected to the government, I saw the voice and said 'You used to fight against me'!" Som Bopharoat doesn't know if he ever heard Neak Vong's voice, but he knows of him and he smiled at the irony of former enemies now fighting alongside one another.

It's all part of what Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said is a "win-win policy in dealing with the cadres of the former DK [Democratic Republic of Kampuchea]". When Khmer Rouge leaders Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea defected to the government in December 1998, Prime Minister Hun Sen said they should be welcomed "with bouquets of flowers, not with prisons and handcuffs".

He told the press then: "If a wound does not hurt, you should not poke at it with a stick to make it bleed. If we put those two men in prison, will this benefit society or lead to civil war?" While Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea are now both in pre-trial detention, along with Ieng Sary, Hun Sen's comments in retrospect speak more towards lower-level Khmer Rouge-defectors like Neak Vong.

National reconciliation is more important than punishing all former Homer Rouge members, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said in a recent e-mail with this correspondent, and, at the same time, the Khmer Rouge troops "are very familiar with the areas".

Marginal advantage

Experts question if that will help the Cambodian forces against Thailand's better-equipped and United States-trained forces. Bertil Lintner, a regional security expert based in Thailand, said Preah Vihear temple's cliff-top location isn't suitable for the type of guerrilla warfare with which the Khmer Rouge is acquainted.

"There is nowhere to go, nowhere to retreat for the Cambodian forces except by helicopter - or an extremely steep and vulnerable climb down the cliff. The [Khmer Rouge] fought a guerrilla war in the jungles of the Cambodian lowlands, not on top of the Preah Vihear cliff," he said in an e-mail message. What is more, he added, most of the Khmer Rouge forces have since retired from battle.

Nevertheless, the fact that ex-Khmer Rouge guerillas like Neak Vong are members of the Cambodian forces has opened the military to a measure of criticism: not only are the former Khmer Rouge fighters familiar with Cambodia's remote northwestern areas, they're also familiar with the laying of anti-personnel mines of the type that severely injured two Thai soldiers earlier this month.

During their civil war, both the Khmer Rouge and Cambodian government are estimated to have laid tens of thousands of mines around Preah Vihear temple. Thai officials have claimed - including in a presentation to foreign diplomats on Thursday - that Cambodian troops recently planted the Russian-built mines on Thai soil, representing a violation of Thai sovereignty.

Virachai Plasai, the director of the Treaties and Legal Affairs Department with the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accused Cambodia on Friday of violating the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning landmines. "This is a grave threat for the international community as a whole," he said.

Meanwhile, the Cambodian Foreign Ministry has issued several statements saying its soldiers did not plant the mines, and Khem Sophoan, director-general of the Cambodia Mine Action Center, said the area where the two Thai troops lost their legs had never been de-mined.

"These are old mines, laid during the war between the government and the Khmer Rouge," he said by telephone Friday. "After Cambodia signed the Ottawa Convention, we destroyed all of our supplies and did not lay new mines. We only clear mines." Those conflicting accounts, if not resolved, could ignite more hostilities, security experts say.

From Cambodia's base camp below Ta Moan temple, Neak Vong said he thinks it makes sense for former Khmer Rouge cadres to lead the mission against Thailand. "I know this area and I am not afraid of Thailand," he said from his jungle headquarters, giving an insight into his military tactics. He said he sent 100 Cambodian troops on August 5 trekking up a rocky ledge through a thick, wet jungle in the steep ascent to Ta Moan temple. Familiar with the terrain, they were able to surround a 20-person Thai camp stationed inside what he claimed to be Cambodian territory.

"After we circled them, they withdrew," recalled one of Neak Vong's troops. Twenty Cambodian military remain stationed there. Wearing Converse sneakers and flip-flops, they patrol the camp with B40 rocket launchers and AK-47 rifles.

Som Bopharoat and Neak Vong both claim to know the lay of the land and how to hold their positions. Both also said that, unlike when Khmer Rouge fighters patrolled the area, diplomatic negotiations are probably the best course of action. But as accusations fly between both countries about landmines, land boundaries and who fired first on Wednesday, a truce for now seems elusive.

It might yet be a long standoff at both Ta Moan and Preah Vihear temples, the two military leaders said. With thunderclouds rolling in over the hillside and lighting striking down in the distance, the rainy season has taken its toll on his troops, said Neak Vong before this week's skirmish. Nonetheless, he's prepared to live in the jungle for a while.

"We're used to having a difficult time,'' the former Khmer Rouge fighter said.

Stephen Kurczy is a Cambodia-based journalist.

[Trespassing] Thais Turned Back Near Ta Moan Temples

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 October 2008

Cambodian soldiers turned back 20 Thai soldiers who had crossed into Cambodian territory in Oddar Meanchey province Wednesday, a military official said.

The Thai soldiers were found near a waterfall about 1.5 kilometers from the Ta Moan temple complex, which has become a second point of contention in an ongoing border dispute, said Col. Nak Vong, deputy commander of Regiment 42, which is stationed in the area.

The soldiers encountered each other at around 10 am, and no shots were fired. The encounter occurred following a brief gunfight at Preah Vihear temple on Friday and the injuries by landmine of two Thai soldiers on Phnom Trop, near Preah Vihear temple, on Monday.

Oddar Meanchey Governor Pich Sokhen said the encounter was a "simple problem," and many similar incidents had occurred since a build-up of troops began July 15.

Cambodia and Thailand have been unable to solve a military build-up that began following Preah Vihear temple's inscription on a Unesco World Heritage protection list July 7.

Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat are still expected to meet Oct. 13, despite a Thai political crisis that devolved into violence in Bangkok Tuesday.

Somchai to visit Cambodia, seeks end to row

BORDER DISPUTES

PM to visit Cambodia, seeks end to row

Wednesday October 01, 2008
TANIDA TANSUBHAPOL
Bangkok Post

The disputes over Ta Muen Tom Moan Thom and Ta Kwai Krabey temples will be high on the agenda of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat when he visits Cambodia on Oct 13.

Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat said a Cambodian foreign affairs official had told foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) that ''Thailand is occupying these two areas''.

Cambodia wanted to discuss the issue during the visit to Phnom Penh by the prime minister, he added.

Thailand is confident the two temples are in Phanom Dong Rak district in Surin. Ta Kwai temple is called Ta Krabey by Cambodians.

Mr Sompong reaffirmed the next Joint Boundary Commission meeting would be held after Parliament gives it the go-ahead. The Foreign Ministry wants Parliament's approval for the meeting to avoid any violation of the constitution.

Asean foreign ministers were satisfied Thailand and Cambodia would be able to handle the problems through the bilateral talks, he said.

UN Secretary-General Bun Ki Moon agreed it was unnecessary for the two countries to bring the issues to the UN Security Council, Mr Sompong said.

Asean ministers held talks on Monday in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Thailand Should Practice What It Had Preached To Cambodia

Opinion by Khmerization
20th September, 2008
To the Editor of The Nation newspaper
letters@nationgroup.com
Originally posted at http://khmerization.blogspot.com

“The Nation had also advocated that the disputes of temples should not be settled by military means. May I suggest that the Thai military occupations of the Preah Vihear, Ta Moan and Ta Krabey temples were proof that Thailand, due to its military superiority, has dangerously employed standover tactics and military means rather than negotiations as the solutions to the border disputes. Thailand, and for that matter, the Nation, should practise what it had preached to Cambodia, that border disputes should not be settled by military means.”

The editorial titled “No need to inflame border dispute”, published in The Nation on 18th September, 2008 once again proved the Nation’s journalistic true colours and therefore it deserved my attention and warrant my strong response.

This editorial, like “When Cambodia Cries Wolf”, which published in The Nation on the 1st of August, was a brilliant journalistic spin which has cunningly portrayed a victim (Cambodia) as a predator and a perpetrator and turning a real predator and perpetrator (Thailand) into some sort of a hapless victim. In short, The Nation’s editorial styles proved that the Nation is indeed a cunning spin doctor.

The Nation’s accusations that Cambodia had exploited the political crisis in Thailand by opportunistically invading the Ta Krabey temple is based on the Nation’s Thai nationalistic fervour more than the need for an objectivity in its reportage. In fact, it was Thailand, and not Cambodia, who exploited the opportunities. In 1998, Thailand seized an opportunity to send Thai troops to occupy Ta Moan Thom, Ta Moan Toch and Ta Krabey temples when the Khmer Rouge movement, who guarded those temples for years, had disintegrated and the temples were left guard-less.

Thailand had cunningly concocted its version of event regarding the military confrontation at Ta Krabey temple. It accused Cambodian troops of violating Thai sovereignty and territorial integrity. The sheer fact of the event was that more than 140 Thai soldiers forced their way into the temple in the middle of the night and terrorised a small group of Cambodian soldiers who guarded the temple for years. (Read here: Cambodia sent hundreds of troops to Ta Krabey temple).

The Nation had feared that Cambodia’s actions, or reactions, at Ta Krabey temple could jeopardise the already fragile relations between the two countries. The Nation forgot that Thailand’s invasions of Preah Vihear and Ta Moan Thom temples had already jeopardised the Khmer-Thai relations. It was Cambodia who showed restraints which had prevented the armed clashes when Thai soldiers forced their ways into these two temples.

The recent Thai forced occupation of the Ta Krabey, not Ta Kwai, because the word is a translation of the Khmer word, was an opportunistic military venture, dangerously ordered and employed by Thai military leaders who wanted to exploit the political chaos in Thailand, when Thailand was leaderless and the protesters and the military were in charge.

The Nation had also voiced its concerns over the lack of solutions to the disputes over Preah Vihear and Ta Moan temples. The fact of the matter is the reasons that the two countries have not yet resolved the previous disputes over Preah Vihear and Ta Moan temples were because Thailand, due to its lack of sincerity, has intransigently refused to withdraw its troops from those Cambodian territories, even though Cambodia had negotiated in good faith. Thailand only agreed to negotiate as a mean to appease Cambodia not to complain to the UN or the World Court. Thailand’s insincerity was clearly evident in the fact that, after four negotiations, Thai troops are still occupying the Khmer territories that they have invaded.

The Nation had also advocated that the disputes of temples should not be settled by military means. May I suggest that the Thai military occupations of the Preah Vihear, Ta Moan and Ta Krabey temples were proof that Thailand, due to its military superiority, has dangerously employed standover tactics and military means rather than negotiations as the solutions to the border disputes. Thailand, and for that matter, the Nation, should practise what it had preached to Cambodia, that border disputes should not be settled by military means.

The Thai military incursion at Ta Krabey temple was a sheer violation of Cambodian sovereignty and territorial integrity. And the summon of the Cambodian ambassador by Thailand’s Foreign Ministry was an insult to injury. Ta Krabey temple was located inside Khmer territories and was guarded by Cambodian troops for years. By sending the troops in to occupy the temple and twisted the story around by accusing Cambodia of invading its territories, Thailand was cunningly compiling a record and building up a case against Cambodia, should the latter bring the matter to the UN or the International Court of Justice. Very cunning indeed.
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1. Read Kok Sap's response to The Nation newspaper: The Nation: No need to inflame border dispute.