Thai Fm Denies Wanting Asean Involvement

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PREAH VIHEAR CONFLICT

Thai FM denies wanting Asean involvement

By Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation

Published on October 13, 2009

Preah Vihear Temple

Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said yesterday he would seek help from Asean countries to resolve the dispute with Thailand over the Preah Vihear temple during the Asean Summit late this month in Hua Hin/Cha-am.

He said he agreed with his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya to seek Asean approval for the establishment of a neutral mechanism to solve disputes among member countries.

However the Thai Foreign Ministry's deputy spokesman Thani Thongpakdi has denied Kasit ever proposed an Asean dispute settlement mechanism to solve the conflict over Preah Vihear.

The minister might have been quoted out of context in media reports, he said. The Thai government had reaffirmed its position that the border dispute must be solved bilaterally through the joint boundary commission.

Meanwhile, Thailand's chief of the joint boundary commission has warned political groups in the Kingdom not to politicise the border issue for their benefit, since it could jeopardise the boundary demarcation with Cambodia.

"The border issue is very sensitive. It could be a powerful political tool if used for political purposes," said Vasin Teeravechyan Co-chair of the Thai-Cambodia Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC).

"It is dangerous to politicise the issue for personal interests," he told a seminar at the Foreign Ministry yesterday.

The JBC was set up under a memorandum of understanding signed by Thailand and Cambodia in 2000 to demarcate the temple boundary. The disputed area is located near the Hindu temple where both sides claim the overlapping territory of 4.6 squares kilometres.

The issue has been politicised recently by the People's Alliance for Democracy and its New Politics Party to gain support from nationalists to attack the government.

The group alleged the JBC had cut a deal with Cambodia on provisional arrangements for the disputed area adjacent to the temple, and accepted a Cambodian map.

In fact, Vasin said, the JBC merely proposed Parliament's approval on three minutes from the JBC meetings, and a note on what the JBC had talked about that was neither a commitment nor an agreement.

The three minutes are pending Parliament's approval to enable the commission to move on.

Vasin said a map drawn originally by France was one of many documents included in the boundary negotiation. "Whether we like it or not, we cannot rule out the role of the map," he said.

-- The Nation 2009/10/13

[animatic]

He said, she said, the katoey said.

Just more word jockeying. Apropos of nothing.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Asean will do absolutely nothing.

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UPDATE

PREAH VIHEAR TEMPLE

Dispute unlikely to be talked at Asean summit

By The Nation

Asean chief Surin Pitsuwan said Wednesday he did not believe that Cambodia will raise the border conflict with its neighbour Thailand at the upcoming Asean summit in Cha-am and Hua Hin districts this month.

"I known the Cambodian stance only from news report. I think that the border spat is the issue between the two countries which can be agreed at bilateral talks," Surin said.

"It should not be raised in the Asean Summit."

Surin was responding to news reports which quoted Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong as saying Khmer PM Hun Sen will raise the Thai border spat at an upcoming regional summit despite opposition from Thailand, which is hosting the meeting.

Hor Namhong said, "Because there is no answer from Thailand to my official proposal, Cambodia still considers that Prime Minister Hun Sen can raise the dispute in the Asean summit."

He said that Cambodia is willing to raise the issue in other international bodies, including the United Nations Security Council, and accused Thailand of delaying the resolution of the dispute.

Thailand will host the summit between October 23 and 25 in Phetchaburi's Cha-am district and Prachuab Khiri Khan's Hua Hin district.

Surin, a former Thai foreign minister, said if any country member felt that the Thai-Cambodian border dispute affected Asean's image, the foreign ministers from other eight country members (except from Thailand and Cambodia) can raise the issue for discussion at the regional pact meeting.

Surin said he was not worried that the summit will be overshadowed by the Thailand-Cambodia conflict, saying that Asean members were mature and willing to solve problems.

He said if anyone of either party raised this topic at the meeting, it will be a good opportunity to help find appropriate solutions to the conflict.

Thai Foreign Ministry has insisted that the dispute should not be internationalised or raised at the regional pact meeting and Thailand will continue to seek a peaceful solution with Cambodia via a bilateral mechanism.

-- The Nation 2009/10/14