Cambodian Foreign Ministry’s reply to Thailand’s protest

the 1907 map, which was used in the court case in 1962 in which Cambodia won the ownership of the Preah Vihear temple from Thailand, shows that the Preah Vihear temple and the sites of the clashes (red spots) on 15th October took place deep inside Khmer territories.

Radio Free Asia
By Mondul Keo
20th November, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 20th November has issued a diplomatic reply to an aide-memoir of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand which accused Cambodia of violating Thailand’s territorial integrity.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy PM Hor Namhong has told local and international media, after he summoned the Thai ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that Thailand is creating an issue with Cambodia after it’s recent unsuccessful attempt to block the listing of the Preah Vihear temple on the World Heritage List.

Mr. Hor Namhong added that all the Thai allegations are baseless. He said: “We have used 1:50,000 scale maps that the Khmer-Thai Technical Team had used to search for the 73 pillars along the borders. We based everything on those documents and we have told Thailand that those areas are located inside Khmer territories and we also told Thailand that, those areas were under Cambodian control since 1907, when those maps were produced. Only since the 15th of July, after Unesco has approved the listing of the Preah Vihear temple, that Thailand has raised one issue after another.”

Please note that, on the 7th of November, 2008, Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent an aide-memoir to Cambodia claiming that a number of buildings in Poipet have been constructed on Thai territory. And on the 12th and 13th of November, the Thai Foreign Ministry has sent two aide-memoirs to Cambodia to protest against the raising of Cambodian flags, World Heritage flags and Unesco flags in Preah Vihear temple. Thailand has also protested Cambodia’s holding of a Kathen Ceremony inside Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvarak.

Mr. Hor Namhong said: “I have to tell you that I also don’t understand (why the Thai protested). This afternoon I told the Thai ambassador that, in the future, if Thailand wants to send a letter of protest, Thailand must examine the legal documents and maps clearly first before lodging the protest so that we won’t be wasting our time to reply. This is the first thing I told him. Secondly, because both sides have agreed to resolve the issue peacefully and cordially, we must allow the atmosphere to calm down in order to facilitate the peaceful negotiations. Please do not lodge a protest, one after another without any reasons and without any basis.”

Despite all of the wrangling, Deputy PM Hor Namhong still consider that complaining to the United Nations regarding the Khmer-Thai border disputes is the last resort.//

Territorial disputes resolved, Cambodia makes case for Preah Vihear

Written by Chrann Chamroeun and Hor Hab
Courtesy of Phnom Penh
Wednesday, 18 June 2008

Following a breakthrough with Thai authorities over disputed territory, a 19-member Cambodian delegation will leave for Canada later this month to secure World Heritage Site status for the 11th century Hindu monument of Preah Vihear.

Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who is also president of the Cambodian national commission to UNESCO, will lead the delegation to a meeting of the agency's World Heritage Committee in Quebec from July 2 to 10, said Secretary of State for the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Uch Phoeurn.

The national commission's secretary-general, Tan Theany, and the president of the Preah Vihear National Authority, Ty Yoa, will also attend the meeting, Phoeurn told the Post on June 16.

Preah Vihear, which sits at the summit of an escarpment in the Dangrek mountains, is only one of 10 Cambodian sites nominated for World Heritage listing to be considered at the meeting, Phoeurn said. All were nominated in 1992, when Angkor Wat was listed as a world heritage site.

"I strongly hope that Preah Vihear will be listed," Khmer Civilization Support Foundation chairman Moeung Sonn said at a ceremony in Phnom Penh on June 15 to mark the 46th anniversary of the International Court of Justice's ruling that the temple was owned by Cambodia rather than Thailand.

Thailand had disputed some 4.6 square kilometers of land surrounding the temple, delaying its UNESCO listing. But Cambodia agreed last month to include only the temple in its proposal – a move that Thai authorities have said should pave the way for its acceptance this year.

"It is the first time in Cambodia that the KCSF has celebrated the anniversary," Sonn said at the ceremony, attended by hundreds of people in a park opposite Phnom Penh's Wat Botom.

The event included a photographic exhibition of Preah Vihear temple and information about the ICJ's 1962 ruling in favor of Cambodia.

An appeal for donations during a live screening of the event on CTN raised $24,047, said television presenter Soy Sopheap.

About $14,000 would go toward the cost of the all-day ceremony and the balance would be used for maintaining security at Preah Vihear, Sopheap said.

Meanwhile, an opposition politician has called on the government to release the updated map of the Preah Vihear site that was included in Cambodia's proposal for world heritage listing.

Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay, the chair of the National Assembly commission for foreign affairs, international cooperation, information and media, said a request to see the map had been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 13.

"We will wait one week and if there is no result we will take action based on the law," Chhay told the Post on June 16.

He said the ministry had an obligation to provide a copy of the map to the National Assembly because it needed to provide advice to the government about Preah Vihear temple.

"They insult the National Assembly because they conceal information," Chhay said.

Attempts to seek a reaction from Ministry of Foreign Affairs
on January 16 were not successful.

Writer Urges Thailand, Cambodia To Jointly Nominate Temple as World Heritage Site

by Nophakhun Limsamarnphunnop
Bangkok Post

Cambodia should consider Joint inscription of Preah Vihear site

Unesco's World Heritage Committee is due to meet next week in Canada to consider Cambodia's proposal for inscription of the ancient Preah Vihear temple on the World Heritage list.
I believe that Unesco will not approve the Cambodian bid at this stage, despite the Thai Cabinet's recent endorsement of a joint communique between the two countries on this matter.
According to this joint communique - signed by Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama and Cambodian Deputy Premier Sok An on June 18 - both countries agreed to five major points that were based on the results of a bilateral meeting on May 22.
First, Thailand explicitly supports the inscription, based on a map prepared by Cambodia, at the upcoming 32nd session of the World Heritage Committee in Canada.
Second, Cambodia accepts the inscription without - at this stage - buffer zones on the northern and western areas of Preah Vihear temple.
Third, the map presented by Cambodia shall supersede the other maps and graphic references.
Fourth, pending the work of the Joint Commission for Land Boundary concerning western and northern areas of the temple, the two countries agree to prepare jointly the management plan of these areas for consideration by Unesco in 2010.
Fifth, the inscription of Preah Vihear shall be without prejudice to the rights of Thailand and Cambodia on demarcation works of the two countries.
All these points were debated fiercely in the Thai Parliament on June 22 and June 23, with opposition MPs accusing the government of conceding sovereignty to Cambodia.
In my opinion, Thailand's national interest was compromised at least as far as the negotiations over the temple were concerned.
As indicated by former foreign minister Nit Pibulsongkarm, the country's interest would be best protected if the foreign ministry insisted on a joint nomination together with Cambodia for Preah Vihear's inscription as a World Heritage site.
Second, Thailand should make it clear to Cambodia that it would oppose any unilateral attempt for Prear Vihear's inscription.
In the spirit of the founding of Unesco, it is highly unlikely that the UN body will go ahead with the inscription of the site should there be any opposition from a neighbouring country.
In the case of Preah Vihear, built around 1,100BC, Thailand's national interest would be compromised because the endorsement of Cambodia's single-country nomination would serve as a basis that bars any future attempt by Thailand to contest its sovereignty over the temple, which is situated just next to its border.
More importantly, the issue of the surrounding areas, currently in Thailand's territory, would be complicated and the integrity of Preah Vihear complex would be compromised, given that a number of elements of the temple such as a giant reservoir and the Naga staircase are situated in Thai territory.
Again, it would be best for both countries to jointly nominate the temple as the World Heritage site so as to avoid these territorial and management issues.
It would also be considered reasonable if the temple and its peripheral areas are turned into a joint-development area co-owned by Cambodia and Thailand.
Any monetary or other benefits derived from this joint effort could then be shared between the two nations in a fashion similar to the Joint Development Area between Thailand and Malaysia, covering oil and gas resources in the countries' territorial waters.