Thailand-Cambodia Jbc Meeting Off To A 'Smooth Start'

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JBC meetIng off to a 'smooth start'

By Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation

The Thailand-Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) met yesterday in the Indonesian city of Bogor for talks, which went off smoothly.

It was the JBC's first meeting since the border clash at Preah Vihear Temple in February, although the Thai Parliament has not yet approved the minutes of previous meetings.

Despite the meeting being hosted by Indonesia in its role as the current chair of Asean, it was convened on a bilateral basis, without the involvement of any third party, said the Foreign Minister's secretary, Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, who attended the meeting.

"The atmosphere was good. In order to conduct a smooth meeting, we concentrated mostly on the boundary issue, which is the major task of the JBC," he said.

"We had a clear stance at the beginning that no party should raise any issue which could lead to further conflict," Chavanond said in a telephone interview.

JBC co-chairman Asda Jayanama, who took the position last December, led the Thai delegation for the first time while his Cambodian counterpart, co-chairman Var Kimhong, has held the post for a long time.

The Bogor meeting was not expected to produce any developments towards settlement of the boundary conflict. It considered only technical issues such as preparations for a survey of the fifth portion of the disputed area, between pillars 1 and 23, as well as the selection of an agency to produce Orthophoto Maps.

Co-chairman Asda briefed the meeting on the procedures of the Thai Parliament, which has not yet ap-proved the minutes of previous meetings, and the Cambodian side ex-pressed its understanding of the complications of the process, Chava-nond said. "Most of the topics discussed in the meeting were about preparations for the next step in the JBC boundary-demarcation task," he said.

Established in 2000, the JBC is a Thailand-Cambodia bilateral mechanism for land-boundary demarcation. The body has played a crucial role in clarifying the boundary line between the two countries.

Thailand and Cambodia have been at loggerheads over their common border for many years, especially in those areas adjacent to the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear. The unclear boundary line has caused overlapping territorial claims and repeated military clashes.

Indonesia, as the Asean chair, became involved after Phnom Penh took the issue to both the United Nations Security Council and Asean after skirmishes in February.

-- The Nation 2011-04-08