Friendly match with Cambodia to celebrate 65 years of ties



Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha greets visiting Cambodian leader Hun Sen at Government House yesterday. The Cambodian prime minister arrived in Bangkok for an official two-day visit. He also met with business leaders.

BANGKOK: BOTH THAILAND and Cambodia agreed yesterday to hold a friendly football match to boost ties and celebrate 65 years of diplomatic relations, government deputy spokesman Werachon Sukondhapatipak said.

Werachon was speaking after an informal meeting co-chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his visiting counterpart Hun Sen at Government House.

Hun Sen, who arrived in Bangkok early yesterday, is scheduled to attend a joint Cabinet retreat today - the day that the countries officially started diplomatic ties 65 years ago.

Yesterday Hun Sen also separately met with leading Thai businessmen as well as Cambodian expats before meeting Prayut.

This is the first time in a decade that Hun Sen has come to Thailand on an official visit. His last visit was during the tenure of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who is widely known as a close friend. Hun Sen later appointed Thaksin, who has lived abroad in self-imposed exile since 2008, as an economic adviser.

Werachon said details of the football match would be discussed today at the joint Cabinet retreat, though it was likely that it would be held in Cambodia.

The last friendly match between Thailand and Cambodia was held in September 2011 in Phnom Penh, when Thaksin's sister Yingluck was prime minister. Hun Sen was one of the players.

Prayut had assigned Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul to attend the match, Werachon said.

The Thai PM also invited Cambodia to help promote tourism, both package tours and long stay, in the region - especially sea travel in response to increasing demand. Sea travel could include Vietnam, which would stimulate regional and coastal tourism. Thailand has infrastructure like ports for cruise ships to anchor.

Prayut said he appreciated that bilateral ties were based on the structure of mutual reliance and benefits, which is ready to be upgraded to partnership level. He said he wished the two countries would exchange official visits to strengthen the ties further.

Hun Sen responded by saying that his country was ready to welcome HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who is scheduled to preside over a ground-breaking ceremony of a royally-sponsored technology institute in Kampong Speu province in February. The Princess will also visit her royal projects in Cambodia.

Werachon said the two countries had agreed to push for tripling the volume of bilateral trade, worth Bt5 billion now, and investment in the next five years.

Both leaders will today witness the signing of four documents, including a memorandum of understanding on labour cooperation and agreement on Thai-Cambodian employment. They said they were committed to jointly solving problems of illegal immigration and human trafficking.

Prayut also told Hun Sen that he hoped for more bilateral cooperation in all aspects, including politics, economy and society, as both countries are stepping into the Asean Economic Community by the end of this month.

Bilateral relations have been on and off depending on the leadership. During Thaksin's tenure, ties were excellent, seeing a frequent exchange of visits and cooperation. However, when Abhisit Vejjajiva took over, Hun Sen never hesitated to criticise him and his policies.

During Abhisit's time, both countries were also involved in sporadic border shootings and reportedly trespassing each other's territory. Ties went further downhill when Cambodia took the Preah Vihear Temple dispute to the International Court of Justice in 2011 during Abhisit's tenure, though ties warmed when Yingluck took over.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Friendly-match-with-Cambodia-to-celebrate-65-years-30275244.html

-- The Nation 2015-12-19

3-1 to Thailand

When the friendly match is over, are the Thai's going to stitch up a Cambodian for a 'suicide', or shoot them in the back somewhere near the border?

Yep, get the riot police geared up!

65 years of ties?

Haven't these too countries been at odds for pretty much all of that time?

Thai people I speak to never have anything nice to say about their Cambodian neighbours.

But what about the oil ?

And will the PM score 5 goals, to match Hun Sen's total, in the match against the PTP-team ?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/500744-cambodian-leader-hun-sen-scores-five-goals-in-victory-over-red-shirts-in-soccer-friendly/

Bearing in mind the way Thailand and Cambodia have dealt with their border disputes over the years, the off side decisions could prove to be interesting............

Edited December 19, 201510 yr by thelonius