Bangkok Post
PREAH VIHEAR
The oral statement that Thailand will make before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the dispute with Cambodia relating to the Preah Vihear temple will go to the cabinet on Sunday.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra discussed the statement with security authorities at Government House yesterday.
Present at the meeting were Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana, Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul.
National Security Council (NSC) secretary-general Paradorn Pattanatabut, army chief-of-staff Udomdet Sitabut and Veerachai Plasai, Thai ambassador to The Hague, were also at the meeting.
State authorities will discuss the statement at a NSC meeting on Friday and will request cabinet approval at its mobile meeting in Chachoengsao province this Sunday.
Thailand and Cambodia will make their oral statements before the ICJ in The Hague from April 15 to 19.
Cambodia has asked the ICJ to decide if it has authority over the vicinity around Preah Vihear.
The IJC is likely to give its ruling late this year.
Mr Surapong said yesterday he would like Thais to pray for the court to issue a fair ruling that will not cause Thailand further loss of territory.
"We still hope the court will maintain the same status regarding the territory around the Preah Vihear temple as it has been since 1962 because we plan to jointly develop the disputed area with Cambodia," Mr Surapong said.
He and Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong co-chair a working group for the economic development of Thai-Cambodian areas.
He said the working group plans a joint Thai-Cambodian tourism promotion.
Mr Surapong said nobody wanted Thai and Cambodian soldiers to clash again and Supreme Commander Thanasak Patimaprakorn and army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha had adopted softer stances on the Thai-Cambodian border issue.
In another development, Supreme Court judges yesterday chose nine judges to consider a malfeasance complaint by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) against former foreign minister Noppadon Pattama.
The complaint concerns his decision to issue a joint communique with Cambodia in 2008 supporting Cambodia's unilateral request for the World Heritage listing of the Preah Vihear temple.
The panel of judges will decide on April 26 whether it will accept the lawsuit.
The NACC says Mr Noppadon violated Section 157 of the Criminal Code by failing to seek parliamentary approval for the joint communique issued on June 18, 2008, as the communique is tantamount to an international agreement that requires parliamentary consent under Section 190 of the constitution.
The NACC filed its complaint with the Supreme Court on March 19 this year.
3 comments:
Siem thugs are thieves and for them to be better than Khmer and they have to steal what to belong to Khmer! No Khmer should believe a single word from the Siem thugs' mouth because their action will speak louder than their words. So just observing their action is more than enough to judge them!
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I don't think Cambodia is clever enough to joint the development with Thailand while the area is justly and rightly verdicted by the ICJ that it is under the sovereignty of Cambodia. The Cambodian government is better to seek for other countries for instance Korea, China and others if not USA and Japan to invest on this area. If joint with Thailand and/or Vietnam, the situation will never finish forever generations as both countries are always waiting and looking for the opportunity to swallow any pieces, any sizes, anywhere and anytime of Khmer land.
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