Thailand to revive revoked MoU with Cambodia

BANGKOK, Dec 30 (MCOT) - The Thai government is considering reviving the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the kingdom’s maritime border signed with Cambodia in 2001 but which was revoked by the previous government, according to Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul.

Speaking to the media at Suvarnabhumi Airport upon returning from his official two-day visit to Cambodia, Mr Surapong said the government is considering revoking the cabinet resolution which terminated the MoU on overlapping maritime boundaries in the Gulf of Thailand signed with Cambodia in 2001.

When the MoU is revived, the government could go ahead on negotiations under the framework of MoU, he said.

Thailand Plans To Revive MOUs With Cambodia

BANGKOK, Dec 30 (Bernama) -- The Thai government is planning to revive memoranda of understanding (MOU) with Cambodia, which were scrapped by the previous government, as Bangkok and Phnom Penh move forward to cooperate in energy and other sectors, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

Speaking to journalists after returning from a two-day official visit to Cambodia Friday, Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, said he had discussed with his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong, who is also Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister, and he had agreed on the issue.

Surapong revealed that the Thai and Cambodian sides have also agreed to open a new permanent border checkpoint at Baan Nong Ian in Aranyaprathet District of Thailand's eastern Sa Kaeo Province to further boost cross border trade and travelling and expedite approvals for visa applications.

Surapong said they had also agreed to organise the next meeting of Thailand-Cambodia Joint Commission for Cooperation (JC) in Chiang Mai from Feb 29 - March 1, 2012 and the next meeting of Thailand-Cambodia Joint Border Commission (JBC) in February, with the exact date of the upcoming JBC meeting to be announced later.

Maritime MoU with Cambodia back on agenda

September 17, 2011
The Nation

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday that her government would continue its negotiations with Cambodia on maritime issues in accordance with a 2001 memorandum of understanding even though the opposition insists that the pact is flawed.

"We will follow the guidelines set by the 2001 MoU, and the foreign minister will ask the Cabinet to set up a committee to handle the matter soon," Yingluck told reporters.

The prime minister discussed the issue of both sides claiming an overlapping area in the Gulf of Thailand with her Cambodian counterpart when she visited Phnom Penh on Thursday and both agreed to continue negotiations to settle the conflict.

A dispute over whom this overlapping area in the Gulf belongs to has been an issue since the countries signed the MoU in June 2001.

It became controversial when the opposition Democrat Party, backed by its yellow-shirt ally the People's Alliance for Democracy, accused former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of having personal interests related to petroleum-resource concessions in the deal.

Surakiart defends sea borders MoU

7/09/2011
Nattaya Chetchotiros
Bangkok Post

Former deputy prime minister Surakiart Sathirathai said yesterday that the 2001 memorandum of understanding on maritime borders between Thailand and Cambodia had been beneficial to the kingdom.

The ex-minister who served in the Thaksin Shinawatra government came out in defence of the deal after the Democrat Party on Monday questioned the merits of the MoU.

Democrat spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut told reporters on Monday that the Thaksin government had signed the deal with Cambodia in haste after having been in office only a few months. He also dismissed Mr Surakiart's earlier claim that the MoU compels Phnom Penh to accept that Koh Kut, which is located in the Gulf of Thailand, belongs to Thailand.

Mr Surakiart insisted yesterday the MoU did compel the Cambodian government to recognise Koh Kut as being in Thai territorial waters, although it had tried to say in 1972 that the island and the disputed area near the Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia.

Spat flares up over Koh Kut sovereignty

Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut points to the demarcation lines along the Thai-Cambodian border.

6/09/2011
Manop Thip-Osod
Bangkok Post

Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut has countered a claim by former deputy premier Surakiart Sathirathai that the 2001 memorandum of understanding between Thailand and Cambodia was intended to claim Thai sovereignty over Koh Kut in Trat.

Mr Surakiart, a deputy prime minister in the Thaksin Shinawatra administration who oversaw foreign, education and cultural affairs, said the signing of the 2001 MoU was intended to assert Thai sovereignty over Koh Kut.

Mr Chavanond, a former secretary to the foreign minister during the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration, yesterday said several points mentioned by Mr Surakiart were inaccurate.

According to a statement issued by Mr Chavanond, the Thai-Cambodian negotiations over the two countries' disputed areas did not begin during the Thaksin administration. The talks between the two governments had been ongoing for more than 25 years.

PAD's leaflet against JBC memos

24/03/2011
Bangkok Post

The People's Alliance for Democracy will distribute 100,000 copies of a leaflet as part of its campaign against parliament's approval of three memorandums of Joint Boundary Commission meetings under the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding between Thailand and Cambodia.

PAD spokesman Panthep Puapongpan and core member Prapan Khoonmee said the leaflet would be distributed to people in such business areas as Silom and Siam Square as well as areas under the Internal Security Act on Friday when parliament would convene a session to consider approving the three JBC memos.

They said the PAD would this afternoon announce other measures to persuade MPs and senators to stop them from passing the three memos.

A battle at the temple of doom

12-02-2554
By Achara Ashayagachat
IndochinaPublishing.com

KI-Media would like to thank Lok Bora Touch for pointing out this article.

But deep down, observers said border disputes always involved business dealings that would come with the success of demarcation. There were talks about Hun Sen, his deputy prime minister Sok An and Hun Sen's would benefit from oil and gas concession fees from multinational companies if Cambodia could convince Thailand in negotiating the maritime territorial in the format of Joint Development Area (JDA) development and with the same revenue-sharing as featured in the Thailand-Malaysia JDA model.

Stepping out from self-centrism, it would be easier to understand why Thailand and Cambodia have recently re-engaged in nasty battlefield and table wars again-----the two countries have fallen victim to the myths of nationalism during the past century incomplete nation-building process.

Sharing the Ankorean heritage thousand years ago, Siam and Khmer empires had been positively and negatively emulated each other through cultural and language exchanges such as mythology, royal cults, dance and architecture. But with the newly-emerged concept of space and border, they have to outdo each other economically and politically as well.

Disputes involving the Hindu Preah Vihear Temple have begun since the International Court of Justice ruling in 1962 that the over-900-year-old Temple belonged to Cambodia.

However, the less-clear reference to the land surrounding the temple has ignited the controversial contest again when the "owner" would like to exploit the ruined artifacts de facto in economic terms by unilaterally listing the Temple as a world heritage site in 2008.

Thanks to Thailand's messy politics, the Cambodia-friendly nominee government of the ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra was forced to bow out to the old powers-appeasing new leadership led by Abhisit Vejjajiva, who pledged during his opposition time to "reclaim the Temple" --- the mission in which Marshal Sarit Thanarat (in the ICJ ruling era) could never finish.

Abhisit stands firm in face of joint rally

Three-sided protest arises from border spat

24/01/2011
Bangkok Post

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is insisting the government will not bow to pressure from the People's Alliance for Democracy, Thai Patriots Network and the Santi Asoke sect ahead of their planned joint rally this week.

Mr Abhisit said in a televised address last night that the government would not submit to the groups' demands, particularly the revocation of the memorandum of understanding signed by Thailand and Cambodia in 2000 governing the two countries' border disputes.

The PAD is calling on the government to revoke the memorandum which they say puts Thailand at a disadvantage in its dealings with Phnom Penh.

It also want the government to force Cambodians from every disputed area and to cancel Thailand's membership of Unesco's World Heritage Committee.

[Thai] PM warns of force if [2000] memo [with Cambodia] is torn up

24/01/2011
Bangkok Post

Tearing up the 2000 memorandum of understanding governing border areas contested by Thailand and Cambodia will only lead to the use of force, warns Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The prime minister said in a television broadcast last night that the memo had helped prevent either country from taking back the border land to which they laid sovereign claim.

Scrapping it, as demanded by the People's Alliance for Democracy, would leave the two neighbouring countries with no option but to use force to reclaim the territory, he said.

The broadcast was primarily to address the issue over the capture of seven Thais by Cambodian authorities.

Cambodia Urges Thais to Approve Border Agreements

Hor 5 Hong (Photo: AP)

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Monday, 20 December 2010

“If a Cambodian is doing something illegal in Thailand, Thai authorities should arrest him or her in conformity with normal procedures and not using violence.”

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong met with his Thai counterpart on Monday, demanding that Thai parliament approve a series of meeting minutes crucial to advancing border agreements.

Hor Namhong told reporters after his meeting with Kasit Pirumya that he wanted urgent action on border resolutions.

“I demand that the Thai National Assembly approves the minutes of three joint border commission meetings and ask to urgently hold Cambodian-Thai joint border commission meetings for demarcation between Cambodia and Thailand,” Hor Namhong said.

Kasit said Thai parliament needs to determine whether agreements made in a series of meetings in recent years are constitutional.

Kasit was in Cambodia with a high-level border delegation for talks with senior leaders, including Prime Minister Hun Sen. The visit follows a series of improved diplomatic steps and an easing of tensions on the disputed border near Preah Vihear temple.

“I appointed a new ambassador in charge of border affairs, who will arrive in Phnom Penh soon to meet Var Kimhong, the Cambodian border commission head for border talks,” he said.

Hor Namhong also said he requested that Thai border authorities exercise restraint in dealing with Cambodians who illegally cross, following reports of shootings.

“If a Cambodian is doing something illegal in Thailand, Thai authorities should arrest him or her in conformity with normal procedures and not using violence,” he said.

Kasit said he would take the request back to Bangkok.

A spokesman for Hun Sen said the prime minister had encouraged more joint cooperation for resoultion of border disputes in his meeting with Kasit.

The Thai delegation, which stays through Tuesday, also includes senior military officials, including Prayuth Chan-ocha, the nation’s new commander-in-chief.

PAD seeks court border MoU injunction

29/10/2010
Bangkok Post

The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) on Friday filed a petition with the Central Administrative Court asking it urgently consider issuing an injunction against the approval of the 2000 memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Cambodia.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and the cabinet are named defendants in the petition, which was filed by PAD lawyer Suwat Apaipak, spokesman Panthep Pongpuaphan and coordinator Suriyasai Katasila.

The PAD asked the court to accept the petition for consideration and issue an order for revocation of :

1. The three reports on the second meeting of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Border Commission (JBC) on June 5-7, 2000, signed by MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra, as Thai chairman of the JBC.

2. The memorandum of understanding of June 14, 2000, signed by MR Sukhumbhand, in his capacity as deputy foreign affairs minister.

3. The announcement and master plan for a survey and land demarcation between Thailand and Cambodia signed on Aug 25, 2003.

4. The parliamentary resolution made on Oct 28, 2008 approving the masterplan for a survey and land demarcation signed by the two countries.

5. The cabinet resolution for the three reports on the JBC meeting to be forwarded to parliament for approval.

Mr Suwat on Thursday warned lawmakers not to vote in favour of the three reports or they would be held in violation of the law.

He said the reports are based on the 2000 MoU which recognises a French map with a scale of 1:200,000 and puts Thailand at a disadvantage.

Mr Suwat's remarks drew a strong reaction from Senate Speaker Prasopsuk Boondej, who said on Friday members of the House and the Senate have the right to vote for or against the reports.

Mr Prasopsuk said he did not see that doing so would be illegal because it is the duty of the legislative branch and it is the exclusive right of each lawmaker to vote according to his or her own decision.

He said the PAD has the right to rally on Nov 2, but it has no legitimacy to take legal action against MPs and senators who vote for the reports.

Singchai Thungthong, the Uthai Thani senator, said the PAD was overacting over the border issue.

He said no country in the world has a clearly-defined border line, adding that the government should not dance to the PAD's tune.

Endless disputes over Preah Vihear [-Does the PAD Thais know what they want?]

August 3, 2010
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

The boundary dispute with Cambodia and controversy over Preah Vihear Temple have become mixed up and widely politicised as political groups inflame the issues and accuse each other of losing Thai territory.

Some of the most vociferous of those charges and issues are:

• Nationalist groups under the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) umbrella have accused the government of possibly losing territory to Cambodia due to a document signed in 2000 by the Democrat-led administration headed by Chuan Leekpai.
• Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has shifted the blame to former foreign minister Noppadon Pattama for giving Cambodia the chance to list the Preah Vihear as a world heritage site.
• Natural Resource and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti called a press briefing on his return from the World Heritage meeting in Brazil to claim credit for convincing the committee to delay consideration of Cambodia's management plan for Preah Vihear.
• Unlike Abhisit, Suwit thanked PAD leader Chamlong Srimuang for a protest staged in front of Unesco's regional office in Bangkok last week, in support of his efforts to block the Cambodian temple plan. Suwit implied that his mission was defending Thai sovereignty over the Preah Vihear.
• Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya called another press conference yesterday to defend the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding on boundary demarcation, while his yellow-shirt alliance group turned their guns on the government for demanding its abolition.

The issues of borders and World Heritage listing of Preah Vihear were linked as the PAD tried to say that listing was equivalent to the loss of Thai sovereignty over areas where the temple was situated.

Based on the Siam-Franco treaties signed in 1904 and 1907, as well as an annex map made by the Siam-French joint boundary commission, the International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear Temple was situated on land under Cambodian sovereignty.

The Thai government has basically argued that the court ruled only on the temple complex, and left questions about the boundary between the two countries unclear.

The PAD is concerned that the 2000 MOU recognised the Siam-Franco treaties and the French map as basic documents for boundary demarcation. And, as a result, Thailand may lose many parts of its claim to land by the temple, in accordance with the map, it said.

PAD member Veera Somkwamkid submitted a demand to the government yesterday to revoke the 2000 MOU.

Foreign Minister Kasit said the MOU could not be terminated, as it was the sole legal instrument and framework for boundary negotiation with Cambodia.

"The MOU is not a matter of territory loss. It could not change the boundary line which was already demarcated more than a century ago," Kasit said.

In fact the border between Thailand and Cambodia was demarcated during French colonial time. The MOU merely provided facilities for the two countries' boundary committee to jointly survey the border and find boundary pillars which were partly damaged, he said.

With the MOU, negotiation on boundary demarcation would be conducted in accordance with customary international law, Kasit said.

The MOU also prohibited the two countries from making any changes before the joint boundary committee completed its work, he said.

Former foreign minister Noppadon called yet another press conference to challenge Prime Minister Abhisit's claim that territory was lost when Noppadon supported Phnom Penh over World Heritage listing for the historic temple.

A joint communique he signed with Cambodia's deputy Prime Minister Sok An in 2008 to support the Preah Vihear proposal sought to protect Thai sovereignty. It made clear Cambodia would not take the disputed area of 4.6 square kilometres as a buffer zone for the temple, he said.

"Let's see the truth. Prime Minister Abhisit always uses doublespeak. The Thai government since the Chuan administration has recognised Cambodia's right over Preah Vihear and areas relinquished by Thailand to the temple when it declared the area of Phra Viharn national park in 1998," he said. "The 2008 joint communique, which was later revoked, changed nothing."

Kasit defends MoU signed with Phnom Penh [-The bottom line is that Thailand does not know what it agreed with Cambodia!]

3/08/2010
Thanida Tansubhapol and Manop Thip-osod
Bangkok Post

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya is defending the memorandum of understanding signed with Cambodia in 2000 on border issues, saying it does not put Thailand at a disadvantage.

"The MoU is an existing tool and a framework for negotiations on the border problems [with Cambodia]," Mr Kasit said yesterday.

"More importantly, the MoU is vital for the World Heritage Committee in Brazil to understand that the border negotiations between Thailand and Cambodia have not been finalised and are still ongoing. It includes the Preah Vihear temple area."

A government source close to the issue yesterday said if Thailand did not have this memo with Cambodia, then it would have no guidelines to use in their border demarcation talks.

"The MoU has provided the framework for the surveying of and demarcation of the border between the two countries," the source said.

"Both sides brought all the evidence that they have to include in the MoU."

The document was signed in 2000 by Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who is now governor of Bangkok, and adviser to the Cambodian government Var Kim Hong when the Democrat Party led the coalition government and Chuan Leekpai was prime minister.

In the memo, Cambodia presents a map at 1:200,000 scale and other documents for border negotiations. Thailand uses the 1904 and 1907 Siam-France Treaties as well as other relevant treaties, the source said.

"We could not simply exclude the map submitted by Cambodia, otherwise it would have refused to sign the MoU [at the time]," the source said.

But the source stressed that "allowing Cambodia to include the map in the MoU did not mean Thailand that accepted it for use in negotiations on demarcation of border areas".

The source said all documents from both sides must be considered in surveys and border demarcation, and if they have any disputes over the documents, they then have to discuss them together to find common ground.

The source said revoking the memorandum could only be done if both countries agreed.

Critics of the government have demanded that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva reject the map presented by Cambodia as they say it could lead to the loss of disputed territory.

The prime minister said yesterday he would try to explain the benefits of the 2000 memorandum to critics and he was ready to talk with people with different perspectives on the issue.

In addition to the treaties and maps to be used for border demarcation talks, the other duties of the two countries include searching for all the original 73 markers on the border. The two states began searching for the border markers in 2006 and have recovered 48 so far.

[Thai] PM thanks [PAD Thai] rally, blames Noppadon

1/08/2010
Bangkok Post

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva thanked a group of Thai people for showing their concern for the country after they gathered in front of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco)'s local office in Bangkok on July 27 to oppose Cambodia's plan on administering Preah Vihear temple.

The gathering was likely one of the reasons why the Unesco World Heritage Committee (WHC) postponed discussions on the Phnom Penh government's management plan around the Preah Vihear temple to next year, Mr Abhisit said during his weekly broadcast on Sunday morning.

However, he said, confusion within the country might lead to conflicts that could benefit Cambodia in the end.

He said the Thai-Cambodian memorandum of understanding signed in 2000 had helped Thailand as it was the main factor in the WHC's decision.

The government will accept Cambodia's management plan, if the temple is jointly listed between both countries. The government will not cooperate with the WHC if it endorses the plan since it infringes on the disputed border area, he said.

"The problem originated in 2008 when Mr Noppadon Pattama, a foreign minister at the time, supported Cambodia's plan to list Preah Vihear as a world heritage site. This put Thailand in a disadvantage.

"We cannot deny that the most convenient entrance to Preah Vihear is on the Thai side. Therefore, the Thai government has been trying to oppose its listing," the premier said.

He said the government should now work easier as it had seen the documents proposed by Cambodia at the WHC meeting in Brazil last week.

"Actually, there are people who do not agree with me on the legal aspects but we share the same goal, which is protecting the country's sovereignty. I ask all sides to work together and stop arguing since it would give an advantage to another country," he added.

Thai-Cambodia border 'normal' but Thai military on high alert

BANGKOK, July 31 (MCOT online news) -- The Thai-Cambodian border situation remains normal but Thailand's military is on high guard after a United Nations agency agreed to postpone discussions on the disputed management plan around the Preah Vihear temple proposed by the Phnom Penh government to 2011.

Thai troops are now posted some five kilometres from the historic temple on its eastern approach.

They are guarding the disputed area contested by the two neighbouring countries round-the-clock to ensure that Cambodian soldiers do not encroach the Thai territory.

In an attempt to boost morale of Thai soldiers guarding the border, Col Nirut Ketsiri, commander of 16th Infantry Battalion, visited them.

Thailand's foreign minister said Friday that the country is not disadvantaged after UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee (WHC) on Thursday postponed its scheduled discussions on the management plan to next year's meeting in Bahrain.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromyat praised the Thai delegation at the meeting, led by Suwit Khunkitti, minister of natural resources and environment, for voicing and explaining the Thai perspective on the impasse to heritage committee members until they decided to postpone discussion of the issue.

He said that Thailand should now find a way to resolve the Thai-Cambodian border demarcation problem and submit it to the House of Representatives for consideration.

The immediate challenge, Mr Kasit said, is that Thailand wants to refer to the temple as Phra Viharn, while Cambodia calls it Phreah Vihear. If it is agreed by Phnom Penh then both countries could move jointly to resolve their territorial disputes.

The Thai government wants to resolve the problem according to the 2000 land boundary demarcation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cambodia agreeing not to change any environment in the frontier zone, pending the survey and demarcation of the common land boundary.

Thailand will not allow its territory to be lost and the disputed, overlapping boundary must be settled by negotiation, he said, adding that the next round of talks should be done in a friendly atmosphere as the two countries are close neighbours.

Thailand cancels MOU with Cambodia on overlapping continental shelf area: Kasit

Friday, November 06, 2009
The Nation

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya Friday announced the cancellation of the Memorandum of Understanding with Cambodia on the overlapping continental shelf area.

Kasit said Thailand canceled the MOU signed in June 2001 after the two countries downgraded their bilateral ties.

2000 Border Agreement a Disadvantage: Expert

Mr. Sean Pengse

By Pin Sisovann, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
02 September 2009

A 2000 border agreement signed between Cambodia and Thailand is not likely to yield results in longstanding disputes, a former minister told VOA Khmer.

The agreement put Cambodia at a disadvantage, and border negotiations will face endless crises, said Sean Pengse, former Minister of Industry and a border expert.

After Cambodia regained peace and the reintegration of Khmer Rouge fighters into society, border trade flourished, and the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in June 2000.

However, it would have been better for Cambodia to negotiate on the border from a position of a 1962 international court decision, which “set a clear border with no white zones,” Sean Pengse said. “Why are there now white zones? Why should Cambodia negotiate? I believe Cambodia’s voice in the negotiation is useless, because we beg aid form them. Our country is small, and we should use international law, from which we previously had an advantage.”

The 2000 agreement led to the white zones, or disputed areas, he said, giving Thailand the chance to argue against rebuilding a market near Preah Vihear temple.

The temple is at the center of a military border standoff that has claimed seven lives so far. The market was destroyed in fighting earlier this year.

“The Phnom Penh government claims that I speak groundlessly about the MOU,” he said. “Now Thailand isn’t allowing us to rebuild the market that they burned down. They have warned us against rebuilding it, citing contradiction to the MOU. The Cambodian government didn’t realize the MOU contradicted our interests. If Cambodia wishes to develop anything at Preah Vihear temple, [the Thais] warn us it is a white zone.”

However, Var Kimhong, chairman of Cambodia’s border committee, denied the 2000 agreement included areas of Preah Vihear temple as white zones. The agreement was over cooperation on border demarcation for 805 kilometers from the Dangrek mountains to the sea, he said, adding that Sean Pengse’s claims are contradictory to the facts.

“He shouldn’t make comments if he doesn’t know the truth,” Var Kimhong said.

Thailand “warned us against rebuilding the market, claiming we were violating Article 5 of the 2000 MOU,” he said. “We responded to Thailand, explaining that we are rebuilding the market on the orders of Prime Minister Hun Sen, in honor of Article 5 of the MOU to keep the status quo before the MOU. The MOU was signed June 14, 2000. The market had been there since 1998.”

Many Thais objected to Cambodia’s bid to enlist the temple as a Unesco World Heritage Site. When it was listed in July 2008, the current military standoff began.

Sean Pengse said that Thailand has in the past and is now currently using negotiation time for its own interests.

“Thailand doesn’t want us to file a complaint with the international court,” he said. “The 2000 MOU states that the border dispute should be discussed. This deprives us of our right to file a complaint.”

However, Var Kimhong said the agreement has not lost groud for Cambodia and honors the 1962 agreement.

“If you read the 2000 MOU, you would see that it refers to all previous treaties, conventions and maps since 1907,” he said.

The government was seeking joint cooperation on border demarcation as its primary choice, in the name of being a good neighbor, he said. It has not deprived itself the right to complain on border demarcation contrary to a map signed between the French and Thailand.

Sean Pengse worries that negotiations will drag on and more serious incidents will ensue.

After regaining independence from France in 1954, Cambodia reclaimed Preah Vihear from Thailand, after regaining several lost provinces, such as Battambang and Siem Reap. Disputes over the temple escalated, including a severing of diplomatic ties between the two in 1958. Cambodia lodged a complaint with the international court, which decided in 1962 Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia.

Thailand talks of a preparation for negotiations of Preah Vihear issues

everyday.com
10th January, 2009
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

Thai media reported on the 9th of January that Thai PM, Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva (pictured), has said that Thailand is ready to talk with PM Hun Sen about the Preah Vihear issues. He said that the negotiations methods have already been put in place and the frameworks of the negotiations that the parliament has ratified are still in the hands of the Khmer-Thai Boundary Commission and the agreements have not been passed to the parliament for approval yet.

PM Abhisit reinterated his position regarding the Preah Vihear issues by saying that his position remained the same as when he was the leader of the opposition party, that is to respect the decision of the International Court of Justice which adjudicated to give ownership of the temple to Cambodia. He said that border issues will be negotiated by using the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2000 as a base.

Mr. Abhisit made this statement in fronts of many officials who were involved with the border issues in the past that when he was the leader of the opposition party he had put forward a proposal to remove only the foreign minister from his post, but other MPs had put forward a proposal to remove the whole of the government cabinet. So the proposals were passed on to the Defence and Anti-corruption Commission for investigation on other cabinet ministers and seek their removals if they are found to be involved (in the corruption regarding the Preah Vihear issues).

Cambodia and Thailand must use the 1904-1907 maps

Dear readers,

I just received a letter to the Phnom Penh Post from Mr. Chan Veasna concerning about the use of maps for border settlements between Cambodia and Thailand. I think it is worth reading, so I decided to published it in this blog.

Khmerization
----------------------------------------

Letter to the editor
Phnom Penh Post
6th December, 2008
newsroom@phnompenhpost.com

Dear Sir,

Nobert Klein’s letter (Cambodia must use its own maps too, 25 Nov.) has totally missed the points of my previous letter (Thailand must use Cambodian maps, 14 Nov.). While Mr. Klein might be correct in his views, his letter certainly has confused your readers of the points I was trying to make in my letter.

While I was talking about the maps of the 1904-1907 Khmer-Thai Border Treaty, Mr Klein was talking about the maps of the 2008 Joint Communique or the agreement to list the Preah Vihear temple. There is no comparison between these two agreements because one is a border treaty and the other is an agreement to list the temple on the world heritage list.

While Mr. Klein was correct to spell out the details of the 2008 Joint Communique, he is incorrect in drawing its connections to the issue of the border demarcations between Thailand and Cambodia. The distinction between these two agreements must be made:

1) The maps of the 2008 Joint Communique are for the purpose of inscribing the Preah Vihear temple on the world heritage list, not for the purpose of border demarcations as has been the point of my letter.

2) The maps attached to the 2008 Joint Communique will only supersede other maps concerning the zonage/zoning of the Preah Vihear temple boundary, not superseding the maps concerning the demarcations of territorial borders between Thailand and Cambodia.

The 2008 Joint Communique, of which Mr. Klein was talking about, spelled out that the border demarcations will only be carried out pending the results of the Joint Commission for Land Boundary which in turn, according to previous agreements, will use the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2000 which both Thailand and Cambodia recognised to use the 1904-1907 Treaty as a base for their border resolution.

The 2008 Joint Communique stated that “the inscription of the Preah Vihear temple on the World Heritage List shall be without prejudice to the rights of the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Thailand on the demarcations work of the Joint Commission of Land Boundary of the two countries.”

With the provisions in the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding, signed between Cambodia and Thailand, recognising the 1904-1907 Treaty, there is no doubt that the maps of the 1904-1907 treaty must be used by the Joint Commission of Land Boundary for the border settlements, not the Preah Vihear zoning maps that Mr Klein was talking about.

Yours sincerely,

signed

Chan Veasna
Cabramatta, NSW, Australia

Cambodian Information Minister Denies Reports Talks With Thailand Terminated

Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Television Kampuchea, Phnom Penh, in Cambodian
Story Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

On 5 August, Cambodian Government-run Phnom Penh Television Kampuchea in Cambodian at 0552 gmt carried a 10-minute recorded video interview, following its midday newscast, with Information Minister Khieu Kanharit by an unidentified Television Kampuchea correspondent on the current border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.

Asked about Thailand's Bangkok Post daily and some local newspapers quoting him as saying that there would be no more talks on the current border problem with Thailand until after the formation of a new government, Khieu Kanharit said, "This is a bit of misunderstanding. I wish to point out that at the meeting between [Cambodian Foreign Minister] His Excellency [HE] Hor Namhong and [Thai Foreign Minister] HE Tej Bunnag, the top representatives of the two countries' prime ministers, in Siemreab Province, we agreed to pull troops out of that area. This means that we will withdraw the armed forces, because it is not good if troops stay close to each other." "However," he added, "this does not mean that we withdraw all our authorities from the Preah Vihear area. Our border authorities and temple security guards remain there as before.

"Anyway, what is important is that the two government representatives have already shown their goodwill in solving this border problem through peaceful means. However, there still remain more details to be resolved, as I said yesterday, with two solutions. First, the details of the troop withdrawal could be dealt with by a commission led by [Defence Minister] HE Tie Banh. As for the entire border problem, with Thailand claiming that this area belongs to it and that area belongs to Cambodia, it could be dealt with by a commission led by HE Va Kim-hong, responsible for the border delimitation. We have done this work successively.

"And as I already pointed out, the [Cambodian-Thai] border is 830- kilometre long, but we have only 73 border markers. This is a very small number. So, we need to do it in more detail. In the past, we did this only in the areas where there was no dispute, and then we moved to dispute areas where talks were tough. Therefore, it does not mean that we terminate those talks. But we cannot hold further talks because we have already pulled troops out.

"A 2000 memorandum of understanding has determined the preparation of border delimitation in detail and with precision. So, since we have already had this, there is no need for the two governments to hold talks further. I only pointed out that it was unnecessary, but if it was necessary and urgent, we could meet any time. However, as we have already determined the border at talks, it seems unnecessary for the two prime ministers' representatives to meet again while we are in the process of forming a government.

"We leave the time for the government to think of the formation of a new government, but it does not mean that we have closed the door completely. However, as the top leaders have already been in agreement, details should be left for technical teams to deal with. As such, it is not like the local newspapers and Bangkok Post said, 'It is over for now'."

Answering the TVK correspondent's question about Thai troops having put barbed wire to close the entry and exit at Ta Moan Temple and a high-level Thai official announcing Thailand's plan to have the temple registered as a World Heritage site, Khieu Kanharit said, "At first, we regret that Thailand has sent more troops to Ta Moan Temple. However, although Thailand has claimed that the temple is in its territory, and we claim that it is ours, we already said that the 2000 memorandum of understanding has determined that we will discuss the border problem peacefully, with compromise. The troop reinforcements show that Thailand does not keep its words, and it is not the manners of a civilized country having diplomatic relations with the others."

Khieu Kanharit also said that Ta Moan Temple was just a "small temple," and if compared to Preah Vihear Temple, it was "very far different from it and not that valuable. It is only an ordinary temple." He added, "As the temple is a dispute area, it is impossible for Thailand to make the inclusion. Maybe, the Thai official does not understand what to do to include a site in the World Heritage list. Perhaps, it is just his hint or he does not understand anything at all. However, we think that normally, that cannot be done." "It is just Thailand's illusion," he concluded.