Without even putting a fight, Hun Xen declared that Cambodia loss the claiming right to Koh Tral Island (Phu Quoc)

កម្ពុជាបាត់បង់សិទ្ឋិទាមទារកោះត្រល់ ដោយសារខ្សែប្រេវីយ៉េ

ថ្ងៃទី 9 សីហា 2012
ដោយ: គ្រីទិច
Cambodia Express News

ភ្នំពេញ: សម្តេច ហ៊ុន សែន បានមានប្រសាសន៍ថា កម្ពុជាបានបាត់បង់សិទ្ឋិទាមទារកោះត្រល់ ដោយសារ តែការ ប្រើប្រាស់ ខ្សែ ប្រេវីយ៉េ។

សម្តេច ហ៊ុន សែន ពន្យល់ថា តាមខ្សែប្រេវីយ៉េនេះ គឺកោះត្រល់មិនស្ថិតនៅក្នុង ដែនដីកម្ពុជាទេ។

លោកពន្យល់ថា លោកប្រេវីយ៉េកាលពីឆ្នាំ១៩៣៩ លោកប្រេវីយ៉េ បានដាក់ កោះត្រល់ ក្រោម ការ ដឹកនាំ របស់ វៀតណាម។ ទីពីរ ក្រោយមកនៅឆ្នាំ១៩៤៩ ទឹកដីកូសាំស៊ីន ក៏ត្រូវបារាំងកាត់ទៅអោយវៀតណាម។ ទីបី ឆ្នាំ១៩៦៤ សម្តេចសីហនុ បានយកផែនទីខ្សែប្រេវីយ៉េ ទៅតម្កល់នៅសហប្រជាជាតិ ដើម្បីអោយអន្តរជាតិ និងវៀតណាមទទួលស្គាល់ខ្សែបន្ទាត់ព្រំដែនសមុទ្រកម្ពុជា និងវៀតណាម។ ចំណុចទាំងបីនេះបានន័យថា កម្ពុជាបោះបង់សិទ្ឋិទាមទារកោះត្រល់ហើយ។

សម្តេចបានមានប្រសាសន៍ថា នេះគឺជាផ្លូវច្បាប់៕​

White Zone and Koh Tral - Op-Ed by Angkor Borei News

Thai authority denied Cambodian tourists entry to Thailand and demanded them to pay $1500 each

Reaksmey Kampuchea newspaper

8th January, 2009
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

The 7-storey Jupiter Cruise liner (pictured) with 450 passengers had docked at a Bangkok Seaport on 25th December, 2008 at 10:30am with the hopes that the passengers will be able to celebrate Christmas in the land of Thailand. On the cruise ship there were 269 Cambodian passengers but it was the worst nightmare for them that the Thai authority did not allow them to leave the ship and sent them packing back to Cambodia.

On the 4th of December, Jupiter Cruise, as part of its first launch, has left Phu Quoc (Koh Tral) island in Nha Trang province for Kompong Som in Cambodia to go to Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket in Thailand. This is a free cruise and according to Mr. Benson Samay, defence attorney for the cruise, on the cruise ship there were 269 Cambodian passengers, among them there were 27 Cambodian passengers who hold diplomatic and government official passports, 22 Cambodians who hold foreign passports and 215 Cambodians who hold ordinary passports with Thai visas stamped on them.

In a letter to Mr. Chheang Vun, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, sent on 6th January, 2009, Mr. Benson Samay said that, according to an English captain of the Jupiter Cruise, the Thai authority did not allow the Cambodian passengers to enter into Thailand by using an excuse that “there might be some Khmer Rouge disguising among the passengers who can create insecurity in their country (Thailand).” The letter added that the Thai authority will only allow the Cambodian passengers to enter Thailand “on the condition that those Cambodian passengers agreed to pay $1500 each person in security bond and the bond money can only be withdrawn after 3 months time.”

Mr. Chheang Vun has told Reaksmey Kampuchea newspaper that he has sent the letter to Mr. Long Visalo, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to summon the Thai officials to explain the incident.

Mr. Chheang Vun added: “if this information is true, it is a regrettable incident”, by adding that he was not aware whether the cruise ship has sufficient documents to enter Thailand or not, Mr. Chheang Vun said that Cambodia and Thailand have a visa agreement, and among the 269 passengers, only 5 passengers who did not have the Thai visas. Mr. Chheang Vun said that according to Mr. Benson Samay, those 5 passengers did not wish to leave the cruise ship to enter the Thai territories. By saying this, Mr. Chheang Vun wanted to stress that there is no reason for the Thai authority to bar the 269 Cambodian passengers from entering Thai territories.

Mr. Benson Samay added that the Thai authority allowed the Vietnamese passengers to disembark the cruise ship to enter Thai territories by transporting the 24 Vietnamese passengers by boat to Bangkok. The Cambodian were not allowed to enter Thailand unless they agreed to pay the $1500 security bond as requested.

Under international regulations, regulated by the International Maritime Organisation (OMI), the regulations for any ships to dock at any international seaports are not linked to the passengers on board of the ships. This means that as long as the passengers on the ship have appropriate visas agreed between the two countries, they must be allowed to enter the country they intended to visit. On the contrary, if the passengers have no proper documentations, when the ship has already docked at any international ports, those passengers can remain on the ship legally because that ship is considered as “a country” as well.

Two days ago an official from the Thai Foreign Ministry told the Thai media that he did not know of the incident and that same official has assured that Thailand will launch an investigation if there is a detailed diplomatic protest from Cambodia.

Airport construction on Cambodian Koh Tral Island, illegally occupied by Vietnam with Hun Sen's approval

Vietnam approves US$943m airport in Phu Quoc

Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Bloomberg

Vietnam approved a 16 trillion dong (HK$7.45 billion) plan to build an international airport capable of serving 2.5 million passengers by 2020 on Phu Quoc island.

Construction will start November 23 in an area of 905 hectares, the government said.

The airport will be able to handle planes as large as Boeing. 747s and 777s.

The Vietnamese government wants to open up Phu Quoc island, in the south of the country, near Cambodia, for tourism and attract about 3 million visitors a year by 2020, the Saigon Times Daily reported earlier.

The government approved the building of a casino-resort on the island the same month, according to the newspaper.

"Very cold" metal pieces retrieved after UFO explosion over Koh Tral Island

‘UFO’ incident in southern Vietnam reported to gov’t

Sunday, June 1, 2008
Reported by Tien Trinh
Thanh Nien News (Hanoi)

Kien Giang Province authorities have reported the discovery of metal debris, believed to be fragments from the explosion of an unidentified flying object (UFO), to the central government, an official said Friday.

Lam Quang Chanh, the provincial People’s Committee’s spokesman, told Thanh Nien metal pieces had rained down in Ganh Dau and Cua Can communes on the island of Phu Quoc at about 10:20 a.m. on May 27.

The Military Command of Phu Quoc District said militias and residents had recovered 14 metal pieces allegedly deposited on the island from the explosion.

Rumors in Phu Quoc also suggest that some individuals have retrieved “dollars” or “very cold” metal pieces following the UFO’s explosion.

Nguyen Thanh Banh, Kien Giang police deputy chief, told Thanh Nien anyone found guilty of spreading rumors from the incident that would negatively affect security on the island would be dealt with according to law.

Banh also said the security on Phu Quoc Island has been stable thus far.

When residents found the metal debris on Tuesday, district authorities said they contacted airlines in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand but did not receive immediate news of any missing aircraft.

Vietnam probes mystery ‘UFO’ incident

Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thanh Nien News (Hanoi)

It’s a mystery puzzling islanders in southern Vietnam: they heard an explosion, saw something burning in the sky, and found shards of metal debris – but quite what it was, nobody knows.

A plane? Possibly.

An official in nearby Cambodia reported Tuesday that a small plane had crashed in its southern Kampot province, only to retract his comments later.

But Cambodia’s civil aviation authority said that airlines denied missing any planes and there was no trace of any crash.

Still, the reports from Phu Quoc Island – situated in the southern Vietnamese province of Kien Giang and within sight of Kampot – do point to something, according to military and provincial officials.

The island district’s military chief Colonel Nguyen Van Qui was quoted as saying yesterday that “an unidentified flying object exploded at about 10 a.m. on May 27 over the northern part of Phu Quoc Island.”

When residents found metal debris, district authorities said they contacted airlines in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand but did not receive immediate news of any missing aircraft by late Tuesday.

“We have informed the Ministry of Defense,” Dinh Khoa Toan, deputy chairman of the island’s People’s Committee, said.

“We expect the ministry will send some experts to clarify whether the metal came from a crashed plane.

“We have collected several metal pieces in various parts of the island.”

Huynh Tan Hung, an official of the People’s Committee of the island’s Ganh Dau Commune, said local people had heard a series of noises, including a loud bang, just after 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

“We all saw something burning in the sky, north of Phu Quoc Island. The fire was in the sky near Cambodian territory. In our commune, we collected one piece of metal, measuring one meter by about 60 centimeters.”

A soldier on duty at the Military Command of Phu Quoc Island, identifying himself as Tuan, said they had received seven metal pieces that were over one meter long from local people.

“We have contacted responsible agencies and we are sure that no Vietnamese planes, civil or military, were flying there at that time,” he said.

“We don’t have sufficient facilities or experts here, so we cannot tell now whether these metal parts came from a plane.”

In Cambodia, Kampot’s deputy police chief In China said villagers reported hearing a “loud explosion,” but that all authorities had been able to find was a “small piece of metal” in the jungle near the coast.

Keo Sivorn, chief of flight operations at Cambodia’s civil aviation body, said no plane had crashed.

US investor lobbies for a $2 billion resort-casino on occupied Khmer Koh Tral Island

09/10/2007
Keeping cautious with casinos

VietNamNet Bridge – Local authorities have received a lot of proposals from investors to develop casinos on their several-billion-dollar resorts. However, the government of Vietnam maintains its consistent standpoint that it does not encourage casino business.

All big projects want casinos

Earlier this year, the HCM City People’s Committee, at a conference discussing issues to develop the city’s tourism, mentioned a plan to call for investment into an entertainment-tourism complex on Binh Quoi-Thanh Da peninsula in Binh Thanh district, which was designed to consist of a hotel, restaurant, water-based entertainment areas, and casino.

In Dong Thap province, the Thai Binh Hotel and Housing Development Company Ltd is also planning to invest in a hotel-casino complex at the Dinh Ba international border gate.

Binh Thuan provincial authorities have received a proposal from Cascadia Home Products Asia Ltd on building and developing a high-grade resort, which consists of a casino in Cu Lao Cau, Tuy Phong district.

Meanwhile, investment brokers say that many foreign investors have sent word, expressing their desire to make investment in big tourism-entertainment complexes, which include casinos. Big entertainment service groups in the world always consider casinos as a main investment item in their projects, in order to attract rich clients, develop luxury services and maximise profit.

An investor from the US is trying to lobby for a project on a $2bil resort with a casino on Phu Quoc Island. Another investor, through an investment promotion company, is planning to develop a high-grade tourism project at the Lao Bao-Quang Tri border gate, which is expected to cost $3bil, including the expenses for a casino.

The Cai Gia-Cat Ba urban area, which has called for investment recently, is also catching the eyes of several investors, who are seeking to develop tourism projects with casinos.

To all these proposals, the government has given only one answer: the building and development of casinos must be implemented in accordance with Notice No 96 dated May 4, 2007 by the Government Office. The notice says that Vietnam will consider granting licences to build casinos in tourism-entertainment complexes which have the investment capital of $4bil and higher.

Casino jackpot and gambling are currently listed as ‘sensitive projects’ which are not encouraged in Vietnam. Casino development has been carried out on a trial basis so far, and casinos all are located in isolated areas and reserved for foreigners only.

Keeping cautious with building up policies

In fact, Vietnam does not have any legal documents on casino operations. The licencing of casino projects has been implemented in individual cases and decided upon by the Prime Minister. Currently, gambling business management is being carried out in accordance with Decision No 32/2003 dated February 27, 2003. However, the decision is being amended and stricter regulations will be set up.

There are now four operational casinos in Vietnam, one in Hai Phong, two in Quang Ninh (Loi Lai and Hoang Gia), and one in Lao Cai. The four all are small scale and are open to foreigners only. Licences on gambling business have been granted to several hotels, while licences on horse and dog betting have been given to projects in HCM City and Vung Tau.

As requested by the government, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is compiling a project on casino development and management and amending Decision No 32/2003 dated February 27, 2003. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has been assigned to compile the project on betting business development and management.

The first draft of casino project has been submitted to the government for consideration. The completed version of the draft will be submitted again to the government, which will then be submitted to the Communist Party’s Politburo.

MPI and MOF both said that the government kept a skeptical viewpoint on the issue, which is considered very sensitive. Casino development will only be allowed when casinos are located in isolated areas, and open only for foreigners for easier control.

Regarding the project on betting games, MOF plans to submit it to the government in the fourth quarter of the year. The ministry said that it had to thoroughly consider the possible impact of the project, especially the social impacts. In all cases, the government will maintain very tight control over gambling activities.