It was all talk with nothing being said

21/02/2011
Bangkok Post

There's no doubt that the real winner in the ''speech'' contest in New York last Monday was the host, the United Nations Security Council.

The council called a meeting at the UN headquarters to hear statements on the Thai-Cambodian border strife from Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong, who then simply walked out of the room.

The UN body carefully and intentionally made sure this ''contest'' ended with the Thai and Cambodian speakers being able to return home claiming a moral victory.

The public, both here and in Cambodia, should not get carried away with the claims made by Mr Kasit, Hor Namhong, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva or Cambodian leader Hun Sen. What they said was merely for domestic political consumption. No one wants to admit they were the loser; that would be a political disaster for both countries.

Meetings to settle the Preah Vihear dispute seem to be going nowhere

Diplomacy runs into its critics

13/09/2010
Thanida Tansubhapol
Bangkok Post

Diplomacy and the minimising of conflicts is based on negotiation and recognised agreements, but recent gatherings have shown that this is not always apparent to those directly affected.

A case in point surrounds the ancient Hindu Khmer temple of Preah Vihear on the Thai-Cambodian border.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has been at pains to develop a better understanding of what the country is doing since the border conflict with Cambodia erupted two years ago as a result of the dispute over the overlapping area near Preah Vihear.

A series of meetings has been organised over the past year in provinces such as Chanthaburi, Chiang Mai, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Surin and Si Sa Ket. The highlights have been the meetings in Si Sa Ket, which is the province affected most by the spat between the two countries.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry's Legal and Treaties Affairs and East Asia departments have held two forums in the province, one last year at Rajabhat University in Muang district and the second last Tuesday at the district hall in Kantharalak district.

Most of the participants at the first meeting were students and people hand-picked by provincial authorities, but the forum last week attracted about 500 people from a variety of groups including students, local people, business operators and government officers.

Ministry staff used the meeting to explain Thailand's efforts to resolve the dispute with Cambodia under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries in 2000.

The memo forms the main framework for negotiations. It calls for the two countries to jointly survey the area, prepare maps and negotiate the demarcation of all overlapping land areas. Other documents used for talks include the agreements Thailand signed with colonial-era France.

The ministry staff's efforts were greeted with the waving of banners in the meeting room reading "Boring" and "Don't understand".

The officials were berated by participants when the floor was opened for questions. Members of the public demanded the government scrap the memo, the Joint Boundary Commission and a controversial map with a 1:200,000 scale used for land demarcation on the grounds that these favoured Cambodia. Many local people said they considered the disputed area around the temple to be part of Thailand and wondered why they could not conduct business or stay there while the Cambodians had been granted access.

Developments in the area indicated that Thailand had ceded the territory to Cambodia, they said. They called on government forces to be more patriotic by forcing the Cambodians from the disputed area.

Thailand claims the disputed area of 4.6 square kilometres is part of Kantharalak district. Cambodia says it is in its Preah Vihear province.

A provincial official identified a problem which undermined the goal of the meeting. He said the ministry's explanations were too complicated for laymen to understand. There was too much legal jargon.

The meeting went on for more than two hours but the members of the public present wanted it extended so they had more time to ask questions.

East Asia Department deputy director-general Paskorn Siriyaphan said afterwards the forum was not a waste of time and money for the organisers.

Xen-Abishit meeting will not put an end to the dispute between the 2 countries

Rong Chhun, CITA and CWC President (Photo: Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

Friday 10 Sept 2010
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Soch

Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodia Watchdog Council (CWC) and President of the Cambodia Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA), said that the meeting between the Cambodian and Thai leaders in New York on 24 September will show an improvement in the border tension, however, he does not believe that this bilateral meeting can put an end to the border dispute between the two countries unless an intervention by the UN will take place. Rong Chhun told VOA yesterday: “Because we follow up on all the bilateral meetings, if we count their number of times, we couldn’t even remember how many times there were, and the result is ‘zero’, there was no outcome whatsoever in regards to the Thai aggression.”

Thailand to resolve boundary issues with Cambodia through peaceful bilateral negotiations [-Bilateral negotiations did not work since the 2000 MoU!]

August 15, 2010
Press Release
Source: Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs

In response to media inquiries about news reports that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia had sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, as the current Chair of ASEAN, seeking ASEAN’s assistance regarding the current border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, Ms. Vimon Kidchob, Director-General of the Department of Information and the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, gave the following comments:

1. Thailand believes that the current differences between Thailand and Cambodia – both being close neighbours and fellow ASEAN member countries – should best be resolved peacefully through existing bilateral mechanisms. Thailand has kept the other members of the ASEAN family informed of developments and thus appreciates their understanding and support in this regard.

2. Resolution of boundary and border-related issues between neighbouring countries requires patience and good faith in order to move towards a mutually acceptable outcome. It has always been Thailand’s intention to move forward with bilateral negotiations with Cambodia in accordance with the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia on the Survey and Demarcation of Land Boundary (MOU). Already, the two countries have agreed to convene the next round of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) as early as possible on a date to be mutually agreed upon.

3. At the same time, defence and military officials of both sides remain in close contact with each other through existing channels of communication, including through the General Border Committee (GBC), the Regional Border Committees (RBCs) as well as on the ground at the local level.

4. Thailand is convinced that by working together on the basis of friendship and good neighbourliness, Thailand and Cambodia will be able to overcome this challenge for the benefit of their two countries and peoples, consequently contributing towards the ASEAN community building process.

Thai royal asks Thai Parliament to stop debate on Khmer-Thai border issue

With or without negotiations with Thailand, Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia!

07 May 2010
By Leang Delux
Radio France Internationale
Translated from Khmer by Kanh-chanh Chek
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Thailand’s ASTV Manager Online news media reported on 07 May that Princess Walvipa Charoonroj sent a letter to the Thai Parliament asking the latter not to debate on the Cambodian-Thai border topic. Tith Sothea, mouthpiece of the Press and Quick Reaction Unit of Cambodia’s Council of Ministers, criticized this Thai princess, saying that she is countercurrent to the desire by the two countries that want to see a rapid end to the border dispute.

A Thai royal by the name of Princess (Mam Luong) Walvipa Charoonroj wrote a letter to the Thai Parliament to cancel the debate on the Cambodian-Thai border issue during its plenary session. This information was reported by Thailand’s ASTV Manager Online news media on 07 may 2010.

The Thai princess explained that the Cambodia-Thailand border issue, even though it is abiding by the law, is an issue in which Cambodia has the advantage over Thailand, and at the end, the result will show the trampling on history in the border demarcation at Preah Vihear temple. The temple which was the topic of a lawsuit between Cambodia and Thailand at The Hague International Court of Justice, was given back to Cambodia in 1962.

Regarding the request made by Princess Walvipa Charonroj, Tith Sothea, mouthpiece of the Press and Quick Reaction Unit of Cambodia’s Council of Ministers, commented that the prince is a Thai extremist who is preventing the border resolution negotiations between the two countries. Tith Sothea added that the princess’ action is countercurrent to the desire of both the Cambodian and Thai governments which want to see a rapid end to the dispute and a restart of the development and the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Koy Kuong, spokesman for the ministry of Foreign Affairs, commented that the claim that the prince made about Cambodia having the advantage over Thailand is the reality because Cambodia can base on internationally-recognized documents and maps.

It should be noted that there were numerous negotiations between Cambodia and Thailand [on the border dispute]. During these rounds of negotiations, the two sides took note on a number of agreements that Thailand must obtain the approval from its Parliament on the outcome of these discussions. However, since the beginning of the border discussions, no negotiation documents was debated by the Thai Parliament yet, this issue led to a dead end in the border negotiations between the two countries.

Another useless meeting with Thai military leaders to address border dispute?

Songkitti Jaggabatra

Thai Military Leaders Scheduled for Visit

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21 August 2009

High-ranking Thai military commanders are slated to meet their Cambodian counterparts later this month, in an effort to address the longstanding border dispute near Preah Vihear temple and an emerging maritime dispute, officials said Friday.

Already high military tensions escalated this week, when Thailand protested Cambodia’s push for further oil exploration in the Gulf of Thailand, especially near Kuth island. Thailand said this was an encroachment of its maritime borders, a claim Cambodia denies. Both sides have had soldiers entrenched near the Preah Vihear border for more than a year.

Gen. Songkitti Jaggabatra, supreme commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, and his deputies, Adm. Apichart Pengsritong and Air Chief Marshal Bureerat Ratanavanich, will be accompanied by some 87 Thai military officials to visit Cambodia Aug. 24.

The delegation will meet with Gen. Pol Saroeun, commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and other senior officials.

The visit “is intended to strengthen the relationship and cooperation between the two countries,” Defense Minister Gen. Tea Banh told VOA Khmer. “This visit will reduce military tension in border disputes.”