Preah Vihear ruling: brace for peace

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
Preah Vihear ruling: brace for peace
The Nation

Whatever the International Court decides next week, it will be an opportunity to forge closer ties with Cambodia

BANGKOK: -- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgement on the Preah Vihear dispute next Monday should pave the way for Thailand and Cambodia to settle their long-standing conflict over the old Hindu temple peacefully. Any attempts to provoke conflict and violence between the two neighbours must be rejected by people of both countries. Whatever the judgement, no one should use it as a pretext to spark anger against the other side.

The court has several options in handling Cambodia's request for interpretation of the 1962 Preah Vihear judgement. Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul says it could reject the request, rule in favour of either Cambodia or Thailand, or merely give legal clarification for the old judgement.

Regardless, Cambodia has nothing to lose. If the court refuses to interpret the 1962 judgement, nothing would change, since both countries have complied with that judgement. If the court rules in favour of Thailand, again, nothing changes - it would simply be confirming what the Thai government did to determine ownership of the area adjacent to the temple. The boundary line has not yet been demarcated and the vicinity would remain in dispute until that happens.

Thailand might have something to lose if the court rules in favour of Phnom Penh, but not as much as many people in this country and in Cambodia expect.

Cambodia asked the court to interpret the 1962 judgement on the area around Preah Vihear based on the border's location on a colonial-era French map of 1:200,000 scale. Even if the court agrees with Cambodia, it does not necessarily mean the currently accepted boundary will match that shown on a map Cambodia produced for the court. It is difficult to translate a line on a century-old map into an actual boundary line marked out at the locale.

There is room for negotiation over the border, and Thailand maintains its right to protect what it claims as its sovereign territory. Any Thai territory lost to Cambodia would not be large, whatever the verdict. Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong made that clear last week, saying the territory in question was quite small. Neither country should allow such a tiny piece of land to get in the way of our friendship, he said.

The Preah Vihear territory dispute is far from being the only problem or the most important issue in the long relationship between Thailand and Cambodia. The two countries have many other things on which to work together for the benefit of peace, stability and the prosperity of their citizens.

Viewed optimistically, the ICJ ruling could open opportunities for our countries to cooperate to develop the border area and secure peace for people on both sides.


-- The Nation 2013-11-05

[worgeordie]

Without doubt the (ICJ) is going to rule in favour of Cambodia,

this will give the Government to a chance to raise Nationalistic

fervour and deflect attention away from the amnesty mess they

have created.more foreigners are stealing our land crap.

regards Worgeordie

[PREM-R]

I see you know nothing of Thailand, the current government has already made it clear that the ICJ judgement must be accepted, it is the Nationalist/Dem/Yellow/Amart who will try to play the nationalist card (again).

[dighambara]

Without doubt the (ICJ) is going to rule in favour of Cambodia,

this will give the Government to a chance to raise Nationalistic

fervour and deflect attention away from the amnesty mess they

have created.more foreigners are stealing our land crap.

regards Worgeordie

The shame is that such a ruling only supports French Colonialist transgressions.

When the French landed near the town they eventually named Saigon, they landed on a Cambodian Beach. Thru contrivance, they, with Annamese help, pushed the Cambodians inland to the present border. With no place to go, refugees began crossing into Siam at Siam Reap and Siam Pang, eventually outnumbering the Siamese in South Eastern Siam (Now Western Cambodia). As the French pushed West, they absorbed those Siamese Provinces and designated them a French Protectorate of Siam, keeping them legally separate from both Thailand and Cambodia until 1953, when the French officially, in violation of agreements, turned them over to Cambodia.

YES, After Angkor fell to the plague, Siam created Cambodia out of the remnants. Subsequently, Angkor was inside Siam for 550 years.

The Siamese government team at Siam Reap, established to watch over the ruins, was massacred by the French a century ago, hence the Cambodian belief in 'Victory over Siam'...

[whybother]

The shame is that such a ruling only supports French Colonialist transgressions.

When the French landed near the town they eventually named Saigon, they landed on a Cambodian Beach. Thru contrivance, they, with Annamese help, pushed the Cambodians inland to the present border. With no place to go, refugees began crossing into Siam at Siam Reap and Siam Pang, eventually outnumbering the Siamese in South Eastern Siam (Now Western Cambodia). As the French pushed West, they absorbed those Siamese Provinces and designated them a French Protectorate of Siam, keeping them legally separate from both Thailand and Cambodia until 1953, when the French officially, in violation of agreements, turned them over to Cambodia.

YES, After Angkor fell to the plague, Siam created Cambodia out of the remnants. Subsequently, Angkor was inside Siam for 550 years.

The Siamese government team at Siam Reap, established to watch over the ruins, was massacred by the French a century ago, hence the Cambodian belief in 'Victory over Siam'...

Ummm ... Didn't Thailand and France sign a treaty in 1904 basically setting the current border?

[hellodolly]

Without doubt the (ICJ) is going to rule in favour of Cambodia,

this will give the Government to a chance to raise Nationalistic

fervour and deflect attention away from the amnesty mess they

have created.more foreigners are stealing our land crap.

regards Worgeordie

I doubt it.

The amnesty will be a dead issue by then. The senate will have ruled and the government will be either dancing for joy or making new plans. I believe They all ready have two back up plans ready to go. The decision by the ICJ will not be an issue except for a few dye hard yellow shirts and some crack pots. It will not make a ripple.

It is my belief that no matter what the decision is both countries will work together on it.

[h90]

Without doubt the (ICJ) is going to rule in favour of Cambodia,

this will give the Government to a chance to raise Nationalistic

fervour and deflect attention away from the amnesty mess they

have created.more foreigners are stealing our land crap.

regards Worgeordie

Difficult as exactly these people started the mess....Thaksin with his buddy Hun Sen.

[fab4]

Without doubt the (ICJ) is going to rule in favour of Cambodia,

this will give the Government to a chance to raise Nationalistic

fervour and deflect attention away from the amnesty mess they

have created.more foreigners are stealing our land crap.

regards Worgeordie

Difficult as exactly these people started the mess....Thaksin with his buddy Hun Sen.

Just when you thought you had heard it all ................

Just in case the obsessives on this board think this is true, at the time of the crucial ICJ hearing in 1962, Thaksin was 13.

[JAG]

You really don't get it do you Fab4!

Everything is Thaksins fault.

The weather, The flooding. traffic jams., the bars closing early (especially the bars closing early), the fact that not enough Thais voted Democrat to ensure that Abhisit realised his noble destiny to lead the country, Its all Thaksins fault.