Thailand sends more troops to Cambodia border, heightening tensions

Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Reuters, special to CBC News

Thailand sent more soldiers to a disputed stretch of the Cambodian border near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple on Tuesday, a Thai general said, hours after a Cambodian general said Thai troops had pulled back.

Troops from both sides had retreated slightly but were facing off about 100 metres apart, said Vibulsak Neepan, commander of the Thai Eastern Region. Bangkok was sending in reinforcements in case the dispute escalated, he added.

"The situation is quite tense at the front line," Lt.-Gen. Vibulsak told Thai television station Channel 3.

"We have mobilized more troops and heavy artillery to the area, just enough to resist and retaliate."

His comments came shortly after Cambodian commander Gen. Chea Mon, speaking from the border, told Reuters by telephone that nearly 100 Thai soldiers alleged to have made an incursion onto Cambodian soil had retreated.

"The situation seems to have returned to normal," he said. "Our troops are occupying the area where the Thai troops have pulled out."

Vibulsak admitted Thai soldiers had entered a disputed "no-man's land" on the border after getting permission from the Cambodian side, as is normally required. But he said the Thai troops were only in the area to inspect landmines.

On Monday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to turn the area into a "death zone" unless the Thais retreated by midday local time on Tuesday.

The Thai military said it was ready for war and the Foreign Ministry told Thais to "think twice" before visiting Cambodia.

Singapore and Indonesia asked both sides to show restraint.

Tensions over area flare

At the heart of the dispute is 4.6 square kilometres of scrub near the Preah Vihear Hindu temple. The area's sovereignty remained unresolved despite the International Court of Justice awarding the temple itself to Cambodia in 1962, a ruling that has upset people in Thailand ever since.

Tensions over the area's sovereignty flared again in July after UNESCO approved Cambodia's bid to have the temple listed as a World Heritage site. Cambodia sent 800 troops to the border, and Thailand sent about 400 soldiers.

Both sides had withdrawn most of their troops by August, but it was unclear how many were still left in the area and other border regions.

While there have been no reports of major armed conflict, a brief gunfight broke out on Oct. 3, leaving one Cambodian and two Thai soldiers wounded. Both sides blaming the other for firing first and for being on the wrong side of the border.

Three days after that incident, two Thai soldiers lost their legs after stepping on landmines in the area.

With files from Reuters, the Associated Press

Thailand boosts troops in tense border standoff with Cambodia

A fresh group of Thai soldiers walk from the border to a Cambodian Buddhist temple complex where their colleagues have occupied a temple near Preah Vihear temple, in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Friday, July 18, 2008. A Cambodian general said a border standoff between his soldiers and Thai troops came close to a shoot-out overnight as the confrontation over disputed territory surrounding Preah Vihear temple entered its fourth day Friday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

By Suy Se

"We all love peace. We are here, we don't want anything. We came to offer protection in case Thai protestors come here ... We came to help Cambodian troops and their people. I don't think that we will stay here much longer" (sic!) - Invading Thai army Colonel Chay Huay Soongnern

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (AFP) - Thailand sent more military reinforcements to a disputed part of the Cambodian border Friday, after the tense four-day standoff nearly erupted into gunfire during the night.

Cambodian official Hang Soth told reporters 109 troops had arrived Friday, joining some 400 Thai soldiers already stationed across from more than 800 Cambodians.

Both sides have set up around a small Buddhist pagoda on the slope of a mountain leading to the ruins of 11th century Preah Vihear temple, which is the epicentre of a territorial dispute over the surrounding land.

Thai army Colonel Chay Huay Soongnern insisted that the soldiers were there to turn away any Thai nationalist protesters, after about 4,000 tried to march to the disputed zone on Thursday.

"We all love peace. We are here, we don't want anything. We came to offer protection in case Thai protestors come here," he said.

"We came to help Cambodian troops and their people. I don't think that we will stay here much longer," he added.

Khan Yorn, the pagoda's abbott, asked Cambodian and Thai troops to leave the grounds.

"There cannot be armed forces inside the pagoda. We keep the pagoda a quiet place for the people to celebrate ceremonies. So please all troops move out," he told them in front of reporters.

The standoff nearly erupted into violence late Thursday, when witnesses said troops twice pointed their guns at each other during 10 tense minutes at the pagoda when 50 Cambodian troops entered the pagoda compound to protect food supplies for dozens of monks.

"Our troops and Thai troops pointed their guns at each other. They were on alert," said Brigadier Chea Keo, commander-in-chief of the Cambodian army at Preah Vihear.

"After that Cambodian military commanders and Thai commanders held talks for approximately one hour. We solved our problems after talks with Thai commanders," he said. "The situation is stable now."

He said Cambodian troops agreed to stay outside the pagoda during the night to avoid confrontations.

The mood appeared less tense Friday morning as Cambodian soldiers went back inside the pagoda and were seen chatting and smiling with Thais.

But Cambodian Premier Hun Sen told his Thai counterpart Samak Sundaravej in a letter Thursday that the row was worsening and harming their relations.

"Prime Minister Hun Sen doesn't want to see any Thai blood or Cambodian blood on the land because of this misunderstanding," Phay Sithan, spokesman for the Cambodian cabinet, told reporters at the scene Friday.

Top officials from both countries plan to meet Monday to resolve the stand-off. Samak was holding talks with top defence officials Friday to prepare for the talks.

The troops are deployed in a small area claimed by both countries near the Preah Vihear temple.

Thai troops arrived after three Thai protesters illegally broke across on Tuesday vowing to reclaim the temple, which they say rightly belongs to them.

The World Court in 1962 determined the Preah Vihear ruins belong to Cambodia, even though the most accessible entrance lies in Thailand.

The issue has taken on national importance in both countries.

Cambodia is preparing for general elections on July 27, while Thailand has recently been rattled by anti-government protests, driven in part over the handling of the land dispute.