Prawit, Army chief on 'urgent' Cambodia visit

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Prawit, Army chief on 'urgent' Cambodia visit
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- DEPUTY PRIME Minister Prawit Wongsuwan and Army chief General Udomdej Sitabutr yesterday headed to Cambodia for an urgent visit, which sources said was related to border affairs.

The press was banned from covering the departure of Prawit and his delegation from Don Mueang Airport, while reporters on the military beat heard nothing about the mission.

However, a source said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had commissioned Prawit, who is also defence minister, to take care of border-demarcation issue with Cambo-dia. On December 9, Prawit was reportedly appointed to co-chair the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC), replacing former career diplomat Bundit Sotiplarit.

Prawit is expected to speak to his Cambodian counterpart about the demarcation of 800 kilometres of boundary, notably in the problematic area near Preah Vihear Temple. The source said the trip was also related to preparations for the next JBC meeting, though the person did not explain why Prawit was doing a job that could be done by officials at the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh.

Border demarcation became a key issue between the two countries in 2008, when conservative figures and the military opposed Phnom Penh's move to list Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site on grounds that the area adjacent to the sandstone ruins were still under dispute.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice ruled that the temple stood on territory that is under Cambodia's sovereignty, though Bangkok argued that its vicinity belonged to Thailand.

Phnom Penh took the case to the ICJ, which confirmed in 2013 that Cambodia had sovereignty over the entire area of the Preah Vihear compound and urged the two nations to cooperate in good faith.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Prawit-Army-chief-on-urgent-Cambodia-visit-30254725.html

-- The Nation 2015-02-24

[issanaus]

An unnamed source said.....

Given the press ban please excuse me from being cynical about the OP - headline and content

[joesanunu]

The retired Reuters reporter, that is an expert on Thai affairs, predicted over a year ago, the Army/Yellow team will escalate border tensions at that Temple.

A diversion to keep power, delay elections and continue Martial Law.

Is this prediction now coming true?

[geovalin]

FYI the free press in English in Cambodia PPP & CD does not even mention this lunch.

Probably not that important. Maybe secret sharing of the GULF.

[smutcakes]

This was on the BP website yesterday morning, titled something like 'Hush Hush trip......', the story attributed to the BP military correspondent, so it was hardly hush hush or a secret, if the military correspondent was releasing the news to the media, the morning of the trip.

[Freed1948]

Is Tacky in Cambodia?