By Sav Yuth
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Cambodian border defense officials in Oddar Meanchey province reported that black-clad Thai soldiers from Thailand’s Sisaket province came into Cambodia to prevent the construction of a gas station located next to the borderline, but inside Cambodia. The Thai soldiers ordered the stop of the construction claiming that it affects the borderline which has not been resolved yet.
Lieutenant-Colonel Toch Ra, the deputy director of the Cambodia-Thailand border liaison group in Choam Sra-ngam entry point, Anlong Veng district, said on Wednesday 10 October that a group of black-clad Thai soldiers prevented the construction of a private gas station located close to the borderline, but inside Cambodian territories, a few days earlier. The Cambodian authority agreed to this request, but it refused to comply with the Thai demand to demolish the station because it is located on Khmer lands.
Toch Ra said: “The concrete gasoline stockpile station was being built, the concrete was poured in a few days ago, they (Thai) told us to put a stop (to the construction) because it is located in unclear border zone. Therefore, we keep it as it is, if there is any problem with its demolition, the (border) committee at the national level must resolve this issue.”
Cambodian border defense troops consider this obstacle (imposed by Thailand) on the construction of a gas station inside the Cambodian border, as a violation on the border treaty (between the two countries).
Chim Phanna, the Anglong Veng district governor, said that, during the Khmer Rouge era, the borderline next to which the gas station was built was under the control of Ta Mok, it was Cambodian territories, and no Thai soldiers ever dare come to make any claim about it being a “white zone” or an unclear border zone. “During the Khmer Rouge era, we occupied that territory, we consider it as our lands, but later on, they called it a forbidden zone,” Chim Phanna said.
Var Kim Hong, the chairman of the Cambodian border resolution committee, said that he cannot comment on this problem because he did not receive any information for the local authorities yet. “How can I give an opinion? If they (Thai soldiers) came in, I did not know, the local authority did not send me a report,” Var Kim Hong said.
On Wednesday, the Thai embassy in Cambodia could not be reached to obtain further clarifications.
According to Cambodian border guards, border problems in the Choam Sra-ngam are frequent: on 04 September, a group of black-clad armed Thai soldiers came in to stop de-mining operations performed by the Halotras group in an area near the gas station. In 2006, Thai soldiers brought in about 30 prefabricated steel buildings and installed them in the area where they claimed that the border zone is unclear. These buildings still remain there now.
Lieutenant-Colonel Toch Ra, the deputy director of the Cambodia-Thailand border liaison group in Choam Sra-ngam entry point, Anlong Veng district, said on Wednesday 10 October that a group of black-clad Thai soldiers prevented the construction of a private gas station located close to the borderline, but inside Cambodian territories, a few days earlier. The Cambodian authority agreed to this request, but it refused to comply with the Thai demand to demolish the station because it is located on Khmer lands.
Toch Ra said: “The concrete gasoline stockpile station was being built, the concrete was poured in a few days ago, they (Thai) told us to put a stop (to the construction) because it is located in unclear border zone. Therefore, we keep it as it is, if there is any problem with its demolition, the (border) committee at the national level must resolve this issue.”
Cambodian border defense troops consider this obstacle (imposed by Thailand) on the construction of a gas station inside the Cambodian border, as a violation on the border treaty (between the two countries).
Chim Phanna, the Anglong Veng district governor, said that, during the Khmer Rouge era, the borderline next to which the gas station was built was under the control of Ta Mok, it was Cambodian territories, and no Thai soldiers ever dare come to make any claim about it being a “white zone” or an unclear border zone. “During the Khmer Rouge era, we occupied that territory, we consider it as our lands, but later on, they called it a forbidden zone,” Chim Phanna said.
Var Kim Hong, the chairman of the Cambodian border resolution committee, said that he cannot comment on this problem because he did not receive any information for the local authorities yet. “How can I give an opinion? If they (Thai soldiers) came in, I did not know, the local authority did not send me a report,” Var Kim Hong said.
On Wednesday, the Thai embassy in Cambodia could not be reached to obtain further clarifications.
According to Cambodian border guards, border problems in the Choam Sra-ngam are frequent: on 04 September, a group of black-clad armed Thai soldiers came in to stop de-mining operations performed by the Halotras group in an area near the gas station. In 2006, Thai soldiers brought in about 30 prefabricated steel buildings and installed them in the area where they claimed that the border zone is unclear. These buildings still remain there now.
