Abhisit Explains Thai Position In Call To United Nation Boss

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Abhisit explains Thai position in call to United Nation boss

By Piyanart Srivalo

The Nation

Thailand all for bilateral mechanisms, as Security Council calls for ceasefire

Cambodia's plan to turn the border conflict into an international issue came true when Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rushed to call United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon yesterday to explain Thailand's position after the UN Security Council said the matter needed to be discussed.

"Members of the council have expressed great concern at the aggravation of the tension on the border," said Brazilian Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, who is president of the Security Council for this month. "They have expressed their willingness to hold a Security Council meeting.

"They are calling for a ceasefire and urging all parties to resolve the situation peacefully," she said of the clashes, which have claimed seven lives and displaced thousands.

"They expressed support for mediation by the chair of Asean - the foreign minister of Indonesia," she added.

Thailand and Cambodia started their diplomatic game after skirmishes broke out in the border area near the Preah Vihear Temple on Friday. Phnom Penh wants a third party to intervene, while Bangkok wants to settle the conflict bilaterally.

Abhisit said Thailand did not believe it was necessary to take the issue to an international forum. "But if Cambodia really manages to put it on the agenda, we are ready to fight in those forums," he told reporters, adding that at the moment Asean was backing Thailand in its plan to use bilateral mechanisms.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa met with his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya yesterday and with Cambodia's Hor Namhong in Phnom Penh on Monday. He said the Asean grouping as well as the international community would back both countries if they wanted to use bilateral talks to solve the problem.

Kasit, meanwhile, said the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Committee would meet at the end of this month to push forward the border demarcation, notably in disputed areas adjacent to Preah Vihear. The temple has been at the core of conflicts between the two countries since last century. Things heated up again when it was named a World Heritage Site in 2008, and Thailand tried to derail it on grounds that its surrounding areas were still under dispute.

Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, meanwhile, told the Cabinet yesterday that the clashes were instigated by Cambodian troops, who fired at villagers along the border. He suggested that Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti use this as a way to sabotage the World Heritage designation.

Suwit is expected to head a Thai delegation to the annual World Heritage Committee meeting midyear. The committee will consider the Preah Vihear management plan submitted by Cambodia at the meeting.

Cambodia, meanwhile, has told Unesco and the World Heritage Committee that shelling from the Thai side has damaged the temple. The UN agency is sending an urgent mission to examine the alleged damage, Unesco chief Irina Bokova said in a statement yesterday.

Meanwhile, the border area was relatively calm yesterday even though troops on both sides remained in the disputed area.

Prawit told the Cabinet that Cambodia was unlikely to exacerbate the situation because it did not have a strong military. "Cambodia's air force is not powerful, and I warned my counterpart Tea Banh that we would fly jet fighters if they did not stop," Prawit was quoted as saying.

-- The Nation 2011-02-09

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UN chief seeks to end Thai-Cambodia border clashes

UNITED NATIONS, February 9, 2011 (AFP) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke with the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia on Tuesday on ending their border conflict and said he again offered UN help to negotiate a deal.

At least eight people have been killed in four days of cross-border shelling which the two neighbors have blamed on each other.

With a lull in fighting since early Monday, the UN Security Council has held back from formal talks on the clashes to give time to an Indonesian mediation bid, diplomats said.

The UN chief told reporters that he had spoken by telephone with Cambodia's Premier Hun Sen and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva about the renewed clashes around the ancient temple of Preah Vihear.

Ban said he urged both "to end violence, to exercise restraint, and find a lasting solution to the dispute through established mechanisms and arrangements. The United Nations remains at their disposal to assist."

Hun Sen has called for a UN buffer force to be put on the border and for an urgent Security Council meeting on the clashes, which have left five Cambodians and three Thais dead.

In a letter sent to the United Nations on Monday, Hun Sen accused Thailand of launching "a full scale armed aggression against Cambodia, using heavy sophisticated weapons," according to a copy seen by AFP.

The Cambodian leader said that some of the Thai artillery shells "have landed as far as approximately 20 kilometers (13 miles) inside Cambodian territory," added the letter.

Hun Sen called the shelling "extremely grave aggressions by Thailand" to justify his demand for an urgent Security Council meeting.

Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said in his letter to the United Nations that Cambodia had set off the hostilities on Friday afternoon -- hours after he had held talks in the region with his Cambodian counterpart.

"On February 4, 2011 at 15:20 hours, Cambodian troops opened fire at a Thai military post at Phu Ma Khua in Thai territory, using heavy weapons such as mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, recoilless rifles, long range artillery and multi-launcher rockets," said the minister.

He added that on top of the deaths and about 13 wounded Thai, some 6,000 people had fled their villages on the Thai side of the border.

"While Thailand has always exercised maximum restraint, Thai soldiers had no choice but to exercise the inherent right of self-defence" under the UN charter, the minister added in the letter, which was also released to AFP.

"Thailand protests in the strongest terms against such repeated and unprovoked armed attacks by Cambodian troops, which constitutes an act of aggression," said the letter.

The Thai minister said the two sides were "engaging in close consultations" to end the dispute.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-02-09

[Robby nz]

Got to say I have suspicions about Cambodian claims.

I see photos of destruction of a thai school, wat and houses but no photos of similar destruction in Cambodia.

I am sure if it existed, like the damage claimed to the temple, it would be all over the web and other media.

I read a report somewhere (dont remember where) from a Vietnamese journalist who had been at the temple that there was only some masonary chips from small arms fire.

I suspect he is as indipendant as we could get, after all the Cambodian media is firmly under the thumb of their dictator and will only print what he tells them, allows.

All in all I find the Thai version of events more believable than the Cambodian.

We also have the spector of a former advisor who has I think the most to gain from anything that would destabalise the Thai Govt.

[mca]

Prawit told the Cabinet that Cambodia was unlikely to exacerbate the situation because it did not have a strong military. "Cambodia's air force is not powerful, and I warned my counterpart Tea Banh that we would fly jet fighters if they did not stop," Prawit was quoted as saying.

Good to see him doing his part in not inflaming the situation hopefully leading to bilateral negotiations.

[webfact]

BORDER CLASHES

UN Security Council Agrees To Meet On Feb 14 On Thai-Cambodian Border Disputes

Follow this link:

[Losangels]

Prawit told the Cabinet that Cambodia was unlikely to exacerbate the situation because it did not have a strong military. "Cambodia's air force is not powerful, and I warned my counterpart Tea Banh that we would fly jet fighters if they did not stop," Prawit was quoted as saying.

Good to see him doing his part in not inflaming the situation hopefully leading to bilateral negotiations.

With comments like this from Prawit, we won't see the end of the conflict anytime soon.

[SomTumTiger]

Prawit told the Cabinet that Cambodia was unlikely to exacerbate the situation because it did not have a strong military. "Cambodia's air force is not powerful, and I warned my counterpart Tea Banh that we would fly jet fighters if they did not stop," Prawit was quoted as saying.

Good to see him doing his part in not inflaming the situation hopefully leading to bilateral negotiations.

Agreed MCA - Prawit is a dink