Thailand Denies Using Cluster Bombs

[webfact]

Thailand denies using cluster bombs

BANGKOK, April 8 - A Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Friday denied a claim that the Thai military used cluster bombs during the recent border clashes with Cambodia, saying the Thai military has strictly complied with international laws.

Thani Thongphakdi, Director-General of the Department of Information, denied the claim by the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) that the Thai ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva confirmed the Thai army used cluster bombs in breach of an international agreement during border skirmishes with Cambodia in early February.

The ministry spokesperson clarified that the claim was a misunderstanding as the Thai ambassador to the United Nations notified the activist coalition that the ammunition the Thai army had used were actually termed Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM), a type of ordnance that is not cluster bombs as the CMC claimed.

The Thai ambassador to the UN explained that the Thai army was forced to counterattack as Cambodian troops fired BM21s, a 122mm multiple rocket launcher, designed to hit unlimited targets including civilians. Therefore, the Thai military had no choice but to counterattack the military target in self-defence, Mr Thani said.

The Thai army exercised utmost restraint to prevent any damage to civilians and used no excessive force in countering the attack. It also strictly complied with international laws, the ministry spokesman said.

At least eight people on both sides have died in fighting that began on Feb 4. The activist coalition claimed that the Thai army killed two people with cluster bombs during the deadly skirmishes. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-04-08

[Soutpeel]

To quote an article yesterday

" Responding to accusations from campaigners, the Thai army said it had used Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM) during the recent heavy fighting on the shared border.

Thailand's foreign ministry also confirmed that the country had used the weapons but said they were "deployed on the basis of necessity, proportionality and strict code of conduct".

Todays article...."The ministry spokesperson clarified that the claim was a misunderstanding as the Thai ambassador to the United Nations"

Must be that Southern Thai dialect being spoken again...

What is it chaps...YES....NO...MAYBE..

[Soutpeel]

from our friends at Wikki

A Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM) is an artillery or surface-to-surface missile warhead designed to burst into sub-munitions at an optimum altitude and distance from the desired target for dense area coverage. The sub-munitions are designed for both antiarmor and antipersonnel attack. Some sub-munitions may be designed for delayed reaction or mobility denial (mines). The air-to-surface variety of this kind of munition is better known as a cluster bomb

Do we think the esteemed Director-General of the Department of Information is telling porkies ?

Edited April 8, 2011 by Soutpeel

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Thai troops upholding ROE, no cluster bombs used

BANGKOK, 8 April 2011 (NNT) – The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stressed that Thailand has been upholding rules of engagement (ROE) and did not use cluster bombs, which have been banned by the United Nations, against Cambodia in previous border skirmishes.

Speaking about recent Thai-Cambodian border clashes, Information Department Director-General and Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Thani Thongphakdi stated that the Thai troops have been exercising maximum restraint under the ROE to avoid negative impacts on civilians.

A press report published by the Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC) in Reuters on 6 April 2011 cited Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations in Geneva Sihasak Phuangketkeow as saying that the Thai military used cluster bombs in the Thai-Cambodian border skirmishes.

The director-general dismissed the press release, explaining that the ambassador earlier elucidated with the CMC that the Thai troops used only dual purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM), not cluster munitions as misreported.

Mr Thani added that the DPICM was used to protect its sovereignty and retaliate the Cambodian side as the latter had used BM-21 launch vehicles, which attacked randomly via multiple grenade launchers and inflicted damage on Thai civilians.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan reaffirmed that the Thai military have not been using cluster bombs since 1997. He said no explanations were necessary for the inaccurate foreign reports.

-- NNT 2011-04-08

[tigermonkey]

OK, technically the Thai military are correct -- they do not use cluster bombs , since clusters bombs are by definition fired/released from air to surface. They used DPICM's which are fired from surface to surface -- but they are still cluster munitions !

You can take your pig out of the front garden,hide him behind the house and call him an artiodactyl -- but he is still a pig !

Edited April 8, 2011 by tigermonkey

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Cluster bombs not used in border clash: Sihasak

By Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation

Thailand's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, said yesterday that activists had misquoted him about the use of cluster bombs in the military skirmish with Cambodia in February.

Members of the UK-based Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) claimed that they had evidence and confirmation from the Thai representative in Geneva that Thailand had used cluster bombs in the border skirmish.

CMC representatives met Sihasak on Monday to discuss the issue, and then issued a statement condemning Thailand for using cluster bombs in the military showdown.

"Unfortunately, I was misquoted in the press release. I never used the term 'cluster munitions' at any point in the meeting when referring to the 'dual-purpose improved conventional munitions' type of weapon we used," Sihasak told The Nation.

Before meeting CMC representatives, the ambassador said he had double-checked with Thai top brass on the type of weapons that had been used in the border skirmish.

CMC director, Laura Cheeseman, meanwhile, insisted that two separate on-site investigations had proved that 155mm Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM) were used by the Thai military during the border clash.

"These are cluster munitions," she told The Nation.

Though the Thai military has denied using cluster munitions, it has never really disclosed the exact sort of weapon they used during the February skirmish. However, Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said the Thai side had used DPICM, which could not be considered "cluster munitions".

"The main purpose of using this weapon was to retaliate against the Russian-made BM21 multi-rocket launcher that was used indiscriminately by Cambodia," he said.

He added that the weapon was used in "self-defence", under the principles of "necessity, proportionality and in compliance with the military code of conduct".

Cambodia and Thailand are not among the 108 countries that have signed the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, an international treaty that prohibits the use, transfer and stockpile of cluster bombs.

By definition, cluster munitions are projectiles that are either dropped from the air or launched on the ground before they separate into smaller explosive fragments that cover a wide area. This sort of weapon was widely used during the Vietnam War, and people are still facing the risk of unexploded ordnance.

A diplomatic observer said it was clear that the CMC wished to play up this incident to put more pressure on Thailand to join the convention. Thailand had sent a delegation to attend the first CMC forum in Vientiane last November, but decided not to become a signatory.

-- The Nation 2011-04-09

[Soutpeel]

Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said the Thai side had used DPICM, which could not be considered "cluster munitions".

(DPICM) is an artillery or surface-to-surface missile warhead designed to burst into sub-munitions at an optimum altitude and distance from the desired target for dense area coverage..therefore these are "cluster munitions"

Me thinks Khun Thani is telling porkies...

Watch this space for the next exciting episode of Thailand spin doctors....

Edited April 9, 2011 by Soutpeel