Thai boundary committee to examine border area

January 13, 2011
Xinhua

Thai members of Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Committee (JBC) along with the House Committee on Foreign Affairs will examine the areas neighboring Cambodia on Jan. 18, a local website Thai Rath reported.

Members of the two committees plan to inspect and find information in eastern Sa Kaeo province's Nongchan village opposite to Banteay Meanchey province where the seven Thais were arrested for illegal entry into Cambodian territory.

The committee members will also examine the area around boundary post no. 46 and No. 47.

Initially, they have coordinated with related authorities in both Thailand and Cambodia and have obtained permission to go into disputed areas.

The seven detainees would be tried and held in prison in Phnom Penh Thursday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen reportedly said.

Thai Army chief: Thai-Cambodian Border Commission will resolve border disputes

BANGKOK, Sept 29 (TNA) - Thai Army chief Gen Anupong Paochinda declined to comment on news report on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's remarks regarding Thai-Cambodian border disputes, saying that the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission for the Demarcation of Land Boundary would be responsible for the talks to find solution on the border disputes.

International media, including the Associated Press (AP) and Agence France-Presse (AFP), on Monday quoted Mr Hun Sen as telling Cambodian officials that anyone from Thailand illegally intruding into Cambodian territory claimed by both countries will be shot.

The Cambodian leader also said that if Thai officials negotiating the border demarcation line present their own maps during bilateral talks, Cambodian officials ‘should tear them up or walk out.’

Gen Anupong said that all the border talks would be the responsibility of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission for the Demarcation of Land Boundaries.

He said Thailand and Cambodia had agreed earlier on the principle to use the talks to solve the problem not to use forces to end the disputes and the Thai government is still adhere to the principle.

"The Thai government has clearly showed that it will use dialogue as the channel to end the disputes. Local military personnel are maintaining good relations with Cambodian soldiers," he said, adding that no severe measures would be used.

If there was any trespassing by Cambodian soldiers, clear procedures had been set and Cambodian trespassers would be treated in accord with human rights standards.

Gen Anupong added that the Second Army Area had warned local residents in Thailand to take care when traveling in the disputed border areas, intrusions into Cambodian territory could happen and there are still landmines in the border zone which could endanger civilians.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said he was verifying the news report before making any comment and affirmed that Thailand would use peaceful mean to solve the problems.

Anupong: Peace, not war

Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Bangkok Post

Army chief Anupong Paojinda insisted on Tuesday that Thailand opts for peaceful means in solving border conflicts with Cambodia.

He spoke a day after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered his troops to shoot any trespassers along the disputed area and angrily blasted Bangkok's territorial claims.

Gen Anupong reiterated that Thailand will solve the conflict through dialogue at the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation of the Land Boundary.

Thai soldiers will carry on their duties on Thai soil, and there is no plan to using violent measures, he added.

He warned those living in the area to be careful if they have to cross the border.

Last weekend, People's Alliance for Democracy protesters rallied at the disputed border area near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple. Dozens of protesters, police and villagers were injured in clashes there after security forces tried to obstruct the PAD from reaching the border area.

The protest was aimed to assert Thai sovereignty over disputed territory near the ancient temple.

Thailand, Cambodia to officially confer on border conflict Nov. 10-14

BANGKOK, Oct 29 (TNA) - Thailand and its neighbour Cambodia will officially confer to discuss ways to avoid armed confrontation along their disputed border areas between November 10-14 at a meeting to be held in Cambodia, a senior Thai foreign ministry official said Wednesday.

Director-General Virachai Plasai of Treaties and Legal Affairs Department said the upcoming meeting will discuss solutions to both immediate and long-term problems.

The meeting was organised after a joint session of Thailand's House of Representatives and Senate late Tuesday gave the green light to the proposed framework and approved a clear mandate for the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) to negotiate with Cambodia on talks to settle the disruptive border dispute between the two countries.

Discussions dealing with the short-term problem will focus on avoiding confrontation between soldiers of the two countries at disputed borde areas, especially in the vicinity of the ancient Preah Vihear temple which was the scene of the latest clash on October 15.

Officials attending the upcoming meeting are also expected to confer on a border survey and demarcation based on the 2000 memorandum of understanding and set up a temporary coordination working group to consider the disputed border areas. Results from their assessment will be forwarded to a session of the Joint Border Commission.

A joint survey and land demarcation will be discussed under the long-term solution plan, based on the convention between Siam and France in 1907 and on Siamese and Cambodian-held Indochina maps, he said.

Cambodia uses a French colonial map demarcating the border, which Thailand says favours Cambodia. Thailand relies on a map drawn up later with US technical assistance.

Mr. Virachai said Thailand will also inform official delegates attending the Ottawa Convention banning landmine usage by signatory members during a meeting in Switzerland November 24-28 that Thai soldiers had found landmines inside Thai territory near the border between the two countries.

Also, Thai officials plan to inform the delegates concerning the October 15 clash in which Thailand charged that Cambodian soldiers based at Preah Vihear temple in firing at Thai soldiers.

Relations between the two countries flared up in July when Preah Vihear, which belongs to Cambodia, was awarded a World Heritage site status by UNESCO.

The real reason behind Hun Sen's belligerence over temple

16-10-2008
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation (Thailand)

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen may have begun beating the war drums too early this week when he issued an ultimatum to Thailand that he would use force to resolve the border dispute at Preah Vihear, but he had reasons for doing so.

In fact, no one believed he would really order his troops to open fire, but an ultimatum like that needs to be thoroughly examined for its hidden meanings.

Some analysts read too much into it when they linked Hun Sen’s move with deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The machiavellian scenario they suggested was that the Cambodian strongman wanted to help his associate Thaksin – and Thaksin ’s brother-in-law, Somchai Wongsawat, the present Thai prime minister – to overcome Thailand’s domestic political difficulties.

The move,they said,was intended to divert attention from domestic political chaos by renewing external problems, and even hostilities,with Cambodia.

But the analytical framework was too complicated and misinterpreted the clear picture of Thai-Cambodian relations.

Moreover, Somchai’s government is too weak to generate external interest in its domestic problems.The present Cabinet would probably be unable to mobilise sufficient resources to wage war against Cambodia, and rather than finding support among Thais, Somchai may easily be accused of dragging the country into war. So the threat could worsen his situation rather than help it.

The rattling of Hun Sen’s saber was not intended to achieve a military goal, but rather was a back-up manoeuvre for diplomatic moves to achieve his development objectives.

The Cambodian government put a lot of effort into the listing of the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site.

The Khmer sanctuary was expected to welcome a fresh surge of visitors after Unesco accepted it for listing earlier this year. Other World Heritage sites have enjoyed an immediate boost in tourism, but the listing of Preah Vihear has brought Cambodia no more than a bitter row with Thailand,on whose border the revered ruin sits.

The site has been closed since the listing and has not earned Cambodia one single tourist dollar.

In 1962 the International Court of Justice ruled Preah Vihear belonged to Cambodia, but easy access can only be made from Thailand. Phnom Penh needs space to build its own route to the temple, but unfortunately the area it needs is also claimed by Thailand.

Military occupation will not secure the area permanently. Only precise demarcation of the boundary between the two countries can divide the two sides,and that requires advanced technology and negotiations.

The two countries have not sat down for talks about their common border at Preah Vihear for some time, because of internal political difficulties.

For many reasons,Thailand remains unable to activate the Joint Commission on Demarcation of Land Boundaries (JBC).

The present Constitution requires the foreign ministry to obtain a parliamentary mandate before commencing negotiations on boundaries.

The ministry has already submitted the framework of negotiation to the parliament, but parliamentarians have hardly been in the mood to read it.This week ’s session of the House of Representatives was postponed following the recent bloodshed.

The JBC is normally co-chaired by a deputy foreign minister,but foreign minister Sompong Amornwiwat has no deputy. He must assign one of his advisers to the job and told his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong on Monday that he would name a Thai co-chairman within a few weeks.

Hun Sen cannot wait that long, because his government is required to submit an administrative plan for Preah Vihear to the World Heritage Committee by next February. The plan cannot be completed as long as the boundary between Thailand and Cambodia remains a hotly contested issue.

Hun Sen ’s threatening tactics seem to have worked well.

Thailand, although responding with strong words and assurances of retaliation in the case of attack, urged Phnom Penh to calm down and continue with talks.The Cambodian leader will be happy to see Thailand ’s new eagerness to talk and reactivate the JBC.

Interim pact on settling border dispute

Informal ministerial talks prove fruitful

Wednesday August 20, 2008
ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT
Bangkok Post

PHETCHABURI : Thailand and Cambodia yesterday agreed to an interim agreement to solve the row over the disputed border area surrounding the Preah Vihear temple.

The agreement was reached in the second round of informal talks between the Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers, Tej Bunnag and Hor Namhong, in Cha-am district.

The main thrust of the interim agreement is that the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) should be a key mechanism in resolving the problem, and for more troops to be withdrawn from the overlapping area between Kantharalak district in Si Sa Ket and the Cambodian province of Preah Vihear.

It also pledges efforts to remove landmines in the area.

The interim agreement requires approval from both governments.

It will tabled for the cabinet next week, after which parliamentary approval will also be required, Mr Tej said.

After completing this process, the JBC is expected to hold talks in October with Manaspas Xuto, who is adviser to the foreign minister.

The JBC will identify the border area to be demarcated, with assistance from legal experts.

The two ministers did not go into detail as to how many more soldiers will be moved out of the disputed area.

This will be settled at a meeting of the Regional Border Committee on Aug 29 and 30 in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The Thai delegrationwill be headed by Second Army commander Lt-Get Sujit Sitthiprapa and the Cambodian side by Deputy Defence Minister Gen Neang Phat and Gen Chea Mon, commander of the Cambodian Fourth Army Region.

Thailand and Cambodia completed the first troop reduction on Sunday.

Hor Namhong was optimistic about settling the problem with Thailand as the two countries showed political willingness to put an end to the row.

But he admitted settling the issue would take more time.

He promised to withdraw the complaint on the border dispute with Thailand from the United Nations Security Council soon and said Preah Vihear will be reopened for tourists after the situation returns to normal.

The Cambodian government decided not to complain to the UN agency after most council members and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) made clear their position that the border problem should be resolved through bilateral discussions.

The Cambodian minister was granted an audience with His Majesty the King for one hour at Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan.

A group of Dharmayatra led by Samarn Sri-ngam also rallied in front of the meeting venue, holding banners bearing slogans such as ''Kick out the Cambodians'' and ''Get back Preah Vihear'', which is called Khao Phra Viharn in Thailand.

The group also lodged a petition to the King via the Foreign Ministry.

It said the military reduction was unfair, as Cambodia still has about 500 soldiers around the eastern side of the Preah Vihear foothill, while Thailand has only about 300 military personnel on the western side.

The Thai side was seeking equal reduction from the Cambodian side, military sources said.