Thailand And Cambodia To Discuss Demarcation Of Overlapping Boundaries

[Jai Dee]

Thailand and Cambodia to discuss demarcation of overlapping land and sea boundaries

Thailand and Cambodia have not yet reached an agreement on demarcation of their overlapping sea boundaries but agreed on a joint technical study on offshore oil or natural gas reserves.

Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who made a one-day official visit to Cambodia yesterday, said the neighbouring country agreed with the setting up of a team of technical experts from the two countries that will start working next week.

Pol. Lt. Co. Thaksin said six months from now a concession for offshore oil or natural gas drilling should be awarded. Both countries, however, still can not agree on benefit sharing from the energy reserves, he said.

On land border issue, both sides agreed to register Thais and Cambodians living in overlapping border areas before demarcation begins, the prime minister said. New construction projects also will be prohibited within a one-km radius from the common border line, Pol. Lt. Col. Thaksin said.

He said the border demarcation issue will further be discussed at a Thai-Cambodian meeting scheduled for September 3 at Preah Vihear Temple in Si Sa Ket.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 11 August 2006

[Jai Dee]

Thaksin, Hun Sen fail to clinch offshore deal

Thailand and Cambodia reached a land border agreement yesterday, but failed to see eye-to-eye regarding a disputed area in the Gulf of Thailand that may be rich in oil and gas, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters.

“For the overlapping sea border, we haven’t made an agreement on the exact portion of dividing benefits that both countries can obtain in case they find crude oil or natural gas in the sea,” Thaksin said after a closed-door meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh.

“The Cambodian officials seemed to accept in technical terms our proposal to allow a survey of the land to occur in the near future,” he added. “For the Thai government, we want to see Cambodia earn more income from the joint development area to develop their country.”

Yesterday’s meeting was arranged after Hun Sen expressed concern about the slow pace of negotiations when he met Thaksin in Brunei last month. The two sides plan to meet again at Khao Phra Viharn on September 3 to continue the discussions.

The maritime borders in the Gulf of Thailand have been disputed since the early 1970s, but five years ago the neighboring countries agreed to form a joint development zone that would exploit the area’s oil and gas resources. Progress has been slow, however, partly to due to a diplomatic spat in 2003 after Cambodians burned down the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.

Before he left on the one-day visit yesterday, Thaksin unveiled a plan to separate the disputed area into three zones: one closer to Thailand, one between the two countries and one closer to Cambodia. The countries would then evenly split the benefits from any discovered oil or natural gas.

“We believe there are lots of resources in that area,” Thaksin said.

Resource-poor Cambodia is eager to explore the disputed area as exploration companies have yet to make significant oil and gas finds in Khmer waters. The Joint Development Area covers more than 26,000 kilometers and borders some of Thailand’s most productive gas wells.

“We think the disputed area is an extension of the existing fields in Thailand,” an Energy Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said yesterday. “We have no official study, but geological experts say the area has high potential.”

Both Thailand and Cambodia have already given the rights to explore the area to several companies, including PTT Exploration and Production, ConocoPhillips and Shell. PTTEP is hoping that negotiations on the disputed area will be resolved soon.

“It would be good to see progress on the Joint Development Area,” company spokesman ML Sidhichai Jayant said yesterday. “It has high potential, but we don’t know until we explore. It’s still in a very early stage.”

Thaksin visited Myanmar leader General Than Shwe last week in an attempt to secure exclusive rights to natural gas at a productive site in the Bay of Bengal. PTTEP also said last week that it submitted bids for four oil and gas concessions off the Myanmar coastline.

The government has pushed lately to secure oil and gas exploration and supply contracts with its neighbors. As global energy prices soar, the cost of transporting fuel from faraway areas takes a larger toll on the country’s finances.

Although an agreement on maritime borders remains elusive, Cambodia and Thailand did resolve a long-standing land border dispute. A one-kilometer buffer zone will be set up along the border in which construction or residences of any kind will be forbidden.

Thailand also agreed to give Cambodia a cheap loan to build a road from the Thai border to Angkor Wat, Thaksin said.

As part of the agreement, a Thai company will build the road, and half of the construction materials will come from Thailand.

Source: ThaiDay - 11 August 2006