The Hanoi land thieves forgot to explain why its border posts are on Cambodian rice fields

Vietnam condemns acts hindering border demarcation with Cambodia

October 31, 2009
VNA (Hanoi)

The Vietnamese Government strongly condemned acts and statements made by Sam Rainsy, President of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) of Cambodia, who recently uprooted land markers on the Vietnam-Cambodia border, said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson on October 30.

Sam Rainsy on October 25 visited the border demarcation area between Vietnam’s southern province of Long An and Svay Rieng province of Cambodia and uprooted six temporary poles that mark the position of Marker 185 and then brought them to Phnom Penh. Sam Rainsy also made statements slandering Vietnam as encroaching on the land of Cambodia through the border demarcation and marker planting.

In response to questions from the media about Vietnam’s reaction to Sam Rainsy’s acts and statements, spokesperson Nguyen Phuong Nga said that “ Vietnam and Cambodia are promptly conducting borderline demarcation and planting border markers. Protection of land markers and poles is the shared obligation of the two countries’ governments and people, in accordance with bilateral agreements and international law.”

What Sam Rainsy did was a perverse action, damaging common property, violating both countries’ laws, and bilateral treaties and agreements, hindering the borderline demarcating and marker planting process, she emphasised.

Sam Rainsy’s speeches slandering Vietnam were ill-informed, irresponsible and designed to incite a feud, undermining the relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia, she added.

The Vietnamese government urged the Cambodian government to take due measures to deal with sabotage acts, ensuring favourable conditions for conducting borderline demarcation and marker planting between Vietnam and Cambodia, and for the common benefit of both peoples, Nga concluded.

Will Hun Xen take Hanoi's marching order to punish Sam Rainsy for pulling out illegal border posts?

Vietnam condemns Sam Rainsy’s act, slanderous allegations

10/30/2009
VOV News (Hanoi)

A spokesperson for the Vietnam Foreign Ministry on October 30 strongly condemned Sam Rainsy – President of Cambodia’s Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) – for uprooting demarcation poles on Vietnam-Cambodia borders and making slanderous allegations against Vietnam.

On October 25, 2009, Sam Rainsy visited a border demarcation site between Vietnam’s Long An province and Cambodia’s Svay Rieng province, uprooting six demarcation poles at location 185 and bringing them back to Phnom Penh. He even accused Vietnam of “taking Cambodia’s land through border demarcation”.

Spokesperson Nguyen Phuong Nga said that currently Vietnam and Cambodia are speeding up border demarcation and landmark planting. Protecting landmarks and demarcation poles is the common task of the governments and people of the two countries, in line with bilateral agreements and international law.

Ms Nga described Sam Rainsy’s act as perverse, saying it violated the laws of both Vietnam and Cambodia as well as treaties and agreements reached between the two countries, and obstructed the process of border demarcation. She said Sam Rainsy’s slanderous allegations were ill-informed and irresponsible and that they aimed to incite hatred and undermine the fine relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia.

She asked the Cambodian Government to take necessary measures against such a destructive act, creating favourable conditions for conducting border demarcation and landmark planting between Vietnam and Cambodia on schedule in the interest of the two nations.

Sam Rainsy uproots VN border markers

Tuesday, October 27, 2009
By Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

OPPOSITION leader Sam Rainsy uprooted six demarcation poles on the Cambodia-Vietnam border Sunday after leading his party's Kathen festival procession to the Ang Rumdenh pagoda in SvayRieng province’s Sam Raung commune, Chantrea district, saying that the poles were placed illegally by Vietnamese authorities.

Sam Rainsy said Monday that the poles he removed were not border markers accepted by both countries but had been erected only recently by Vietnam.

"As I was putting a money offering in a monk's bowl, people approached me and asked me for help. I asked them, 'With what do you need my help?' And they told me, '[The Vietnamese] took Khmers' land'",' Sam Rainsy said, adding that the residents' rice fields and the pagoda were located about 100 metres from the border.

Sam Rainsy said the people who lost their land told him that a few months ago, about 10 officials from Vietnam and one Cambodian came to measure their land and then set up poles on it, declaring that the area fell within the "white zone" - a buffer strip whose use is denied to people from either nation.

Sam Rainsy said that these poles were not official and that people in the area told him they had already removed similar poles earlier this year.

Svay Rieng provincial Governor Cheang Am said he did not know why Sam Rainsy uprooted the poles, which had been set up by a joint committee of Cambodians and Vietnamese, but that Sam Rainsy must be held responsible before the law.

"These poles are difficult to put up. They were plotted properly, in accordance with procedure," he said.

Illegal border marker found on top of Dangrek Mountains

The Preah Vihear task force officials inspect the illegal border marker at point 766 on the top of Dangrek Mountains.(All phots are from Koh Santepheap, Photos by Vontha).

Koh Santepheap newspaper
12th March, 2009
Reported in English by Khmerization

Cambodian border officials have dismantled an illegal border marker on top of the Dangrek Mountains, suspected to have planted by Thai soldiers. First it was suspected that the border marker has just been freshly planted, but after close examination it was concluded that it was planted 15-20 years ago during the Cambodian civil war.

The illegal marker was found by accident by bush trackers on 9th March, 2009 who then reported the find to the Cambodian officials.

A Preah Vihear task force, led by Maj-Gen. Sor Thary, deputy governor of Preah Vihear province, comprised of Brig-Gen. Som Bopharoth, commander of Preah Vihear region, Mr. Kao Lung, governor of Choam Ksan district and included 40 other Cambodian border officials, set off to search for the alleged illegal border marker on the morning of 11th March.

The group climbed the Dangrek Mountains at border point 500 east of An Sess Pass, reaching the mountain top at 11 o’clock in the morning. The group climbed through dangerous and inaccessible areas for 7 hours. They reached border point 766, the point where the illegal border marker was found, at 6 o’clock in the afternoon.

Border point 766 is the highest point of Dangrek Mountains which is located in Teuk Krohorm (Red Water) commune in Choam Ksan, about 9 kilometres east of An Sess border pass.

The alleged illegal border marker was made from a steel pipe and is about 15cm in diametres which was buried about half a metre deep and sticks out about half a metre high above the ground. It was buried with concrete very solidly and was located at co-ordinates VA98,956-8365 of point 766, which is the highest point of the Dangrek Mountain.

After carefully examining the marker, the group decided to dismantle it. The group said that this border marker was located about 1 kilometre from the Thai military barracks. The group added that the Thai soldiers did not know that they were there.

The border marker was suspected to have been planted by Thai soldiers during the Cambodian civil war in the mid-1980s.

The group stayed there only about one hour and because night time is approaching they decided to descend the mountains at about 7 o’clock, walking through perilous minefields in the dark of the night. Because it is too dangerous to walk through the minefields at night time, the group decided to sleep half way on the mountains. At 6:30am, the group continued the journey and reached the foot of the mountain at 9am. The group then reached Choam Ksan at 11am on the 12th of March.

---------------------------------

The task force members stop to get some water from the natural pond.

The task force travel to point 500 on top of Dangrek Mountains.

The task force officials reached point 500 on top of Dangrek Mountains.

The Cambodia border task force officials climb to border point 766.

Cambodian officials inspect the illegal border marker.

The border marker that has been dismantled.