Thailand’s hard stance on UNESCO under scrutiny [-Thailand Foreign Ministry does back the withdrawal]

June 29, 2011
Boris Sullivan
Thailand Business News

Thailand announced its departure from the World Heritage Convention with‬ ‪immediate effect on Saturday, after the World Heritage Committee failed to heed its request seeking postponement of the Cambodias unilaterally-proposed Preah‬ Vihear Temple management plan, as Thailand fears that it may threaten national sovereignty.

Thailands Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, leading the Thai‬ delegation at the 35th session of the WHC meeting in Paris, earlier notified Mr Mounir‬ Bouchenaki, director-general of International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and‬ ‪Restoration of Cultural Property, who represents the director-general of United Nations‬ ‪Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNESCO, that Thailand would leave the World‬ Heritage Convention and would also withdraw from the 21-member World Heritage Committee as the‬ body continues to ignore any negative consequences which may arise from the consideration of the temple management plan which he said overlooks sensitive issues which could adversely affect Thailands sovereignty and territory.‬

However, the withdrawal was not fully backed by the Foreign Ministry, a government source said.

Officials from the Foreign Ministry who attended the meeting together with Suwit in Paris were satisfied with their negotiations with the Cambodian delegation on the draft of the World Heritage Committee’s decision.

Cambodia says it is ready for observers as Thailand dithers

March 4, 2011
THE NATION

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday piled the pressure on Thailand regarding the stationing of observers at the border to monitor a permanent ceasefire in the area adjacent to Preah Vihear Temple.

"I appeal to Indonesia, if Thailand is hesitant about observers, then please send them urgently to the Cambodian side at the disputed border area," Hun Sen said during the celebration of the 13th national cultural day at Phnom Penh's Chaktomuk Hall.

Thailand and Cambodia agreed during an informal meeting of Asean foreign ministers in Jakarta on February 22 to allow Indonesian observers to assess the situation after a border skirmish on February 4 to 7 killed some 10 people including three civilians on both sides.

Repeated objections over Preah Vihear a waste of time [-Abhisit still wants to reclaim PV temple]

June 25, 2009
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban will be wasting his time trying to mend bilateral rifts during his planned visit to Phnom Penh on Saturday, especially as the government continues objecting to Preah Vihear being given World Heritage status.

Suthep said he planned to tell Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that Thailand was not opposed to Cambodia itself, but had problems with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and World Heritage Committee.

It's difficult to understand what exactly the government plans to do, because the 11th-century Khmer site was given World Heritage status last July.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thailand had to raise objections because Unesco and the World Heritage panel violated their own regulations and the listing ignited conflicts.

However, Abhisit never clarified which regulations were violated and whether Thailand's objections would force the panel to change its decision. Actually, nobody expects any changes because the objections are nothing new - they were filed during the World Heritage Committee's 32nd session in Quebec last July.

Thailand's concerns were addressed a year ago, and even the joint communique between then-foreign minister Noppadon Pattama and Cambodian Deputy PM Sok An discarded them during the 32nd session. Thailand's desire to participate in the nomination of Preah Vihear temple and its surrounding area was recognised, recorded and publicised by the committee.

Despite these concerns, the World Heritage Committee went ahead and named the temple as a World Heritage site because it met one of the six criteria - it is an outstanding masterpiece of Khmer architecture.

"It is very pure both in plan and in its decoration details," the committee said in its decision.

Thailand's arguments about its imperfections - such as the twin stupas being located in Thai territory - were not considered valid.

Natural Resource and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, who attended the 33rd session in Spain this week, was unable to do much other than repeat the statement made by the Thai delegation a year ago.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia, and Thailand has nothing to do with it.

Abhisit said he opposed World Heritage status for the site because it might affect Thailand's right to claim land in an "overlapping" 4.6 square kilometres adjacent to the temple and any chance to "re-claim" the temple.

However, his concerns make little sense because the Unesco World Heritage Convention's Article 11 clearly says that "the inclusion of a property [in the World Heritage list] situated in a territory, sovereignty or jurisdiction, which is claimed by more than one state, shall in no way prejudice the rights of the parties to the dispute".

Thailand will not lose the right to demarcate its border with Cambodia and, in fact, the joint boundary demarcation committee is already working on the matter. Now, it is up to Thailand whether or not to send a representative to sit on the International Coordination Committee (ICC) as mentioned in Article 14 of the World Heritage listing. The committee was originally due to convene in February, but it has been delayed because Thailand has yet to make a decision.

Sadly, Thailand's move to maintain its objection is nothing more than a plan to delay Cambodia's work, which has only resulted in added tension.

Abhisit should really explain what he wants from sticking to his stance, how it would benefit the country and what would happen if his deputy does manage to cool Hun Sen down.

Abhisit admits: PV review request was not about joint listing, but more about border dispute

Preah Vihear move is about border rights, PM says

June 25, 2009
The Nation

"Prime Minister Abhisit might be confused over the boundary. The Unesco won't deal with the boundary issue but will help to protect the site in Cambodia" - Somchai Phetprasert, Thailand chairman of House committee on military affairs

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday he wanted to keep the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and international involvement away from Preah Vihear temple.

Cabinet's move to maintain its objection to World Heritage listing for the site, which it achieved last year, was just reserving Thailand's right to handle boundary demarcation with Cambodia, he said.

Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Cambodia in 2000 not to make any change in regard to "overlapping" areas claimed by both countries before the completion of demarcation, he said.

"As the temple is listed as World Heritage, there will be more hands involved, which is contrary to the MoU," Abhisit told reporters before leaving for China.

The historic cliff-top temple has been a point of conflict between Thailand and Cambodia for years.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia but Thailand argues that the court ruling did not cover adjacent land. Both countries claimed an area of 4.6 square kilometres near the temple.

Thailand's objection to the World Heritage listing stirred anger from Phnom Penh as the move delays its plan to develop the site.

Cambodia has yet to convene an international coordination committee to develop Preah Vihear, as Thailand has not decided whether to join the panel to run the site with seven other parties.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban will visit Phnom Penh on Saturday to explain its stance to Hun Sen, the Cambodian premier.

Abhisit hoped Suthep would be able to calm Hun Sen down and reduce tension at the site.

Disputes over Preah Vihear led to fighting near the border temple in October last year and in April, which saw several soldiers killed on both sides.

Cambodia had boosted its forces in the conflict area since the latest moves, Second Army Region Commander Wiboonsak Neeparn said. "We have to adjust our troops to get ready but as I talk to my Cambodian counterpart, we don't use force to solve the problem," he said yesterday.

Chulalongkorn University academic Chaiwat Khamchoo said the government's objection to Cambodia's plan would not benefit Thailand but only created conflict with its neighbour.

Somchai Phetprasert, chairman of House committee on military affairs, accused the government of pushing the country nearer to war. Prime Minister Abhisit should talk with Cambodia about a joint nomination for the temple, Somchai said.

"Prime Minister Abhisit might be confused over the boundary. The Unesco won't deal with the boundary issue but will help to protect the site in Cambodia," he said.

Thailand's perfidy? It agrees to the listing of Preah Vihear in public, but it is doing everything behind the scene to block it

Move to block cambodia's temple proposal likely to fail: Army

May 8, 2008
By Piyanart Srivalo The Nation (Thailand)

A move to block Cambodia's proposal to list Preah Vihear temple as a United Nations World Heritage Site will probably fail as the government in Phnom Penh has managed to lobby at least 21 countries to take its side, a military source said yesterday.

A meeting between senior officials led by Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Virasakdi Futrakul and Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sok An over the last two days has been "useless" since Phnom Penh has already achieved its goal, the source said.

Thailand had delayed the United Nations Educational, Science and Culture Organisation's decision to list the ancient Hindu temple as a World Heritage Site after Cambodia proposed the temple area along with the annexation of some 4.6 square kilometres of overlapping area, claimed by both sides.

The temple belongs to Cambodia according to a ruling by the International Court of Justice in 1962, but the land below the hill-top temple claimed by the two countries remained unclear and the both sides agreed not to make any changes before the boundary demarcation was settled.

The listing of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site has nothing to do with national sovereignty, but if the area were annexed into part of the temple, Thailand would de facto lose the area, the military source said.

The Foreign Ministry proposed to Cambodia the establishment of a joint body to run the overlapping area before listing the temple as a World Heritage Site.

The two countries have not yet reached any common ground on the idea.