Thailand Agrees To Send Representative To JBC Meeting

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Thailand agrees to send representative to JBC meeting

By Nuntida Puangthong,

Piyanart Srivalo

The Nation

Asda Jayanama, chief of the Thailand-Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission (JBC), will be representing Thailand at the JBC meeting in Indonesia later this week, though it is unlikely that the leader of the General Border Commission (GBC) will go.

Asda will attend the meeting in Bogor on Thursday and Friday, even though the Parliament is refusing to consider minutes of the previous JBC meetings, secretary to the foreign minister, Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, said.

The JBC, which oversees land demarcation between Thailand and Cambodia, faced controversy when the parliament hesitated to consider the minutes of its previous three meetings. The lawmakers are still unclear on whether the minutes need to be passed before JBC meets again, while the Constitution Court refused last week to rule on the need of the Parliament to approve such documents. The issue is still pending.

To avoid legal consequences, no documents will be signed at the upcoming meeting, Chavanond said, adding that the officials would only review progress of the previous work and focus on topics that do not involve changes to the boundary. Basically, the meeting would discuss which agency should be put in charge of taking aerial photographs for boundary survey and demarcation, he said.

As Asean chair, Indonesia facilitated meetings between Thailand and Cambodia after a border skirmish in February claimed several lives on both sides. Asean has been planning to dispatch Indonesian observers to the disputed areas adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple, but the plan has not materialised yet because the Thai military is reluctant to let them in.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that Thailand would not discuss the observation plans in the upcoming meeting. The issue would first have to be discussed among various concerned agencies, including the Foreign and Defence ministries, he said.

At a meeting yesterday, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Abhisit that he - as co-chair of the GBC - would not attend the meeting in Indonesia because talks on the issue should be held in Cambodia or Thailand, not a third country.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said last week that his country was ready to attend both JBC and GBC meetings in Indonesia though Thailand was sending mixed signals.

-- The Nation 2011-04-05

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PM to Push Forward with JBC Meeting Despite Conflict Over Venue

The prime minister insists the JBC meeting will continue, despite disagreement about where it should be held.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva confirms that the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission or JBC will move forward, although the three controversial meeting minutes will not be used in the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has vowed to discuss the issue of Indonesian observers on April 9 and 10, while the Defense Ministry has said it has not set a meeting date for the General Boundary Committee or GBC yet.

Deputy Prime Minister in charge of national security Suthep Tuaksuban said he will meet with Defense Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan and Foreign Affairs Minister Kasit Pirom to discuss the upcoming meetings.

He added that the Cambodian proposal to hold the meeting in Indonesia has not been finalized, and that it will take time to agree on the venue.

General Prawit said he has already coordinated with Cambodia, but admitted that it is difficult to settle on the meeting venue, but that it should not hinder bilateral talks.

Suthep insisted Thailand does not want to waste any more time or look insincere by not approving Indonesia's proposal.

He reiterated that the intention is to continue negotiations between the two countries.

Suthep said that when Cambodia set the meeting conditions, Thailand must consider these conditions carefully before taking any further actions.

-- Tan Network 2011-04-05

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Thai Military Will Not Allow Third Party to Observe Border Relations

In their joint press conference today, the commanders of the Thai military forces have announced that they will not allow representatives of a third party to observe relations along the Thai-Cambodian border. They also jointly announced that they will not be attending the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee meeting slated to take place in Indonesia.

-- Tan Network 2011-04-05

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Thai Military Will Not Allow Third Party to Observe Border Relations

In their joint press conference today, the commanders of the Thai military forces have announced that they will not allow representatives of a third party to observe relations along the Thai-Cambodian border. They also jointly announced that they will not be attending the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee meeting slated to take place in Indonesia.

-- Tan Network 2011-04-05

1- Refuse multilateral.

2- Torpedo bilateral

3- Make it unilateral

This is the Thai junta agenda

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Phnom Penh wants Indonesia to host JBC meet

By Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation

Cambodia insists it will attend the meeting of the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) late this week only on the condition that it is hosted by Asean chair Indonesia, not by Thailand.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong wrote to remind his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya on Monday that the JBC meeting was proposed by Indonesia and is being held in that country, in the city of Bogor.

Who would host the JBC meeting became an issue when Kasit wrote to Hor Namhong last Friday that Thailand as the host of the fifth Thailand-Cambodia JBC meeting was ready to convene the meeting on April 7-8 in Bogor.

The JBC is a bilateral mechanism to handle demarcation of the land boundary between Thailand and Cambodia. The two countries have taken turns hosting the meeting from time to time since its establishment in 2000.

The previous meeting was held in Phnom Penh in April 2009, and Thailand was supposed to host the next meeting in this country.

Indonesia, as the chair of Asean, became involved in the matter after a border skirmish in February. Phnom Penh asked the United Nations Security Council to call an urgent meeting to establish a permanent ceasefire at the border. The UN then asked Asean to implement a peace plan and urged the two conflicting countries to exercise existing bilateral mechanisms to settle the border dispute.

To implement the plan, Jakarta proposed sending Indonesian observers to assess the situation at the disputed areas adjacent to the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear as well as calling a meeting of joint mechanisms on border affairs.

Thailand took a firm stance that the border dispute with Cambodia should be settled bilaterally, while Phnom Penh wanted a third party to help resolve the issue.

Hor Namhong wrote to Kasit that as both countries had received an invitation and proposal from Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa for meetings of the JBC, the military-run General Border Commission (GBC) and the foreign ministers of Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia in Bogor, Cambodia would accept no other arrangement.

"Therefore, I would like to make it clear that up to now, Cambodia has never concurred to any meeting other than those proposed and hosted by Indonesia," he said in a letter to Kasit, of which a copy was seen by The Nation yesterday.

The Thai Foreign Ministry reiterated that the JBC meeting must be a purely bilateral one between Thailand and Cambodia. Indonesia provided only the venue for the two to discuss the boundary issue. No representative of another party would be at the meeting, an official the ministry said.

Only the JBC will meet in Bogor, since the Thai military has insisted that it will not attend the GBC meeting if it is held in Indonesia.

Supreme Commander Songkitti Jaggabatara said it was a tradition that Thailand and Cambodia would take turns to host the GBC meeting annually.

It was Phnom Penh's turn to host the eighth GBC in Cambodia and Thailand saw no point to have the meeting in Indonesia, he said.

"It is a bilateral obligation in accordance with the 1995 agreement to have the next meeting in Cambodia, so we will meet only in Cambodia," he said.

-- The Nation 2011-04-06

[Soutpeel]

Speaks volumes doesnt it...