Hun Sen Ready To Discuss Preah Vihear With Abhisit

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PHRA VIHARN DISPUTE

Hun Sen ready to discuss Preah Vihear with Abhisit

By Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The door to resolving the border conflict over the Preah Vihear Temple should be open on both sides as Hun Sen and Abhisit Vejjajiva look for opportunities to meet in October, while Bangkok continues telling Asean not to intervene.

Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Asean chief Surin Pitsuwan met Hun Sen on Monday and encouraged him to meet his Thai counterpart on the sidelines of the AsiaEurope Meeting in Brussels in October.

"Samdech [Hun Sen] stressed that he would agree to this meeting if Abhisit did, though so far there has been no confirmation that the meeting between the two will be held," Koy Kuong was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying yesterday.

Cambodia raised the Preah Vihear issue with the United Nations and even called on the Asean grouping to lend a hand if all bilateral means failed.

Thailand, however, told Asean that it was quite capable of resolving the Preah Vihear dispute through bilateral discussions, and did not need help from a third party.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya wrote to his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Gia Khiem, clarifying Thailand's position in response to Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong's recent letter seeking assistance from Asean. Vietnam is currently the chairman of the regional grouping.

"It is our goal to resolve this issue peacefully and in good faith, through bilateral channels in accordance with existing bilateral agreements and international law," Kasit said in his letter.

Despite perceptions of tension, communications between Thailand and Cambodia continue unabated through various channels and mechanisms. Both countries are still cooperating on a wide range of issues at all levels, be they bilateral, subregional or regional and people on both sides of the border continue with their normal crossborder activities.

Kasit said bilateral mechanisms to settle the problem were still working as his government has already resubmitted the minutes of three meetings of the joint boundary committee (JBC) for parliamentary consideration.

The documents have not yet been added to the Parliament agenda due to protests staged by the yellowshirt nationalists on Tuesday. The group is calling on Abhisit's government to scrap the landboundary settlement deal signed with Cambodia in 2000 because it entails territory loss.

However, this should not be seen as an intention to delay the consideration of JBC's work, because the Thai constitution guarantees and protects the rights of individuals to have different opinions, Kasit said in his letter.

-- The Nation 2010-08-21