Thai Troops Enter Disputed Territory On Thai-cambodian Border

[Crushdepth]

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

This packet of peanuts are going to end up shooting someone for sure.

[hammered]

To fully analyse what people feel and what the Preah Vihear issue means to Thailand needs a complete historical analysis imho. This is something we cant really discuss here. Lets just say that what Thailand is and has been for many decades is reaching a juncture where there will be an inevitable and unavoidable change. This kind of change always creates power vacuums, power struggles and a reinterpretation of what is. Nationalism is now obviously going to play a pretty central theme in this. In fact it has been for some time. Preah Vihear is just the latest issue but also a visible and debatable one that can be used as a symbol. The question is what kind of nationalism will win out, and dont think any side is not very nationalistic. We have seen everything from Preah Vihear, calls on institutions that shouldnt be called on, attempts to make Buddhism a state religion, denials of massacres, social order crusades and debates over Thai dress to the simple Thai Rak Thai party name. No side has manged to stay clear of all this.

We also shouldnt forget when analysing changes that Thailand exists in a world where free trade and globalisation are the new mantras creating its own set of pressures on how Thailand will move. Nothing changes in isolation.

[sriracha john]

Thai monks:

A Thai Buddhist monk, one of 10 nationalist protesters, looks at the Cambodian jungle from a lookout at Thailand's Preah Vihear national park July 18, 2008. The protesters have been camping at the lookout for a month, urging the army to take the Preah Vihear territory back from Cambodia.

REUTERS

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Preah Vihear

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Cambodian monks:

Buddhist monks sit with Cambodian soldiers on a road leading to the Preah Vihear temple near Thai border. 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.

AFP

Edited July 19, 2008 by sriracha john

[ChiangMaiAmerican]

Forces 'raise rifles' over temple dispute

The border standoff intensified Friday after both sides deployed reinforcements to the site.

The row intensified when the two sides raised their rifles at each other twice as 50 Cambodian troops entered to protect food supplies for dozens of monks and Thai soldiers moved to evict them.

Full Story Here:

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stor....htm?tab=latest

[sriracha john]

Meanwhile, more and more troops are sent in from both sides...

Cambodia, Thailand increase troops in border standoff

PREAH VIHEAR -- Cambodia and Thailand further increased their forces on the fifth day of a tense standoff on disputed land near an ancient Hindu temple at the border, officials said Saturday.

More than 500 Thai troops and well over 1,000 Cambodian soldiers are stationed around a small Buddhist pagoda on the slope of a mountain leading to the ruins of 11th century Preah Vihear temple.

"Now there are nearly 400 Thai troops stationed in the pagoda. I'm not sure how many are stationed in the jungle," said Brigadier Chea Keo, commander of Cambodian forces in the area.

Cambodian officials declined to give the number of their forces at the border, however hundreds of anti-riot police began reinforcing more than 1,000 troops in the area Friday while more than 100 Thai troops joined 400 soldiers already at the scene.

Officials said the situation was "stable" Saturday but the mood among Cambodians became tense Friday evening when they got word of a letter from Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen, saying the addition of Cambodian troops had caused the situation to "deteriorate."

In the letter calling for a peaceful solution to the standoff, Samak said Cambodia had violated a pre-existing agreement not to build in disputed territory, according to a statement by the Thai foreign ministry.

"The establishment of the Cambodian community, including construction of a temple and houses, and the stationing of the Cambodian military personnel in the area constitute a continued violation of Thailand's sovereignty and territorial integrity," said the Thai foreign ministry.

Asked about the Thai premier's claims, Brigadier Chea Keo answered: "On the map, it is our territory."

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.

Officials from both countries plan to meet Monday to resolve the standoff. But Premier Hun Sen and told his Thai counterpart in a letter Thursday that the dispute was worsening and harming their relations.

Agence France-Presse / 07-19-2008

Edited July 19, 2008 by sriracha john

[ChiangMaiAmerican]

Buddhist monks sit with Cambodian soldiers on a road leading to the Preah Vihear temple near Thai border. 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.

AFP

Note the rifle in the photo an obsolete crudely manufactured Chinese semi auto SKS. Unless the Cambodians are hiding something Thailand has much better hardware.

[sriracha john]

It's also important to remember Thaksin's hand in all of this from the timing from over two months ago revealing his plans. Including the time preceding the highway completion, when negotiations were being made for Thaksinville, he's been behind the scenes long before Thai nationalists of various persuasions and groups.

He's STILL using the Thai taxpayer for his own personal financial gain.... :D

First.... build the road at taxpayer's expense...

Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama cuts a large ribbon to mark the opening of Road 48 in Koh Kong while Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, left, and Thailand Deputy Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, right, look on. The road project was financed by the Thai government for 1 Billion Baht[.

Then use that new road to facilitate....

Thaksin 'wants to open Koh Kong casino'

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/15May2008_news05.php

[sriracha john]

Buddhist monks sit with Cambodian soldiers on a road leading to the Preah Vihear temple near Thai border. 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.

AFP

Note the rifle in the photo an obsolete crudely manufactured Chinese semi auto SKS. Unless the Cambodians are hiding something Thailand has much better hardware.

Yes, that was freely admitted to by a Cambodian official in an earlier post and that was why they were countering that aspect with trying to stay ahead of Thailand with double the number of troops.

Edited July 19, 2008 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

the Nationalist Samak ups the rhetoric and a timeline of real and documented events...

Thai Prime Minister Samak 'Note' sent to Khmer Prime Minister Hun Sen

BANGKOK, July 19 (TNA) - Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has invited Cambodian Ambassador Ung Sean to receive a letter from Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in response to the Khmer premier's July 17 diplomatic 'Note'.

On Friday (July 18), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited Mr. Ung Sean to receive Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's letter to Premier Hun Sen in reply to his July 17 Note.

Samak reaffirmed the Royal Thai Government's resolve to seek a just and peaceful solution to the situation in the area immediately adjacent to the Temple of Preah Vihear.

The Thai premier said he has instructed the Supreme Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces to lead Thai delegates to Monday's session of the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) in Sa Kaeo Province to discuss issues surrounding the situation with the Cambodian side in a spirit of friendship and cooperation.

Samak affirmed that the two countries should use every means to prevent escalation of the situation.

The Thai prime minister emphasised that the area of Keo Sikha Kiri Svara Pagoda mentioned in the Cambodian Prime Minister's Note is within Thai territory, and that the establishment of a Khmer community, including building a temple and homes, as well as stationing Cambodian military personnel in the area constitute a continued violation of Thailand's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Royal Thai Government has issued four written protests to Cambodia regarding this matter in 2004, 2005, 2007 and April 2008 respectively.

Meanwhile, the deployment by Cambodia of more than 1,000 troops, in addition to around 200 troops stationed there earlier, has caused the situation to deteriorate.

The Thai Prime Minister called on both sides to exercise restraint and hopes that the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission will accelerate its work to survey and demarcate the entire stretch of the Thai-Cambodian border so that similar problems would not arise in the future. In addition, pending completion of the JBC's work in this area, the Thai side is ready to jointly explore with Cambodia possible interim measures.

Later on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited the remaining eight ASEAN ambassadors to the ministry inform them of the situation and present copies of the July 17 Note to Thailand and Cambodia's ASEAN neighbours, the July 18 Note from Prime Minister Samak to his Cambodian counterpart, including attached copies of the four aide-memoires which Thailand had earlier sent to protest Cambodian actions, as well as copies of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Thailand and Cambodia on the Survey and Demarcation of Land Boundary dated June 4, 2000.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also circulated all of the said documents to other foreign missions in Bangkok.

The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the four protests by Thailand to Cambodia were made on the basis of Article 5 of the 2000 MOU, under which both sides agreed not to carry out any work resulting in changes of environment of the frontier zone, pending the survey and demarcation of the common land boundary.

However, to date, no action whatsoever has been undertaken by Cambodia to address Thailand's concerns, protests and requests.

*and long before PAD was even formed...*

The four Thai protests were made on Nov. 25, 2004 protesting expansion of the Cambodian community and building Cambodian government offices in the area; on March 8, 2005 to protest against Cambodian construction and road improvements from Komui Village, Chom Ksan District, Preah Vihear Province, to Preah Vihear temple; on May 17, 2007 to object to Cambodia's nomination for Preah Vihear temple to be inscribed on the World Heritage List and to Cambodia's "Décret Royal on Délimitation du site protégé du temple de Preah Vihear," which encroached into Thai territory.

On April 10 this year Thailand reiterated all three preceding protests and requested Cambodia's immediate withdrawal of its military and police forces stationed in the areas under overlapping territorial claims between Thailand and Cambodia.

The overall situation at Preah Vihear at present remains stable.

Edited July 19, 2008 by sriracha john

[sabaijai]

Are more people going to die in the name of religion. Sad, I don't think that's what the Lord Buddha had in mind.

Nothing to do with religion or the temple. Everything to do with the land it sits on.

Thailand should have joined Cambodia in the quest for naming it a heritage site and thus share in the prosperity it can bring to all manner of both Thai and cambodian people , ancient history should be buried along with the axe that is too often wielded in the name of patrionism .

It's not just nationalism. It's not just patriotism. And it's not just a pile of rocks. The bluff is considered strategic, and the Thai leadership feared that a joint application would have inferred joint sovereignty of the territory. But what happened was worse, the unilateral application was approved, and that will encourage a Cambodian sense of sovereignty. That's in spite of the fact that Unesco's explicit World Heritage literature claims the status does not imply sovereignty.

The Thais threw the dice on that one, presuming UNESCO would say no. They lost the throw. Now they're trying to remind everyone that the bluff the temple sits upon belongs to Thailand. All the chest-thumping going on around it on both sides started as a sideshow that is quickly gathering a life of its own. If would have been better if Unesco had consulted the Thais before consenting to the Cambodian application. They were under no obligation to do so (I assume), but it would have been the prudent thing to do, at any rate, for any historic site straddling national borders, and might have avoided this confrontation.

It looks like we're about to see another Rom Klao.

[sriracha john]

So Thaksin's financing of Cambodia with a billion baht of Thai taxpayers money to fund the road then the billions of baht he had

scammed earlier, also from Thai taxpayers again, to build his personally-owned casinos...in turn funds the Cambodian Army to upgrade its weapons in order to be more effective and deadly fighters against its current foe which is............

nice trail...

Edited July 19, 2008 by sriracha john

[MekongCombat]

Buddhist monks sit with Cambodian soldiers on a road leading to the Preah Vihear temple near Thai border. 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.

AFP

Note the rifle in the photo an obsolete crudely manufactured Chinese semi auto SKS. Unless the Cambodians are hiding something Thailand has much better hardware.

That SKS is a fine piece of war weaponry, don't get caught up in the hype about superior small arms only being made in America and Germany. A crappy old SKS will out shoot a crappy old M16 or Variant for an extra 10,000 rounds or twenty to fifty years depending if it gets a little WD 40 on it every five years or so. The rest of the story is the RPG being carried right behind the monk, they tend to get the job done.

Certainly I feel for the Thai soldiers on the ground as they are just viewed as canon fodder by the guys in suits who make the political deals but that's always the game. I highly doubt anyone in any position of authority has the resolve to send Thai troops into Cambodian held lands whatever the dispute is to not only take but to hold ground if bullets fly and I suspect that the Khmer's have much more reason than the Thais to go all national and lose five or ten thousand men to small arms fire on the border. This is just another big wait-n-see as I doubt anyone has much of a plan nor any link of communication that wont be denied if this gets nasty with bullets and blood.

[Old Man River]

Many of the Democrats have their hearts in the right places - unfortunately, even these people are cut from the same family guanxi/bureacratic nepotism cronyist class. If you don't like PPP/TRT (which I don't like either, but which are the only ones who ever threw a bone to the 80% of the population - i.e. the poor), then you are stuck with the cronyist, yellow flag waving bloodsucking Democrats. Wow - what a choice!

I applaud the TRT in being open about how to to generate mass votes in Thailand. Thaksin didn't hide things, he openly showed others what it takes and we should give him credit for it. The Democrats, on the other hand, made the mistake of camouflaging their handouts in things like road building and similar construction projects. The poor completely missed the point. They got the point when the TRT instituted its populist policies and handed over the money to them directly instead of making them work for it. What a novel approach. Well done!

Someone asked why I continue to support the Democrats when it is obvious that the TRT/PPP are the most popular choice. My reason boils down to fiscal responsibility. All of these giveaways cost money and sooner or later it has to be repaid. When the country ultimately has financial difficulties, the Democrats or those with similar economic ideologies are called on to bail Thailand out of its economic problems. This means that good people such as Anand Panyarachun or similar, like minding professionals from the Democratic party are called on to step in and bail Thailand out.

To me, it would be so much easier to have a government in power that understands economics and fiscal responsibility right from the outset, instead of relying on a medical doctor and a public relations guru to manage the country's economy. This is an accident waiting to happen and guess what, it is happening. But don't worry, the Democrats are still there as a safety and this is why I support the Democrats. I support the safety net.

[ChiangMaiAmerican]

Buddhist monks sit with Cambodian soldiers on a road leading to the Preah Vihear temple near Thai border. 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.

AFP

Note the rifle in the photo an obsolete crudely manufactured Chinese semi auto SKS. Unless the Cambodians are hiding something Thailand has much better hardware.

That SKS is a fine piece of war weaponry, don't get caught up in the hype about superior small arms only being made in America and Germany. A crappy old SKS will out shoot a crappy old M16 or Variant for an extra 10,000 rounds or twenty to fifty years depending if it gets a little WD 40 on it every five years or so. The rest of the story is the RPG being carried right behind the monk, they tend to get the job done.

Certainly I feel for the Thai soldiers on the ground as they are just viewed as canon fodder by the guys in suits who make the political deals but that's always the game. I highly doubt anyone in any position of authority has the resolve to send Thai troops into Cambodian held lands whatever the dispute is to not only take but to hold ground if bullets fly and I suspect that the Khmer's have much more reason than the Thais to go all national and lose five or ten thousand men to small arms fire on the border. This is just another big wait-n-see as I doubt anyone has much of a plan nor any link of communication that wont be denied if this gets nasty with bullets and blood.

I own an SKS in the US. SKS-10 round fixed magazine vs 20, 30 round removable clip. Fire 10 rounds and you have to reload the internal magazine from the top with a stipper clip. A lot can happen in the time it takes to reload. SKS-semi auto vs select fire. There are good reasons why no modern army in the world currently uses fixed magazines. There are time when the ability to fire bursts is useful. Anotherr issue Chinese made (my point) vs Russian made. The one I own is Russian. The Chinese variant is crudely built compared to the Russian. Chinese variants are known to have more frequent mechanical problems particularly with springs and the trigger group than their Russian and Eastern European counterparts. The SKS has been obsolete since the 1970s. Neither the Chinese nor the Russians still use them. Ditto for the RPG shown in the photo. With the exception of the RPG 29, an RPG is largely useless against modern armor though they might be good for light armor or as a anitpersonel weapon. For whatever reason Cambodia does not appear to have kept up with her neighbors in terms of armament. If the weapons pictured reflect current armament in the Cambodian army Thailand definately holds the upper hand.

[hammered]

Buddhist monks sit with Cambodian soldiers on a road leading to the Preah Vihear temple near Thai border. 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.

AFP

Note the rifle in the photo an obsolete crudely manufactured Chinese semi auto SKS. Unless the Cambodians are hiding something Thailand has much better hardware.

That SKS is a fine piece of war weaponry, don't get caught up in the hype about superior small arms only being made in America and Germany. A crappy old SKS will out shoot a crappy old M16 or Variant for an extra 10,000 rounds or twenty to fifty years depending if it gets a little WD 40 on it every five years or so. The rest of the story is the RPG being carried right behind the monk, they tend to get the job done.

Certainly I feel for the Thai soldiers on the ground as they are just viewed as canon fodder by the guys in suits who make the political deals but that's always the game. I highly doubt anyone in any position of authority has the resolve to send Thai troops into Cambodian held lands whatever the dispute is to not only take but to hold ground if bullets fly and I suspect that the Khmer's have much more reason than the Thais to go all national and lose five or ten thousand men to small arms fire on the border. This is just another big wait-n-see as I doubt anyone has much of a plan nor any link of communication that wont be denied if this gets nasty with bullets and blood.

I own an SKS in the US. SKS-10 round fixed magazine vs 20, 30 round removable clip. Fire 10 rounds and you have to reload the internal magazine from the top with a stipper clip. A lot can happen in the time it takes to reload. SKS-semi auto vs select fire. There are good reasons why no modern army in the world currently uses fixed magazines. There are time when the ability to fire bursts is useful. Anotherr issue Chinese made (my point) vs Russian made. The one I own is Russian. The Chinese variant is crudely built compared to the Russian. Chinese variants are known to have more frequent mechanical problems particularly with springs and the trigger group than their Russian and Eastern European counterparts. The SKS has been obsolete since the 1970s. Neither the Chinese nor the Russians still use them. Ditto for the RPG shown in the photo. With the exception of the RPG 29, an RPG is largely useless against modern armor though they might be good for light armor or as a anitpersonel weapon. For whatever reason Cambodia does not appear to have kept up with her neighbors in terms of armament. If the weapons pictured reflect current armament in the Cambodian army Thailand definately holds the upper hand.

Cambodia probably has better things to spend its very limited amounts of money on than weaponary.

[sriracha john]

So Thaksin's financing of Cambodia with a billion baht of Thai taxpayers money to fund the road then the billions of baht he had

scammed earlier, also from Thai taxpayers again, to build his personally-owned casinos...in turn funds the Cambodian Army to upgrade its weapons in order to be more effective and deadly fighters against its current foe which is............ a nice conspiracy theory, fits right in along 'flat earth society' and 'chemtrail'

nice trail...

What part of it is not factual?

Cambodia did not get a highway given to them by Thai taxpayers and opened by Thaksin's lawyer Noppadope?

Thaksin is not attempting to procure casinos in Cambodia?

The money from both deals does not go to the Cambodian Treasury?

The Cambodian Army is not funded through the Cambodian Treasury?

Cambodian weapons would not be upgraded with extra funds available to the Treasury?

The Cambodian Army would not use weapons against a foe?

New weapons are not deadly?

nice empty trail for your contention....

Edited July 19, 2008 by sriracha john

[Meerkat]

This "building Cambodia's road with Thai taxpayers money" canard keeps coming up, so let's have a look at a few facts.

The road improvement was an ASEAN initiative (part of ASEAN Highway 123 - the "Southern Economic Corridor"), and that initiative itself is part of the UN Asian Highway Project, founded in 1959, but which only started to really gain traction after 1999. The road was not just an isolated Thai-Cambodia project.

Funding for the ASEAN roads in poorer countries comes in the form of soft loans or grants from either neighbouring countries or supranationals (institutions like the Asian Development Bank). In Cambodia's case it has received funding for infrastructure projects from various countries in the region, a comprehensive list is here. The aid from Thailand in that case was mostly as a soft loan (300m grant, 870m baht loan), so the whole "1 billion baht giveaway" is not strictly true. It is hardly surprising either that funding for this stretch of road came from Thailand - ASEAN highlights improved transportation links for Thai exports from an improved Route 123. In the list you can also see for instance that Vietnam is providing aid for a stretch of road that similarly goes from Cambodia to the Viet border. Perhaps they've got a casino at the end of that one too...

By the way one of the final pieces of legislation of the Surayud junta in January was for the recommendation for - what a coincidence - another chunk of aid (USD 41m or around THB 1.3bn) for yet another road in Cambodia to link it to the Thai border. No doubt there'll be a military casino at the end of that one. Hmm...or maybe that's just a part of the ASEAN "East-West Economic Corridor" instead.

I don't discount that Thaksin and pals may have been involved in various felonies, but to automatically assume that Thai taxpayers have been used solely for his benefit in this case (especially in light of the context above) is tinfoil hat territory. I guess though that if you repeat an accusation often enough, it becomes the truth in the eyes of many.

[sriracha john]

PM: It is Cambodian troops who invade our soil

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej insisted on Friday that the Thai troops can be stationed at Keo Sikha Kiri Svara Pagoda because it is on Thai soil.

In his reply letter to his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen, Samak stressed that presence of the Cambodian troops at the area instead violated the Thai territory.

Samak reminded Hun Sen, "the establishment of the Cambodian community, including construction of a temple and houses, and the presence of the Cambodian military personnel in the area constitute a continued violation of Thai sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Hun Sen said in his letter sent to Samak on Thursday that Thai troops deployed to the pagoda's area should be immediately withdrawn as the area is in the Cambodian soil.

The Thai government has issued four written protests to the Cambodian side regarding this matter in 2004, 2005, 2007 and April 2008 respectively.

Meanwhile, the deployment by Cambodia of more than 1,000 troops, in addition to around 200 troops stationed there earlier, has caused the situation to deteriorate, Samak said in his letter.

Prime Minister Samak called on both sides to exercise restraint and hoped that the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission will accelerate its work to survey and demarcate the entire stretch of the Thai-Cambodian border so that similar problems would not arise in the future.

In addition, pending completion of the JBC's work in this area, the Thai side was ready to jointly explore with Cambodia possible interim measures, he said.

To avoid military action, Prime Minister Samak who is also the Defense Minister assigned Supreme Commander General Boonsarng Niumpradit to lead Thai delegation to a special session of General Border Committee (GBC) in Sa Kaew Monday.

Later on Friday, the Foreign Ministry invited the eight other ASEAN Ambassadors to the ministry and informed them of the situation between Thailand and Cambodia, which are Asean members.

They were also given copies of the letter dated July 17, 2008 from Hun Sen to Samak and the latter's note dated July 18,2008 to his Cambodian counterpart.

Other documents attached included the attached copies of the four Aide-Memoires which Thailand sent to protest Cambodia, and copies of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries on the Survey and Demarcation of Land Boundary dated 4 June 2000.

The ministry has also circulated all of those documents to other foreign missions in Bangkok.

Meanwhile Thai Foreign Ministry's Spokesman Tharit Charungvat explained that the four protests by Thailand to Cambodia were made on the basis of Article 5 of the 2000 MOU, under which both sides agree not to carry out any work resulting in changes of environment of the frontier zone, pending the survey and demarcation of the common land boundary.

However, to date, no action whatsoever has been undertaken by Cambodia to address Thailand's concerns, protests and requests.

- The Nation

Edited July 19, 2008 by sriracha john

[Nampeung]

It's like Northern Ireland

[sriracha john]

More troops, rhetoric in Thai-Cambodia temple row

KANTARALAK, Thailand (Reuters) - Thailand and Cambodia sent troops and heavy guns on Saturday to their disputed border, where hundreds of soldiers faced off for a fifth day over an ancient Hindu temple.

Despite the military build-up, both sides said they were willing to negotiate an end to the stand-off at the Preah Vihear temple, which has raised investor fears of a major confrontation.

The diplomatic sparring between Bangkok and Phnom Penh has intensified ahead of high-level talks on Monday involving the two countries' defense ministers.

Thailand summoned Cambodia's ambassador on Friday to respond to Prime Minister Hun Sen's charge that Thai troops had "encroached on our territory" and the situation was "worsening".

In a letter to Hun Sen, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said Cambodian troops and buildings on the disputed 4.6 sq km (1.8 sq mile) area were a "violation of Thailand's sovereignty and territorial integrity".

But he added his government was "resolved to seek a just and peaceful solution to the situation".

The temple, perched on a jungle-clad escarpment that forms a natural boundary, has been a source of tension since the International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that it belonged to Cambodia, a decision that still rankles Thais.

Thailand's main stock index has fallen more than 23 percent since anti-government street protests in Bangkok started in late May, and could drop further if border tensions get worse, analysts said.

In Cambodia, Preah Vihear has become a key issue in the run-up to next Sunday's general election as Hun Sen's ruling party and the opposition jockey for votes by stoking nationalist fervor.

"They should focus on issues like fighting poverty and corruption instead of using Preah Vihear for their political interests," said Kek Galabru, head of the LICAHDO rights group.

Lieutenant General Sujit Sitthiprapha, commander of Thailand's Second Army, said more troops were sent to the border after Cambodia reinforced its forces at the temple.

A Reuters witness saw a convoy of eight Thai army trucks ferrying several hundred soldiers armed with M-16 rifles to the border. In another convoy, trucks were towing heavy artillery guns.

"If things escalate, we can use those troops right away," Sujit said, although he added the soldiers at the temple "were still talking to each other".

Thailand estimates it is facing 1,200 Cambodian troops in and around the temple, although Phnom Penh disputes that figure.

Chea Mon, Cambodia's military commander at Preah Vihear, said the situation was calm at the temple where his men faced about 400 Thai soldiers.

[jumnien]

This little border dispute will probably not draw precious Thai military resources from the greater Bangkok area, the real battle zone!

[sgtpeppers]

This little border dispute will probably not draw precious Thai military resources from the greater Bangkok area, the real battle zone!

yes, the military should focus their efforts on getting rid of the Cambodian loyalists in Parliament ! non violently of course.

the scum for causing this mess in the first place !

or should I say Thaksin....

[jumnien]

This little border dispute will probably not draw precious Thai military resources from the greater Bangkok area, the real battle zone!

yes, the military should focus their efforts on getting rid of the Cambodian loyalists in Parliament ! non violently of course.

the scum for causing this mess in the first place !

or should I say Thaksin....

For a Thai ultra-nationalist your command of the English language is excellent, Mr. Sondhi!

[Pierrot]

So Thaksin's financing of Cambodia with a billion baht of Thai taxpayers money to fund the road then the billions of baht he had

scammed earlier, also from Thai taxpayers again, to build his personally-owned casinos...in turn funds the Cambodian Army to upgrade its weapons in order to be more effective and deadly fighters against its current foe which is............ a nice conspiracy theory, fits right in along 'flat earth society' and 'chemtrail'

nice trail...

What part of it is not factual?

Cambodia did not get a highway given to them by Thai taxpayers and opened by Thaksin's lawyer Noppadope?

Thaksin is not attempting to procure casinos in Cambodia?

The money from both deals does not go to the Cambodian Treasury?

The Cambodian Army is not funded through the Cambodian Treasury?

Cambodian weapons would not be upgraded with extra funds available to the Treasury?

The Cambodian Army would not use weapons against a foe?

New weapons are not deadly?

nice empty trail for your contention....

Logic, logic ...

All cats are mortal

Socrates is mortal

Therefore Socrates is a cat ...

[sgtpeppers]

This little border dispute will probably not draw precious Thai military resources from the greater Bangkok area, the real battle zone!

yes, the military should focus their efforts on getting rid of the Cambodian loyalists in Parliament ! non violently of course.

the scum for causing this mess in the first place !

or should I say Thaksin....

For a Thai ultra-nationalist your command of the English language is excellent, Mr. Sondhi!

quite frankly your disrespect for the Royal Thai Military (in many of your posts) I find offensive.

Show some respect, son.

[samran]

"Be happy - Be poor" seems to be their message. Meanwhile the rest of their cronys will be spending their "tax savings" at Paragon tomorrow. The craven little pouting daughter brigade spending some of bureaucrat-daddy's ill-gotten booty.

I'll show you one or ten TRT daughters and sons who I've worked with who have that opinion too. The Dems aren't a party of virtuous people by any means, but those who flock to TRT who I've had the pleasure of associating with couldn't give two rats about the poor by a factor of ten compared to the Dems, unless they happen to be on the cover of Tattler magazine pretending to be good honest hi-so's, or it involves handing out blankets during the cold season with a bunch of other hi-so's.

Comments heard from the mouth of babes of the TRT clan (who know Thaksin on a personal basis) include:

- "Hi Samran, like my new Benz, my dad bought it for me..." (TRT bigwig dad had just been found guilty of asset concealment)

- "Of course with higher food prices (bought about by ethanol production) poor people are going to starve, but thats the way these things go"

- or "poor people aren't ready yet to be parliamentarians" (in disagreement that all thais - not only the ones with university degrees should be allowed to run for parliament)

I've also seen children of their cronies running money losing stores in BKK in an attempt to launder their parents ill-gotten gains. Or they just keep it offshore...

Old man river has hit in on the head - the Dems are a viticim of their own bad publicity and their high fullutin policy solutions designed to bring about both fiscal discipline in a framework of social democracy, which simply don't sell as easily to the masses (here or anywhere else in the world). Thaksin had the right idea in a few areas, and I applaud him for that too. The ground now is set though for someone else to come and take his mantle. He has awaoken the populous their electoral strength - and that is ultimately a good thing...

[sriracha john]

Thai soldiers sit in a truck towing a 105mm artillery gun in a convoy heading to reinforce soldiers at a camp along the Thai-Cambodian border July 19, 2008. Thailand and Cambodia sent troops and heavy guns on Saturday to their disputed border, where hundreds of soldiers faced off for a fifth day over the Preah Vihear temple.

REUTERS

[philstone]

36 minutes ago from Associated Press

Thai Troops Enter Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian official says about 40 Thai troops have entered Cambodian territory as tension escalates over disputed land around an ancient temple.

Hang Soth, who heads an agency responsible for the monument, says the troops entered Cambodian territory Tuesday near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple.

The claimed intrusion follows the arrest by Cambodia of three Thai citizens who crossed the frontier near the temple, which was recently awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO.

Thailand, which had no immediate comment on the alleged incursion, claims some of the territory near Preah Vihear.

Hang Soth says that Cambodian troops have been ordered to be on alert but not to be the first to fire.

Is their any truth what my wife told me she heard that is Farangs with Thai children shall be drafted. She that they have all the benefits with out fighting for the country.

[sriracha john]

After the artillery moves in, its time for...

Cambodia asks for UN help in Thai border stand-off: Thailand

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (AFP) - Cambodia has asked the United Nations to intervene in its border dispute with Thailand, a Thai official said on Saturday, the fifth day of a tense stand-off between the neighbours.

More than 600 Thai troops and well over 1,000 Cambodian soldiers are stationed around a small Buddhist pagoda on the slope of a mountain leading to the ruins of an ancient temple at the centre of the territorial dispute.

"The Thai ambassador to the UN has reported to the Thai government that Cambodia has filed a complaint with the UN over the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia," Thai government spokesman Wichianchote Sukchotrat told AFP.

He said Cambodia wanted the UN to intervene and the Thai government would study the complaint before sending a letter to UN officials.

Military commanders from both sides said they were seeking to calm the soldiers to ensure that violence does not erupt ahead of peace talks planned for Monday.

US, Chinese, French and Vietnamese embassy staff flew to the disputed territory on Saturday, adding to diplomatic pressure to end the confrontation.

They toured the area and took photographs but did not speak to either side and declined to talk to reporters.

"They came here because they don't want to see a confrontation between the troops of both countries. It is useless for both countries if any armed conflict happens," Sao Sokha, commander of Cambodia's military police said of the officials.

Cambodian and Thai top brass briefly met in the small Buddhist pagoda at the centre of the stand-off Saturday morning to discuss disarming troops stationed there.

"The order from the top is to do whatever it takes to avoid a gunfight. I was talking with him (Thai army Colonel Chay Huay Soongnern) to tell him that the armed forces on the front lines should stash their weapons away," said Srey Dik, Cambodian army commander overseeing operations.

The standoff nearly erupted into violence late Thursday, when witnesses said troops twice pointed their guns at each other.

Dozens more black-clad Thai troops were observed crossing into the border area during the day, carrying food along with their rifles.

Cambodian military officials said more than 100 additional Thai troops arrived Saturday, but refused to say how many Cambodian forces had been added to the standoff.

A heavy machine gun could be seen just beyond the border gate on the Thai side earlier Saturday, while a heavy gun faced Thai troops from the Cambodian side.

Cambodian troops, who have been banned from drinking wine to avoid any shooting , are positioned around the area and also stationed with Thais inside the pagoda, which sits on the slope of a mountain leading to the ruins of the 11th century Preah Vihear temple.

The Cambodian commander reiterated his country's claim to own the border territory, including the ancient temple site, and said other countries supported it.

"They recognise the facts. The truth is that Cambodia is the owner of the land here according to the 1904 French-Siam map," he said.

The mood among Cambodians worsened Friday evening when they got word of a letter from Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen saying the addition of Cambodian troops had caused the situation to "deteriorate".

[sriracha john]

- "Hi Samran, like my new Benz, my dad bought it for me..." (TRT bigwig dad had just been found guilty of asset concealment)

hmmm... if there just weren't so many of them falling into this category, it'd be possible to identify the daughter... as it is, it's impossible with the information provided...