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Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
If Cambodia's interpretation makes sense to the court, the ICJ would rule that the land around Preah Vihear Temple matches the boundary line as it appears on the French map. In this regard, the disputed 4.6 square km area belongs to Cambodia.
If the court agrees with the Thai argument, the ICJ would dismiss the case. But such a judgement would not create any legal legitimacy for Thailand to claim the entire 4.6 square km of disputed land. It would continue to be in dispute and the two countries would need to find other solutions, such as bilateral negotiations to settle it.
Bruised nationalism, championed by right-wing groups in Thailand, will never help Thailand and Cambodia to settle their dispute over the Hindu temple at Preah Vihear.
The proceedings, currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, might not be the best solution either, but they do offer one effective and peaceful way to end the conflict.
Conservative nationalist groups, led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and the Dhrammayatra group, are invoking nationalism to put pressure on the government to reject the ICJ's jurisdiction, as they fear the court may rule in favour of Cambodia.
Thailand and Cambodia are in the court battle over the border temple because Phnom Penh asked the court to clarify the scope and meaning of the 1962 judgement.
The court ruled that Preah Vihear was situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia, but Thailand has argued the land around the temple belongs to Thailand. Both sides will give oral testimony in the court in April, and the verdict is expected late this year.
Nationalist groups threatened the government that they would stage street protests unless the government rejects the court's jurisdiction. Thailand would definitely lose the territory adjacent to the temple if the government complied with the court verdict, they said.
However, the discourse on territorial loss is a misleading perception for the Thai public. Even if the court ruled in favour of Cambodia, it would not make any major difference to the territory and boundary with Cambodia, as the nationalists are trying to say.
The area in dispute between the two countries is only 4.6 square kilometres adjacent to the Hindu temple. Cambodia based its argument on a French map as well as the Siamese-Franco treaties of 1904 and 1907. Phnom Penh told the court that the boundary line is in accordance with the map and the treaties that already existed when the court ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple was situated on the Cambodian side.
However Thailand argued the operative clause of the 1962 judgement did not mention the international boundary line. The court, therefore, had no reason to interpret the previous ruling in favour of Cambodia. The Thai legal team said there had been no critical dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over the vicinity of the Hindu temple for the past 50 years since the verdict.
After the verdict, the Thai Cabinet in 1962 complied with the court's judgement by relinquishing the one-quarter square kilometre of land where the Phreah Vihear sits to Cambodia and withdrawing its troops from that area.
The Thai legal team told the court in previous testimony that authorities in Phnom Penh had already accepted such compliance by Thailand.
There are two equal possibilities that the court could rule in favour of either Thailand or Cambodia. If Cambodia's interpretation makes sense to the court, the ICJ would rule that the land around Preah Vihear Temple matches the boundary line as it appears on the French map. In this regard, the disputed 4.6 square km area belongs to Cambodia.
If the court agrees with the Thai argument, the ICJ would dismiss the case. But such a judgement would not create any legal legitimacy for Thailand to claim the entire 4.6 square km of disputed land. It would continue to be in dispute and the two countries would need to find other solutions, such as bilateral negotiations to settle it.
The negotiations, if there were any in the future, could eventually lead to a boundary adjustment - but such a small adjustment to the boundary line should not result in any great sense of territorial loss for the Thai people.
9 comments:
They keep on changing their stance. Excuse after excuse to claiming other people's land and antiquity.
Only the dumb and the blinded that wastes resources and man power to fight and claim the property that belong to other nation,infacts;half of Thailand were khmers' property during Khmer's empire anyway.Surin province were Khmer land that siamese stolen during French colonization Cambodia,facts!...Please save your resources and manpowers save lives not to stir up war/conflict for land that not belong to you,khmers will fight to dead to protect our land to the last drop of our khmers' blood.
Yobal Khmer
When will the Thais wake up and smell the coffee already? The entire Thailand itself sits on the Khmer ancestral vast territory. So the Thais need to stop wanting more territory from the already shrunken Cambodia. If the Thais want the land so much they should return to southern China to reclaim their ancestral territory. Enough of this stupidity of the Thais already. They are immigrants who stole the territory from the Khmer people. They need to realize that their ancestors were land-grabbing thieves and they are the descendants of thieves. Therefore, Thailand is a nation of thieves minus the Khmer inhabitants.
10:29 AM (Yobal Khmer)
You mentioned, "...half of Thailand were khmers' property during Khmer's empire anyway..."
It is NOT a Half. It is a whole Thailand belongs to Khmer Empire.
Hope you agree.
I think all of you are idiotic, which is the reason why Cambodians cannot go anywhere. Your Leader, Hun Sen, gave a big piece of land to Vietnam. Then you are trying to get pieces of land from Thailand. Otherwise, you don't have anything to tell Cambodian people.
If you think that Surin is also part of Cambodia, many Thais would say that Battambang, Siemrieb etc. once also belonged to Thais. Thais have all rights to get them back.
After all is said, it is Hun Sen who made mistakes. He surrenders to Vietnam and tries to get some pieces of Land from Thailand instead.
If all of you want piece, the best thing to do is to try to expell Hun Sen out of the country and get a new PM.
6:56
I think the idiot and dump ass is you in this modern era of infomation. You still haven't learned. Battambang, Siem Reap and many other Cambodian provinces Thailand have been taken are never Thai properties. They are stolen territories, so by claiming them do not mean they are yours.... It is time to focus on something good for the region...
7:14 PM,
If you support Hun Sen, then you need to stop blaming Thai. Thai is different from evil Yuon/Vietnam.
For 6:56 PM, agree with you that Khmer/Cambodian people stop voting Hun Sen, but why Cambodian people were so fooled to vote for Hun Sen. Now, the evil illegal Yuon/Vietnamese migrants on Cambodian water and land. So, 7:14 PM, what do you want to do for Cambodia.
It is so frustrated Khmer folks have voted for Hun Sen as he is a Vietnamese puppet or tool to destroy Cambodia and then later Vietnamese master-minded bastards and bastard Hun Sen (Viet Dog) interfere with Thailand. Thai PAD (Yellow Shirt) want a piece of Cambodian land, especially, Preah Vihear and land surrounding it as Vietnamese thief took Cambodian island "Koh Tral" and encroached Cambodian farmer land at the border.
Only stupid Cambodian folks who voted for Hun Sen and his Vietnamese bosses complained Thailand for problems and who did not complain Vietnamese for the problem.
Only opposition party can solve the problems in the democracy way and Thailand will agree with Opposition rather than CPP/Hun Sen (Vietnamese puppet as Vietnamese tool) based on the International Law or rule of law. Thailand will accept the loss if Cambodia is a very lawful country like democracy. Agree or disagree?
Thailand is worrying about the Vietnamese expansion to the West when it comes to Vietnamese puppet Hun Sen who is in Power installed by his Vietnamese bosses in Hanoi.
Cambodian/Khmer folks along with illegal Vietnamese residents whose children born in Cambodia vote for Hun Sen and cheated the election are such real losers of all time.
Hun Sen needs to be taken down by either Cambodian people and International Community supporters around the world.
Can't blame 6:56 PM because this blogger has made sense.
6:56 PM,
Khun Thai! You are totally wrong! I wont' say long, I'll make it a short note. Thailand formerly Khmer territory, Thai were not exist yet, Thai took four of KHmer provinces and we claimed it back and then you say Khmer took your land. You and your teacher have changed the history of Thailand.
"If you think that Surin is also part of Cambodia, many Thais would say that Battambang, Siemrieb etc. once also belonged to Thais. Thais have all rights to get them back.."
6:56pm,
There's difference ocuppied land and people who owned the land.
Thai shit never owned Battambang and Siem Reap,etc.. like you said. They asked Japanese to take it from Cambodia. Thailand need to return back those provinces when the Japanese lost the war, otherwise they would have to pay a heavey price for aiding Japnese in World War II, go do more research.
Re. Ah Hun Shit govt, is no difference than Abbisit govt and those yellow shit Thai called(PAD),this about Preah Vihear. If it's about Vietnam too, we will say the same shit too. So part of territory that you don't understand, 5:56pm?
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