Thai embassy fears another round of anti-Thai riots

Burning of Thai embassy in Phnom Penh in 2003

Fri, June 27, 2008
The Nation

Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh has asked the Cambodian government to explain to Khmers the complexity behind the dispute over the Preah Vihear Temple, a senior Thai diplomat said.

The move came after a growing number of Khmers expressed confusion over the heated discussions over the temple in the Thai Parliament and the Thai public.

"The Thai embassy in Phnom Penh wants the Khmer government to inform its people that the discussions have nothing to do with the mutual relationship," the source said.

The discussions started after the Thai government endorsed Cambodia's map of Phreah Vihear Temple which will be included in its bids to list the temple as Unesco's World Heritage Site.

Opposition bloc and some Thai sectors said the decision by the Samak government was an about face to the country's long standing position that said the country has the right to ask the world court to retry to the Preah Vihear case if and when new historical evidence surfaced to support Thailand's claim to the 10th century Hindu temple.

The Thai embassy is worried that the current misunderstanding may result in another round of anti-Thai riot, a repeat of a 2003 incident that ended in the embassy in Phnom Penh being burn to the ground along with Thai-own businesses in Phnom Penh .

The same source said Thai embassy in Cambodia is monitoring the situation in Phnom Penh closely amid the ongoing debate. On Thursday, Thai embassy staffs asked the Cambodian authorities why roads in front of the embassy were closed off. They asked if that was something was problematic.

They were informed that the roads were closed as Cambodia's People Party which has office opposite the embassy released a caravan to launch its election campaign.

Call to oppose Cambodia may lead to unnecessary rift

June 12, 2008
Comment & analysis
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation (Thailand)

Democrat Party deputy leader Alongkorn Pollabutr appeared to have misled some people and may be sparking unnecessary rifts with Cambodia when he suggested the government should remain opposed to Phnom Penh's move to list the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site.

If entertained, such a suggestion could mean a revision of an agreement that Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An sealed in Paris last month.

Thailand and Cambodia had locked horns since last year when Bangkok opposed a Cambodian proposal to list the temple as a Unesco (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) World Heritage site as Phnom Penh had annexed 4.6 square kilometres of overlapping area claimed by both sides.

After rounds of negotiation since the previous government, Cambodia finally agreed to propose listing only the temple that is clearly under its sovereignty.

The Cambodian authority had sent a new map of its annexation to Thailand for consideration and Bangkok was expected to find it satisfactory.

The Cabinet will endorse the map soon to enable Cambodia to submit its proposal to be listed as a protected site when the Unesco heritage committee meets in Canada next month.

The opposition Democrats blamed the government for mishandling the case.

Allowing Cambodia to list the temple means giving up Thai sovereignty over the Preah Vihear, they said.

Sompong Sucharitkul, former Thai ambassador to The Hague who said he was close to the case when the conflict was in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), wrote in an article that Thailand had never conceded that the temple belonged to Cambodia despite the court's ruling in 1962.

It was right that the Thai government at the time announced its disagreement to the ICJ's ruling in favour of Cambodia.

But such an announcement contradicted the action since the Cabinet on July 10, 1962, agreed to hand the temple to Cambodia.

Thai authorities then withdrew troops from the temple and removed Thai nationals out of the area.

Sompong's statement that the current government should not change its position and recognise Cambodian sovereignty over Preah Vihear could be somewhat misleading since it had de facto already changed its position and recognised Cambodia's sovereignty 46 years ago.

De jury, the ICJ's ruling in 1962 was deemed the final decision and there was no appeal procedure.

Thailand has the right to ask for a revision only if it finds some new evidence, but such rights lasted only 10 years after the ruling.

The foreign minister at the time was Thanat Khoman and he was also a former Democrat leader.

He reserved the right to refile the case if there is a new international law relating to the case in favour of Thailand. More than four decades on, no such new law had emerged.

The rush to discredit the government by ignoring and tinkering with historical fact to shore up nationalistic sentiment is not healthy for Thailand since such sentiment may lead to negative terms with that country and escalate into what could be a needless conflict. Any misunderstanding with Cambodia should be avoided around this time since Cambodia is to hold a general election next month.

If some Cambodian parties decide to pick on the issue of Preah Vihear to whip up anti-Thai sentiment for their own gains, it could cause a lot of trouble and perhaps strain cordial relations.

Thailand has already learned a valuable lesson that just a false statement over Khmer temples could lead to its embassy being gutted in January 2003.

The fire went beyond the embassy grounds, igniting an anti-Thai rampage that destroyed Thai properties and interests in that country, some of which cannot be compensated by money alone.

Diplomatically speaking, cooperation with Cambodia is certainly more sensible than pushing for a response.