Two nations, one god

The Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia, near the Thai border. Photo: Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images

The row over the Preah Vihear temple has been simmering for hundreds of years. World Heritage Status has brought it to the boil
Tuesday July 15, 2008
Tom Fawthrop
guardian.co.uk

Preah Vihear, a stunning temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, is perched on a Cambodian cliff-top straddling the Thai border. It was finally awarded World Heritage status this month, despite fierce protests from ardent Thai nationalists and the parliamentary opposition in Bangkok. Now, according to a Cambodian official, 40 Thai troops have crossed the border and entered the temple complex.

The temple's ornate structures date back to the eleventh century, but the site was occupied two hundred years earlier. Preah Vihear has become an explosive issue in domestic Thai politics. It has also exposed how narrow-minded nationalism can obstruct efforts at world conservation. Indeed, according to the Thai opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, the dispute over the temple's ownership is the "knockout punch" that could bring down the Thai government.

Unesco's World Heritage Committee should be congratulated for their refusal to bow down to frenzied claims that Thai sovereignty is being compromised. Much of the furore has focused on the 4.6 kms of disputed land surrounding the temple, which is claimed by Thailand. But the UN committee judged the Cambodian claim – pending since 2001 and repeatedly delayed by Thai objections - on its merits, and refused to cave in to the barrage of Thai petitions and political pressure. The foreign minister was forced to resign over his inept handling of the issue.

Cambodia and Thailand share much in common - culture, Buddhism and many traditions - but rivalry has led to centuries of distrust and simmering border disputes. Cambodians remember with pride that the temples of Angkor were the foundations of southeast Asia's greatest empire, the Khmer, which took in parts of what are today Laos, Thailand and Vietnam and Burma. Preah Vihear is now added to the legendary Angkor Wat at the heart of this Khmer civilisation.

The death blow to 400 years of Khmer rule was dealt by an invasion from Siam in 1431. Since the decline and fall of the great empire of Angkor during the 14th and 15th centuries, Cambodia has suffered a series of invasions and loss of temples and territory. The only victory achieved by the Khmer people during this long period of humiliation and retreat was won not on the battlefield but in the courts. In 1962, the International Court of Justice in The Hague made a landmark ruling that Preah Vihear – then under Thai military occupation - was a Khmer temple and part of Cambodia's heritage. The Thai dictatorship reluctantly complied with the judgment, removing Thai soldiers from the temple, while the ownership of the surrounding 4.6 kilometres was left unresolved.

During the last 46 years Thailand has shown little interest in helping to preserve the temple. Khmer Rouge forces seized it in 1993 under the noses of a Thai military base stationed nearby. Pol Pot's soldiers were not there to engage in archaeological pursuits, but to deny the Phnom Penh government control over a sacred and symbolic site as part of an insurgency backed by the Thai military. This policy of complicity with the Pol Pot forces led to further Khmer disgust with their more powerful neighbour.

The centuries of accumulated grievances felt by ordinary Cambodians erupted in 2001 when they burnt down the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh. Even today, most Thais still have little or no idea why their embassy burnt down, much less why Cambodians feel that Thailand has engaged in cultural chauvinism. According to several Thai historians, Thai schools teach a very partisan version of events in which Cambodia's vast contributions to Thai culture and society are scarcely mentioned, much less acknowledged. Historian and author Professor Thongchai Winichakul recently said he believed the Preah Vihear World Heritage issue "has gone beyond technicalities. It is abused to arouse delusion that the temple belongs to Thailand and a desire to revive the claim. The purpose is to generate hatred in Thai politics."

Ultimately, World Heritage sites like Preah Vihear are supposed to transcend national squabbles and boost conservation efforts in both Thailand and Cambodia. But despite Thailand's rapid economic progress, this centuries-old vendetta drags on.

20 Thai groups to rally to demand that Cambodians be kicked out near Preah Vihear Temple, what can Hun Sen do to protect them?

Thai FM leaves for World Heritage meeting to explain stand on Preah Vihear Temple

BANGKOK, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The Thai foreign minister left Bangkok Saturday to attend a World Heritage Committee meeting in Quebec, Canada, to explain Thailand's withdrawal of support to Cambodia's application to list the ancient Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.

Speaking to journalists before his departure, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said he would officially withdraw Thailand's endorsement of Cambodia's bid to list Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site as stated in an earlier signed Thai-Cambodian Joint Communique, and request the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to postpone its consideration on Phnom Penh's application during this session which began on Wednesday.

The Committee supervised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), is due to complete its agenda next Thursday.

Noppadon said he would do whatever he could to defer consideration of listing the temple by explaining to the Committee the circumstances of an injunction granted by Thailand's Administrative Court on June 28, ordering the Thai government to suspend all activities to endorse Cambodia's bid over the Preah Vihear temple.

Noppadon had signed a Joint Communique with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An on June 18, one day after the cabinet approved to endorse a new map of the temple prepared by Cambodia.

The court injunction was granted in response to the petition by the anti-government group People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), and thus prevented Cambodia to cite the Thai government's endorsement as earlier expected in its application at the Quebec meeting.

The Khmer-style Phnom Penh temple, with a history of more than 10 centuries, has long been an issue of dispute between the two countries, both having historically claimed ownership.

The International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled that the temple belonged to Cambodia, while the only practical access by land to the temple, which stands atop a cliff, is from the Thai side of the border in Thailand's northeastern province Si Sa Ket.

Groups of Thai academics, senators, the opposition Democrat Party, and the PAD have criticized the government of endorsing Cambodia's bid to list the temple as World Heritage Site, citing threats to Thailand's territorial sovereignty over overlapping areas near the temple yet to be demarcated between the two neighboring countries.

On Saturday, Viwat Akarabutr, a coordinator for the Patriotic E-San (Northeast) Network, said more than 20 activist groups would gather to rally at the entrance of the temple demanding the Thai authorities to evict Cambodians who have homes and shops near the temple but inside Thai territory, according to Thai News Agency.

Viwat said the activists would also ask the Thai police on developments regarding their complaints lodged earlier about the alleged encroachment by Cambodian nationals.

The temple ghost returns

Wednesday July 02, 2008
By Anchalee Kongrut
Bangkok Post

Preah Vihear, the 900-year-old temple currently in the spotlight, has always been like a restless ghost. At a proper given moment and background, it finds a way to come back and haunt the Thai people.

On June 15, 1962 the whole country mourned when the International Court of Justice ruled that the ancient Khmer-style temple was situated in Cambodian territory.

This year, the ghost of Preah Vihear has returned with a vengeance.

The eerie episode started on June 18, when Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama signed a joint communique with the Cambodian government, endorsing the latter in unilaterally nominating the Preah Vihear Temple for inscription as a World Heritage Site.

The World Heritage label is a high-profile global status which will bring fame and real advantages including tourists and money, and financial grants from the United Nations' World Heritage Fund.

The sentiment is similar to the fervent patriotism in 1962, when each Thai citizen was asked to chip in at least one baht to help fund Thailand's attempt to defend the temple at the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

Last week in Si Sa Ket province, local protesters threatened to evict Cambodians living in the problematic overlapping area along the border. Cambodia has closed access to the temple since last week.

Like a good Hollywood remake, the ghost of Preah Vihear has had some new features for the 2008 version. This time, centre stage is devoted to which country will secure the World Heritage Status for Preah Vihear temple.

The World Heritage Committee (WHC) is an independent body under the Unesco umbrella. It is holding its annual meeting from today till July 10 in Quebec, Canada, during which it approves or defers World Heritage nominations.

It is almost certain that Cambodia will resubmit its nomination for Preah Vihear. Since 1992, the country has tried to inscribe the temple as a World Heritage site.

Cambodia's past attempts were vetoed by Thailand, which feared a unilateral nomination would include the 4.6 square kilometres of overlapping land still under dispute.

The WHC's last meeting in New Zealand deferred Cambodia's nomination and advised that the country get consent from Thailand.

Cambodia managed to secure the endorsement when Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama signed the joint communique on June 18, 2008. According to the joint communique, Thailand supports the inscription of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site as proposed by Cambodia. And Cambodia, in showing reciprocal goodwill and conciliation, will nominate only the temple structure, without the buffer zone on the northern and western areas of the temple.

But the Cambodian move has since faced obstacles. Last week, 43 Thai senators and 300 members of the Thai elite establishment signed a petition asking the WHC to defer Cambodia's nomination of Preah Vihear and sought time for Thailand to file a joint-nomination. The campaign has picked up momentum, with another 25,000 Thais having signed the petition.

The protesters say Cambodia's unilateral nomination would undermine the integrity of the ancient Hindu site. The temple was not a stand-alone architecture, but a complex in which related structures i.e stupas, barai (man-made lake) are interrelated and constitute a meaning within the ancient Hindu belief.

Inscribing only the temple while ignoring the related structures that make it whole - which are located in Thailand's territory - would undermine the integrity of the site, said Senator M R Priyanandana Rangsit. She insisted the WHC should defer the listing and give Thailand time to prepare the necessary document for joint nomination.

The WHC has a long history of inscribing entire sites, such as Angkor, the whole ancient cities of Ayutthaya and Sukhothai or even the Jesuit mission of the Guaranis which is a transboundary property between Brazil and Argentina. But integrity is not a must. Richard Engelhardt, an adviser at Unesco's Asia-Pacific office, said the WHC sometimes gave weight to only architectural value. For instance, only the Taj Mahal building was listed as a World Heritage site while the garden in the same compound was omitted.

In case of transboundary property, the WHC does allow State party members to file a joint nomination.

So far, the WHC has inscribed 851 properties with universal values, including 660 cultural sites and 166 natural sites - 25 of them are transboundary properties.

The WHC has two avenues for countries with shared property to secure the World Heritage status. First, countries can file for a joint nomination and help manage the site together under the same rules laid down by Unesco. For disagreeing countries, the WHC allows each individual member to lodge a separate nomination. Each country would separately manage the site.

But the question is whether Thailand and Cambodia can or should resume cordial relations and file for joint nomination.

Cultural experts in Thailand have criticised the data which Cambodia has submitted to WHC as being one-sided and distorted from the facts, thereby undermining the value of the related structures that lie in Thai territory.

The International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) in Thailand sent a petition to Unesco to reconsider the information from Cambodia, according to Vasu Poshyanondana, archaeologist and assistant secretary-general at Icomos-Thailand office.

Icomos is an advisory agency which gives recommendations to Unesco on conservation techniques and provides technical assistance to the WHC on the granting of World Heritage status to State party's nominations.

However, the final decision rests with the WHC. This year, neither Thailand nor Cambodia sits on the committee.

The WHC has spent the past 30 months reading the information proposed by Cambodia, according to Mr Engelhardt. The Thai senators' question about the integrity of the whole site is a challenging one for the WHC. At the end, the WHC will relay the question back to, and check on the position of, the Thai government.

It remains to be seen what the Thai government will do, since the Administrative Court has granted an injunction while checking if Minister Noppadon had the authority to sign the joint communique endorsing Cambodia's unilateral inscription of the temple.

Sompen Kutranon, a Thai businesswoman who has lived in Phnom Penh for 18 years, said local people were not paying much interest to this issue. They understand that the Preah Vihear issue has been politicised by anti-government protesters.

The Cambodian government only needs Preah Vihear as a new tourist attraction. Ms Sompen - who helped staff at the Thai embassy during the riot against Thais in 2003 - said she did not expect another riot against Thais.

"The Cambodian government will not allow any riot because the economy in Phnom Penh is very good. It will not allow any turmoil that could scare investors away," she said.

She added that people in Cambodia, herself included, could not understand why Thais had to protest against Cambodia's attempt to enlist its own property as a World Heritage site.

"Local Cambodians are very clear. The temple belongs to Cambodia and it is their right to get it listed. People here do not care about the overlapping land and surrounding areas. They have been waiting for the temple to become a heritage of the world," she said.

"If they find that Unesco has deferred its decision again, they may get angry, very angry," Ms Sompen said.

Thailand pray for UNESCO to delay Cambodia's application to list Preah Vihear Temple

Defer decision on temple bid

Wednesday July 02, 2008
Bangkok Post

It is hoped the Unesco World Heritage Committee (WHC) will see the wisdom in delaying any decision on Cambodia's application to list the temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site at the organisation's meeting this week in Quebec. In light of the ongoing dispute over the Thai Foreign Ministry's decision to sign a joint communique which basically endorsed Cambodia's unilateral proposal for the inscription, the WHC's course seems clear enough.

Article 3 of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in 1972, states: ''It is for each State Party to this Convention to identify and delineate the different properties [of either cultural or natural heritage] situated on its territory.'' This will be a difficult requirement for Cambodia to meet to the satisfaction of Thailand, which is also a party to the convention, since at the core of the issue is a longstanding dispute over the validity of the maps used by the World Court in 1962 to award the temple to Cambodia.

The WHC should weigh the possible consequences of approving the unilateral application from Cambodia. The issue has inflamed nationalistic sentiment in both countries but particularly in Thailand. If the application is awarded to Cambodia now, it is hard to imagine that tensions would not escalate at home and between the two countries. Villagers in Si Sa Ket province near the ancient Hindu temple continue to protest vigorously against its listing. Supreme Commander Gen Boonsrang Niempradit has ordered the Suranaree military task force which oversees the Thai-Cambodian border, to keep a close watch on the protests. On Monday, Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva submitted a letter to the Unesco office in Bangkok opposing the joint communique signed by Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama and approved by a cabinet resolution.

The move was concurrent with an urgent request by a group of senators to the Constitution Court to determine whether the joint communique on Preah Vihear violates the constitution. Last Saturday, the Administrative Court handed down a temporary injunction against the cabinet resolution.

Most people who have been following the story might well conclude that the time for Thailand to mount a vigorous defence of its claim to Preah Vihear and surrounding vicinity was back in 1962, when the country was under the dictatorship of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat. In this case a picture is worth more than a thousand words, however, and clearly shows why this issue will not go away. The demarcation line is a little curious to say the least. The temple sits in a corner of a level promontory of the Dangrek mountain range; the rest of the promontory is indisputably in Thailand.

As was pointed out in an article in yesterday's Post written by Jurgen Brauer, a visiting professor at Chulalongkorn University, ''many countries in the world have found that tensions over borders can sometimes be lessened by deliberate attempts to create 'fuzzy borders','' with regard to small areas of land. In other words, to establish territories that straddle political borders, commonly known as peace parks.

This would allow for the joint application by Thailand and Cambodia to the World Heritage Committee. Such a proposal would of course have to wait for a future meeting of the WHC, but the advantage is that a Preah Vihear World Heritage Site would then go a long way towards strengthening ties between the two countries, rather than threatening the peace as is the case now.

Thai Democrats interfere in Cambodia's internal affair in the Preah Vihear listing case

Democrats petition UNESCO against Preah Vihear statement

BANGKOK, June 30 (TNA) – Thai opposition Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday petitioned the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) against accepting a joint statement from Thailand and Cambodia regarding the disputed Preah Vihear temple.

Mr. Abhisit said he had already submitted his party's written objection to the two government's joint communique issued for UNESCO and affirmed he would call for the reconsideration of the Thai cabinet resolution on the matter after the Administrative Court's injunction on the case.

The court on Saturday issued an injunction temporarily blocking the government from supporting Cambodia's unilateral move to have the 11th century temple registered as a World Heritage site.

Meanwhile, a group of 77 senators led by Bangkok Senator Rosana Tositrakul presented a petition to Senate Speaker Prasobsuk Boondech asking that it be forwarded to the Constitution Court for deliberation.

The petition asked the court to consider whether the June 17 Cabinet decision endorsing the Thai-Cambodian Joint Communique supporting Cambodia's unilateral move to apply on Preah Vihear temple was unconstitutional or not.

Meanwhile, Supreme Commander Gen. Boonsang Niempradit said the military was ready to evacuate Thai nationals from Cambodia if there was an untoward confrontation.

He said some people in the northeastern province of Si Sa Ket bordering Cambodia continued protesting and demanding the expulsion of Cambodians out of the overlapping areas of the temple compound.

But military units stationed there had managed to create proper understanding among the people, Gen. Boonsang said.

He said neither the Thai nor the Cambodian sides want to see any clashes between the peoples of the two neighbouring countries.

Bid to delay Unesco decision

June 30, 2008
The Nation

Thai World Heritage panel chief expects positive response to plea

Thailand will ask Unesco to delay a decision on Cambodia's proposal to list Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site, said Pongpol Adireksarn, head of Thailand's World Heritage Committee.

His statement followed the Central Administrative Court injunction on Saturday against the Thai government supporting Cambodia's bid.

The court said the position taken by the government "might undermine Thailand's future standing on the territorial dispute". The government communique gave Cambodia's bid "active support", the ruling said.

The Unesco World Heritage Committee is meeting from Wednesday till July 10 in Quebec, Canada.

Pongpol cited Unesco's Article 11, Item 3, which states that listing of World Heritage sites that straddle two countries' territories cannot be done without endorsement from both sides.

He expected the committee would respond positively to the appeal.

Pongpol said the proposal to Unesco to list Preah Vihear should be submitted jointly by both countries, which is similar to the position Thailand took on the issue last year. He said he would seek Cambodia's cooperation at the Quebec meeting.

"This temple should unite instead of divide us. This is why we are suggesting a joint application," Pongpol said.

Pongpol said the temple should be a major tourist attraction for both countries. "If there is conflict, no tourists will come to visit because they fear danger," he added. "We can both take care of the temples and of the tourists."

Separately, Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Veerasak Futrakul dismissed growing fears that the court injunction would send Thai-Cambodian ties into a tailspin.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Cambodian Ambassador to Thailand Ung Sean, he said bilateral ties had not been affected by the court's order and Phnom Penh considered the ruling, as well the raising of the issue during last week's no-confidence debate in Parliament, as Thailand's domestic matter.

Embattled Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama remained tight-lipped over the ministry's next move, saying more time was needed to assess the situation in light of the injunction.

The director-general of the ministry's Legal Affairs Department, Krit Kraijitti, did not rule out appealing the injection.

Suwat Apaipak, a member of the legal team that succeeded in getting the court to overturn a June 17 Cabinet decision, urged Noppadon to inform Cambodia and the UN cultural body that Thailand could no longer support the listing bid.

The injunction has proved to be a major political embarrassment for the government. A clearer response should be revealed on Tuesday following the weekly Cabinet meeting, where the issue is expected to be high on the agenda.

Despite the government's insistence that the joint communique calling for the listing of Preah Vihear had no bearing on territorial claims by the two countries, Pongpol said the next move would have to come from the Cabinet.

His predecessor on the committee, Adul Wichiancharoen, said the earlier call for Thailand and Cambodia to jointly apply for the Unesco status was a way to depoliticise the thorny issues of territorial dispute and sovereignty.

Pipob Thongchai, a member of the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy, said Noppadon should show responsibility by resigning from his Cabinet post.

Thai FM want a concerted Thai state agencies' effort to confront Cambodia on Preah Vihear issue

Noppadon calls for more help
Minister: Preah Vihear issue is complicated

Friday April 18, 2008
THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL
Bangkok Post

Mr Noppadon said he had asked China to help negotiate with a Chinese construction firm hired to build a road near the disputed area, asking that its work be stopped. The company has complied with the request, which was made during Mr Noppadon's visit to Beijing during Songkran, he said.

The Foreign Ministry has called on other state agencies to help tackle the dispute with Cambodia over the Preah Vihear temple, saying it was a complicated issue. The call was made by Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama yesterday during a meeting of security agencies at Government House.

Mr Noppadon said he raised the issue at the meeting as he did not want the Foreign Ministry to handle the issue alone.

''The issue should be handled jointly by different agencies,'' he said, adding that the army could, for example, help clear landmines while the Culture Ministry could look at improving the physical surroundings of the area in dispute. The Prime Minister's Office will help promote understanding among local people.

Last Thursday the government submitted an aide-memoire to Cambodian Ambassador Ung Sean to protest against Cambodian troop deployment at the ancient temple, which is on the border near Si Sa Ket province.

The government said the deployment of troops by Cambodia violates Thailand's territorial sovereignty in the overlapping areas along the border and was also against the spirit of a Memorandum of Understanding made in 2000 between the two countries concerning the area around the Preah Vihear temple.

Phnom Penh summoned Thai ambassador Viraphand Vacharathit to deny all the allegations the day after Thailand summoned the Cambodian ambassador. It was the fourth time Thailand has protested to Cambodia over the issue. Previous protests were in 2004, 2005 and 2007, and involved the construction of a road, a community and permanent buildings in the north and western part of the temple.

Cambodia has also conducted de-mining activities in the western part of the temple.

''I will wait to negotiate this issue with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An,'' said Mr Noppadon, adding however that Mr Sok An's official visit has yet to be scheduled.

Cambodia's deputy prime minister postponed his last trip to Bangkok, scheduled at the end of February.

Mr Noppadon said he had asked China to help negotiate with a Chinese construction firm hired to build a road near the disputed area, asking that its work be stopped. The company has complied with the request, which was made during Mr Noppadon's visit to Beijing during Songkran, he said.

There was a dispute between the two countries in 2001 when Cambodia asked the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation to put the ancient Khmer temple ruins, called Khao Phra Viharn in Thai, on the World Heritage List.

Thailand, however, wanted to have a role in the proposal as the border between the two countries has yet to be clearly marked.

The World Heritage Committee agreed to postpone its decision. Cambodia decided to re-submit its proposal without Thailand this year.

Thailand is not opposed to Preah Vihear listing, it only wants a cut out of it and a review of the border there

Preah Vihear temple to wait a year for World Heritage Site decision

2/7/2007
Shanghai Daily (PRC)

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee announced after its annual meeting in New Zealand last week that it has delayed the registration of Preah Vihear temple onto the UNESCO world heritage list to next year, as Cambodia needs to resolve some issues, local media reported today.

The World Heritage Committee needs to consider the Thai demand for clear border markings at the site, and asked the two nations to settle their common problems first, suggesting that Cambodia can again make the request next year, said Cambodian daily newspaper the Rasmei Kampuchea.

Cambodian government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith confirmed last Friday the postponement of the Cambodia's request for the temple to be listed as a world heritage site, agreeing that a few technical issues remain to be solved.

However, the minister stressed that the delay was not related to Thailand.

"Thailand didn't oppose the Cambodia's request to register Preah Vihear temple, but we have a few technical problems such as new buildings, radio towers, stalls and drainage (system)," said Kanharith.

Preah Vihear temple, situated along the Cambodian-Thai border, has long been a cause of dispute between the two Kingdoms, with the International Justice Court in 1962 ruling against Thailand's sovereignty claim.

A part of the site is now on Thai soil. Cambodia and Thailand are discussing a joint plan to manage the area.

Thai soldiers close entrance to Preah Vichear Temple

01 July 2007
By Sav Yuth
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Cambodian border troop officials stationed on the top of the Preah Vihear temple mountain, located in Preah Vihear province, said that the black-clad Thai soldiers are closing the entrance gate providing access to the Preah Vihear temple, and that they do not allow the passage of tourists or Thai and Cambodian people from crossing into Cambodia. The border closing took place after a dispute occurred between local border troops from the two countries.

Colonel Pho Kruy, the commander of the Cambodian border troop based in Preah Vihear temple, said on Sunday 01 July morning that Thai black-clad soldiers from Sisaket province closed the border gate since Saturday after the Cambodian border troop called in Thai soldiers to let them know about the temple access restriction by uniformed Thai soldiers.

Colonel Pho Kruy said: “They want us to provide an answer about their plan to (have us) provide the access to two to three uniformed soldiers as if it is normal.”

According to Cambodian border gate officials, on 28 June, Cambodian border troops invited the Thai border commander for a meeting on the mountain of Preah Vihear temple. The Cambodian troop told their Thai counterparts that a new restriction has been imposed by because they may frighten tourists visiting the temple. However, Cambodia which no longer allows the access to the temple by uniformed Thai soldiersthis new restriction displeased the Thai border guards.

Meas Saroeun, the Preah Vihear deputy provincial governor, said that based on information reported by Cambodian border guards, in addition to the closing of the border entrance, Thai black-clad soldiers also posted signs all along the border.

Meas Saroeun said: “My subordinates reported that the Thai posted signs all over, but our authority went and remove all these signs and they destroyed them.”

On Sunday, no clarification can be obtained from the Thai border troop, and the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh cannot be reached either.

Var Kim Hong, president of the Cambodian government committee for border resolution, said that he did not receive any report regarding this issue from Cambodian border guards yet. “There’s no problem. The local authority, the Preah Vihear provincial authority, and our people based there, including the police and the army, they shouldn’t have any problem, let them bring their issues for us to help resolve together,” Var Kim Hong said.

Cambodian border guards stationed in Preah Vihear temple mountain said that the dispute between Cambodian and Thai border guards always happened, and on each occasion, the border gate was closed (by the Thai side). Nevertheless, the tension along the border was eased when the border defense troops from the two sides looked and found a common ground for understanding each other.

Thailand supports Preah Vihear to be World Heritage site, but .... border has not been demarcated yet and Thailand now wants joint management

Thailand supports Preah Vihear shrine to be World Heritage : FM

Fri, June 29, 2007
by Marisa Chimprabha
The Nation

Thai authorities support in principle the ancient Hindu shrine of Preah Vihear being listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site, but there are some unsettled issues regarding the shrine.

Cambodia wants the temple, which lies on its north-west border with Thailand, to be recognised as a World Heritage monument to help assure its continued preservation.

Unesco's World Heritage Committee met recently and suspended a decision on Cambodia's request.

The decision came after Thailand argued that the Thai-Cambodian border has yet to be demarcated and a joint management plan for the area is still being discussed.

The Unesco panel asked both countries to resolve the unsettled issues first and suggested that Cambodia re-submit its request next year.

"We have no objection to Preah Vihear shrine being a World Heritage Site. We support in principle Phnom Penh's request. We hope that the unsettled issues can be solved and the request be put forward for approval again next year," Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said yesterday.

The Unesco decision to delay the Cambodian request has put Thai authorities on alert. They fear the issue may be exploited to stir anti-Thai sentiment among Cambodians and that recent history might repeat itself.

In 2003 anti-Thai riots erupted, mainly in Phnom Penh, after Cambodian media repeatedly published rumours that a Thai actress had made derogatory remarks against the Cambodian people. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen fuelled the situation by directly confirming the rumours. Hundreds of Cambodians went on a rampage, looting and attacking Thai-owned businesses and the Thai Embassy.

A senior intelligence source said the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh held an urgent meeting of Thai nationals in Cambodia last week to go over an evacuation plan after it was informed of the government's position on the Unesco matter.

However Tharit dismissed this, saying it was just a routine meeting between the embassy and Thai nationals living in Cambodia.

The Cambodian government has, over recent years, renewed its effort to have Unesco classify the ancient Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site.