Cambodia will not raise the issues of border disputes with Thailand during the Asean Summit

Many bilateral talks in the past, like this one, did not yield any fruitful results.

By Zakariya
25th November, 2008
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

A Cambodian official has said that Cambodia will not put the Khmer-Thai border disputes on the agenda of the upcoming 14th Asean Summit.

The Secretary of State and the spokesman for the Council of Ministers, Mr. Phay Siphan, said that Cambodia wants to leave the Khmer-Thai border disputes to be resolved in bilateral talks by using the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2000.

Mr. Phay Siphan said: “The foundation of this policy has been proclaimed by Samdech Decho (Hun Sen) since the beginning of the new mandate (of this government). The international community as well as the United Nations and other countries have urged us (Cambodia and Thailand), even the messages from ASEAN, to resolve the disputes bilaterally.”

But Mr. Son Chhay, leader of a group of opposition parliamentarians, has urged the government to put the Khmer-Thai border disputes on the agenda of the Asean Summit, hoping that Asean can help to resolve these disputes.

Mr. Son Chhay said: “It is necessary that we put these disputes on the agenda of this summit in order to have a participation from other members of Asean to push for a resolution. In this way, the Cambodian side has an aspect of a legal victory if we involve the international community in this case.”

Please note that, in the past, some members of Asean such as Malaysia and Indonesia, wanted to mediate but the Cambodian government has refused to accept their offers of mediation.

Mr. Son Chhay said that, if the government did not put the Khmer-Thai border disputes on the agenda of the Asean Summit, he will write a letter requesting the government to come to explain to the parliament.

Mr. Son Chhay said: “If there is any secrets that cannot be revealed publicly, they (the government) can just reveal them to the parliament when we summon them to explain to the parliament about the Preah Vihear issues.”

Mr. Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said that the reasons the opposition wanted to request the government to explain to the parliament shows that the opposition wanted to participate in the resolution of the border problems.

Please note that the Asean Summit will be held in the Thai city of Chiangmai in mid December which will be attended by all the 10 Asean members plus Japan, China, India and South Korea.

Mr. Son Chhay said that many bilateral talks in the past between Cambodia and Thailand did not yield any fruitful results and that the disputes have so far resulted in the deaths of three Cambodian and one Thai soldiers.//

Situation in the disputed borders near Preah Vihear on 26th November, 2008

Aerial view of the Preah Vihear temple complex. Down hill on the left side is Cambodia.

Radio Free Asia
By Sav Yuth
26th November, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

The military situation in the Preah Vihear areas has been on high alert, despite calm, because of occasional accidental gun fires.

A Khmer military officer from Intervention Force of Division 12 said on 26th November that the situation until now remain calm but on high alert and a few days ago the Cambodian troops have warned the Thai troops when they were drunk and fired shots (into the air), but the Thai side explained that the gun fires were accidental.

The officer said: “Today, there is no change. The night before yesterday, 20 of us slept on the mountain. They got drunk and they fired shots, but they explained that the gun shots were accidental. We warned them. Both sides are on high alert but we still talk to each other.”

Members of parliament have urged the government to resolve the border disputes as soon as possible in order to save defence budget.

Mr Son Chhay said: “We cannot delay this dispute because we will lose in two fronts. First, the longer the dispute is delayed, the more rights the Thai have the claims to our territories. Secondly, we have to spend more time and money to defend the areas that can drain our military budget.”

Mr. Son Chhay said that he has requested the government to put the Khmer-Thai disputes on the agenda of the ASEAN Meeting in Chiangmai in December. And on Tuesday he has written to a letter requesting PM Hun Sen to explain to the parliament of the reasons why the government refused to lodge a complaint to the United Nations regarding Cambodian border disputes with Thailand.

Mr. Khieu Kanharith, spokesman for the government, said that the government has made great efforts to resolve the disputes and he has dismissed the ideas that urged the government to lodge a complaint to the United Nations.

Mr. Kanharith said: “If they want to help solving the disputes, just tell us how we can do it? We have made numerous complaints to them (the UN) and they just told us to be patient by trying to resolve the disputes bilaterally. If we ask them to come to lecture us, we already knew the answers. So why should we ask them? The persons who said like this (urge to lodge a complaint) does not understand foreign affairs and don’t know anything.”

Please note that the meeting held between Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers in Siem Reap on the 12th of November did not yield any substantial results because of the Thai insistence on the use of the word “Phra Viharn” to call the temple name and due to the Thai side refusing to commit to a troop withdrawal because they have to wait for an approval from the Thai parliament.//