Editorial | Articles about Cambodia | Khmer

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Troops to remain near Preah Vihear

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says her government will keep its troops positioned in the disputed area near the Preah Vihear temple and protect Thailand's national sovereignty along the border.

Ms Yingluck was speaking after talks on the territorial dispute with Cambodia around Preah Vihear with Defence Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa, army commander-in-chief Prayuth Chan-ocha and Atchaporn Jaruchinda, secretary-general of the Council of State.

Ms Yingluck said a case had been prepared for presentation to the International Court of Justice, which is hearing a territorial complaint about the land in the vicinity of Preah Vihear from Cambodia. The court 1962 gave Cambodia juridiction over the ancient khmer temple, but the ruling was vague on the immediately adjacent, disputed area.

The International Court of Justice recently said the disputed area should be demilitarised pending a settlement, but Ms Yingluck said her government had not withdrawn Thai soldiers from a disputed area.

It would wait for a decision from the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) meeting.

The government would then propose the GBC's report to the parliament for approval.

Ms Yingluck said her government would do its best to protect the national sovereignty.

Preah Vihear temple is on the border of Cambodia and Thailand's Si Sa Ket province.

Labels: Preah Vihear, Yingluck Shinawatra

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Friday, November 11, 2011

Increase in visitors to Preah Vihear

Foreign visitors to the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, on the Cambodian-Thai border, rose almost 78 per cent between January and October compared with the same period last year, despite a deadly border dispute that drew internat-ional attention in February.

About 2,140 foreign nationals visited the 1,000-year-old temple during the first nine months of the year, up from 1,206 in during the same period in 2010, according to data from the Preah Vihear Provincial Department of Tourism.

The border dispute—in which conflict between the Thai and Cambodian militaries erupted in and around the World Heritage site—was little more than a bump in the tourist development of the region, according to Preah Vihear tourism director Kong Vibol.

“There were lots of foreign tourists visiting the temple before the clashes and after the International Court of Justice ordered that the area be a demilitarised zone,” he said.

The court imposed the demilitar-ised zone in July, the Post has previously reported.

The increase had come despite the absence of tour agencies operating at the temple, Kong Vibol said.

Foreign delegations that came to monitor the border situation around the temple had contributed to the higher numbers, he added.

Local tourist numbers fell more than 32 per cent at the temple, tour data showed.

Preah Vihear province experienced a drop of more than five per cent in local tourist numbers, but Kong Vibol said that might improve as flood- waters in many areas receded.

Ang Kim Eang, president of the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents, said that among tourist destinations in Preah Vihear province, the temple was the only qualified attract-ion and most hotels and restaurants were not up to standard.

“We are trying to promote tourism there, but most tourists who visit Cambodia for the first time would prefer visiting the Angkor Wat temple,” Ang Kim Eang said.

Labels: Preah Vihear

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Monday, April 11, 2011

Thai-Cambodian conflict sets precedent for ASEAN, chairman says

Source: monstersandcritics.com

Bangkok - The Thai-Cambodian border dispute has set a precedent for regional problem solving by the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Indonesian foreign minister said Monday.

Indonesia, which now holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN, has been active over the past two months in promoting a ceasefire and facilitating talks between Thailand and Cambodia over their joint claims to a plot of land adjacent to an 11th-century Hindu temple on their border and hosted talks Thursday and Friday between them in Bogor.

'I think we have the potential for this episode to have a silver lining, a positive long-term impact in the sense that we are setting a precedent,' Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said in Bangkok.

ASEAN has in the past maintained a stance of non-interference in it 10 member states' internal or bilateral affairs, raising questions about the group's effectiveness as a regional problem solver.

'I think it has had a potentially positive impact, for it shows ASEAN for the first time addressing an issue of this type directly and not simply producing documents,' Natalegawa said.

Both Cambodian and Thailand are members of ASEAN, which also includes Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

Preah Vihear temple has been a bone of contention between Thailand and Cambodia for the past five decades, leading to a cessation of diplomatic ties in 1958.

The two countries agreed to have the sovereignty spat settled at the International Court, which in 1962 ruled that the temple belonged to Cambodia.

Fighting broke out between Thai and Cambodian troops near the temple February 4-7, killing three Thais and five Cambodians and leaving dozens wounded on both sides.

The conflict raised questioned about solidarity within ASEAN, which is striving to be an economic community similar to the European Union by 2015.

Although Indonesia has played a role in bringing both sides to the negotiating table, Thailand and Cambodia remained at loggerheads over joint claims to a 4.6-square-kilometre plot of land adjacent to Preah Vihear that was not including in The Hague's 1962 ruling.

Nalalegawa was in Bangkok to lead an ASEAN foreign ministers meeting on the upcoming East Asia Summit, one of Asia's pivotal security forums, which Indonesia is to host in October or November.

Labels: Cambodia Thailand Border, Preah Vihear

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Friday, April 08, 2011

Thailand ‘admits cluster bombs used against Cambodia’

By Guy De Launey, BBC News

Campaigners against cluster munitions say Thailand has admitted it used the weapons against Cambodia in February.

The Cluster Munition Coalition called the decision “appalling” and “unconscionable”.

The weapons were banned by an international convention three years ago, but neither Thailand nor Cambodia have signed the agreement.

Admitting the use of cluster munitions would represent a significant shift in Thailand’s position.

Cambodia was quick to accuse its larger neighbour of using the weapons during four days of border fighting in February.

Thailand denied the allegation – saying that if anyone had used cluster munitions, it was Cambodian forces.

But several humanitarian organisations have visited the border area around Preah Vihear temple, and they reported finding unexploded cluster bomblets.

This evidence appears to have caused the shift in Bangkok’s stance.

The Cluster Munition Coalition says that Thailand has confirmed that it fired the weapons, claiming that it was self defence against heavy artillery from Cambodia landing in civilian areas.

The coalition says that should not be a justification for using weapons which are banned by more than 100 countries.

According to the campaigners, thousands of villagers are now at risk of death or serious injury because of unexploded ordnance near their homes.

Part of the reason for the weapons notoriety is that children find the brightly-coloured bomblets attractive and get badly hurt if they pick them up.

Labels: Ban Cluster Bombs, Cambodia Thailand Border, Preah Vihear

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Monday, February 21, 2011

The view from Cambodia

By Michael Hayes

When I was publisher and editor-in-chief of the Phnom Penh Post I was sued once by then-Second Prime Minister Hun Sen, accused of spreading disinformation and trying to create political instability. Over the years, several Cambodian government officials even accused me and my newspaper of attempting to “destroy the nation”.

At the very least I’ve never been called a spin doctor for the Cambodian government. But on the issue of the current border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand surrounding Wat Preah Vihear I’m as angry as all Cambodians are at what we perceive as a Thai-initiated conflict of grossly unjust proportions.

We are not alone. Since this issue flared up two years ago, I have not met one Asian or Western diplomat, one foreign aid worker or one expatriate businessman in Phnom Penh who disagrees. Even a few Thai friends have sheepishly expressed support for the Cambodian side on this spat.

The nagging question that perplexes us all is why Thailand is trying to export its domestic political problems and dump them on poor Cambodia? The sentiment here is that if the Red Shirts and the Yellow Shirts want to fight it out, do so somewhere in Thailand, but don’t use Cambodia as a scapegoat.

The view from Cambodia is simple: the issue of sovereignty over the temple was decided back in 1962 when the case was submitted to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

If Thailand didn’t want to abide by the court’s ruling then why did it agree to submit the case in the first place? And why are they groaning now and firing artillery shells at the temple almost 50 years later?

Moreover, when Thailand says: Well, we controlled the temple in the 1800s and before, the Khmers have a simpler reply: Yeah, but WE BUILT IT! We started construction in the early 9th century, modified and improved it for 250 years and then continued to pray there and celebrate our Gods for another three centuries until you guys stole it after you sacked and looted our capital at Angkor Wat three times between 1352 and 1431. Thank you very much. End of story.

Cambodia has no interest whatsoever in another protracted violent conflict with anybody. The Kingdom is still trying to recover from 30 years of civil war, Pol Pot madness and the ensuing guerilla conflict in the 80’s and 90’s that in total cost the lives of over 2.5 million Cambodians and left the country in ruins. Every dollar spent on the military conflict there is a dollar lost for building desperately needed roads, schools and hospitals.

The Thai accusation that Cambodia has had some secret plot to steal Thai land along the border is also seen as ludicrous.

Everybody knows that since 1970 Cambodia has been too consumed with domestic strife to take even one meter of land from any of its neighbors. In fact, foreign aid officials who worked on the Thai border in the 80s will readily admit that border creep worked in reverse. It was Thai farmers living in peace—and I’m not accusing the Thai government of some orchestrated campaign here—who took the opportunity to plant a few extra hectares in disputed border areas while internally Cambodia was in complete disarray.

If there is one thing that is clear, it is that the entire border needs to be systematically surveyed and demarcated, step by step, once and for all.

As for the disputed 4.5 square kms just north of temple, why not consider this: Turn the area into the Cambodian-Thai International Friendship Park and set it up as a jointly managed enterprise by both countries’ Ministries of Tourism. Invite in hawkers, entrepreneurs, whatever from both sides of the border to set up businesses to cater to the millions of tourists who will want to visit the site in the coming decades and beyond. Tax revenues could be shared by both nations equally. Everybody wins.

It could also be a model for other border disputes around the globe.

If the Thais want a protracted, bloody fight on their hands over the temple, they’ve got one. In the 20 years I’ve been in Cambodia the Preah Vihear issue is without question the only one I’ve seen that has united the entire nation. Cambodian TV stations have been running fundraisers off and on with donations large and small pouring in from all quarters for two years. Even the normally truculent Sam Rainsy Party and others in the opposition are fully on board.

It’s clear from a visit to the temple last week that the Cambodian military has dug in for the long haul. New heavy tanks, armored personnel carriers and ammunition “donated by friendly countries” are evident all over the base of the escarpment. Battle-scarred veterans, no doubt from all of Cambodia’s four previously warring factions and including ex-Khmer Rouge who controlled the temple from 1975 to 1998, are now all operating under one flag. And yes, of course there are Cambodian soldiers with weapons bunkered around the temple. If they weren’t there the Thai military could literally walk in and take control of it in five minutes. What government in Phnom Penh could allow that?

If this dispute goes real hot, relations between Cambodia and Thailand will be ruined for years, hundreds on both sides will die needlessly and the economic costs to the two countries will be astronomical.

Cooler heads need to prevail but rest assured the Cambodians will never, no matter what the price, give up control of Wat Preah Vihear.

Why should they? It’s theirs.

Michael Hayes co-founded the Phnom Penh Post in 1992 and was Publisher & Editor-in-Chief from 1992 to 2008.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com

Labels: Cambodia Thailand Border, Preah Vihear, Thailand

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Monday, February 07, 2011

What is behind the latest Thailand-Cambodian conflict?

As so often the disputed 11th century Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia, long a source of anger for Thai nationalists who believe it rightly belongs to Bangkok, has become the focus of the renewed spat between the countries.

By Ian MacKinnon, Bangkok 2:09PM GMT 07 Feb 2011

But it was the arrest of seven Thai nationalists – including an MP from the ruling Democrat Party - who deliberately strayed over the disputed border into Cambodia, that ratcheted up anger in Bangkok. The jailing of two for long terms on spying charges probably started the ball rolling.

Yellow Shirt demonstrators – who once supported the Democrat-led coalition but have since turned against it – have again taken to the streets of Bangkok to protest the jailing of the pair as well as a host of other issues, including the government's impotence over the border dispute.

Some analysts believe that hawkish elements within the government and military are whipping up the nationalist fervour by provoking the fighting to show a strong hand to curry favour with hard-line voters in the upcoming poll.

With elections due this year the government led by Abhisit Vejjajiva needs to keep both elements on board, some say he is declining to rein in the extreme elements. His noisy demands that the Cambodians remove their national flag flying over the temple site and Thai army anger over a plaque on the site proclaiming "This is Cambodia" lend weight to the theory.

But some commentators go further. They suggest the fighting is the result of a secret pact between nationalist elements and hawkish generals in an effort to unseat the government, or even provoke a coup in a country where army takeovers are common-place.

Labels: Preah Vihear

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Monday, December 28, 2009

Where Gods and Soldiers Tend the Border in Cambodia

Visitors, including Buddhist monks, make their way along a stone-paved pathway at Preah Vihear Temple on a mountaintop in northern Cambodia.

By DANIEL ROBINSON
Published: December 27, 2009

IN the wet season, the roads through the northwestern region of Cambodia turn into an undulating sea of muck, with potholes the size of cars and ruts as deep as truck axles. To figure out which routes were least likely to leave me wet, muddy and stranded, I buttonholed a dozen long-distance taxi drivers before settling on the toll road from Dam Dek, which had the added attraction of passing by two out-of-the-way Angkorian temples, Beng Mealea and Koh Ker.

My destination was an even more remote Angkor-era complex: Preah Vihear Temple, awesomely perched 1,700 feet above Cambodia’s northern plains, near the country’s border with Thailand. Designated as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2008 — not without some international controversy — it makes an adventurous alternative to far-better-known Angkor Wat. While several thousand foreign tourists visit the temples of Angkor on a typical day, Preah Vihear Temple gets, on average, just five.

I was traveling with my friend and driver, Hang Vuthy, in a 1991 Toyota Camry with a surprising New York past: according to a window sticker, it had once belonged to a member of the Yonkers Police Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants Association. Imagining the car in a mid-Atlantic blizzard, it occurred to me that wet-season driving in outback Cambodia is not entirely unlike navigating unplowed snowy side streets. Indeed, for much of our journey we avoided the most treacherous stretches of mire and snaked around potholes of indeterminate depth by religiously following a single serpentine track rendered navigable by earlier cars and trucks.

Preah Vihear Temple — the name means Mountain of the Sacred Temple — is the most spectacularly situated of all Angkorian monuments. Built from the ninth to the 12th centuries atop a peak of the Dangkrek Mountains, it occupies a triangular plateau rising from the Thailand border to a prow-shaped promontory.

An ever-changing architectural, mythological and geological panorama unfolds as visitors progress along the temple’s 2,600-foot-long processional axis, up a series of gently sloping causeways and steep staircases through five gopura, or pavilions, each more sacred than the last.

I began my visit at the bottom of the Monumental Staircase, which, according to the Angkor scholar Vittorio Roveda, “symbolizes the laborious path of faith needed to approach the sacred world of the gods.” The 163 gray sandstone steps, partly carved into the living rock, are flanked by statues of lions and, near the top, two magnificent nagas (seven-headed serpents) facing north toward Thailand. Also intently watching Thai territory were several AK-47-toting Cambodian soldiers in camouflage.

The first structure I came to, called Gopura V by generations of archaeologists, was an airy cruciform construction once topped by wood beams and a terra-cotta tile roof. Many of the stones have tumbled over, but the delicately balanced eastern pediment has survived to become Preah Vihear’s most recognizable icon, appearing on publicity posters, patriotic T-shirts and the new 2,000-riel banknote.

In centuries past, this pavilion was where pilgrims from the plains of Cambodia, having just climbed the steep, mile-long Eastern Staircase (mined and inaccessible for decades but soon to reopen), met their counterparts from what is now Thailand, who had completed a rather less-taxing ascent from the Khorat Plateau.

Alongside a group of saffron-robed monks, I continued north on a majestic, sandstone avenue, 800 feet long, to Gopura IV. There, I came upon a particularly vivid bas-relief depicting the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, a Hindu creation myth in which gods and demons churn the primeval waters to extract the ambrosia of immortality.

Although most of the splendid decorative carvings at Preah Vihear, including this one, depict Vishnu, the temple was originally dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. In later centuries, it was converted to use as a Buddhist sanctuary, and today many of the visitors are Buddhist pilgrims.

As I continued my ascent, I walked under exquisite lintels and tympanums depicting more scenes from Hindu epics like the Mahabharata, and beneath richly carved double pediments adorned with finials and upturned gable ends — calling cards of Cambodian and Thai architecture to this day. Ancient inscriptions in Khmer and Sanskrit, bearing cryptic details about the history of the temple and the Angkorian kings who built it, were hidden here and there under a patina of lichen.

The temple’s culminating point, geographically and symbolically, is Gopura I, whose mandapa (antechamber) and Central Sanctuary, now a jumbled pile of carved sandstone blocks, are surrounded by galleries that call to mind a French Gothic cloister, except that here the windows are rectilinear and the galleries covered by corbelled vaults. (The Khmers, for all their architectural genius, never mastered the keystone arch.)

The entire structure is inward-looking, its outer walls almost devoid of openings despite the sweeping views just outside. Scholars speculate that while the site was considered holy in part because of its spectacular situation, the ancient architects may have believed that picture windows would distract both priests and pilgrims from their sacred tasks.

As I approached the rocky tip of the promontory, just beyond Gopura I, a breathtaking panorama came into view. Cambodia’s verdant northern plains extended majestically toward the horizon, and in the distance I could just make out Phnom Kulen, about 65 miles to the southwest, where the Khmer Empire was founded in A.D. 802. (Angkor itself lay hidden in the haze, 88 miles away.)

To the east, toward Laos, and the west, the Dangkrek Mountains stretched into the distance in a series of serrated bluffs. Looking north, almost everything I could see was in Thailand, rendered remote and mysterious by its inaccessibility.

Thailand ruled much of northwestern Cambodia, including Preah Vihear Temple, from the late 18th century until 1907, when the French colonial administration forced the Thais to withdraw to the current international frontier; Cambodian sovereignty over Preah Vihear was confirmed by the International Court of Justice in 1962.

Thailand, despite unresolved land claims, initially supported Cambodia’s Unesco bid for World Heritage status, but the temple soon became a pawn in Thai and Cambodian domestic politics, unleashing nationalist passions in both countries.

In July 2008, according to Cambodian authorities, Thai soldiers intruded into Cambodian territory near the temple. The Thai government denied that any border violations had taken place. Since then, a total of at least seven soldiers from both sides have been killed in intermittent exchanges of fire, according to local news reports. At the time of my visit, though, the frontier had been quiet for several months.

Curious about what the standoff actually looked like, I asked my guide, conveniently a moonlighting army officer, if I could get a glimpse of the Thais. He took me to the bottom of the Monumental Staircase, where I could hear the distant sounds of war — air-raid sirens and shooting — but the combat was taking place on a tiny television, which off-duty soldiers were watching with rapt attention.

We walked along a forest trail past a volleyball court and trenches, passing soldiers in hammocks with their wives stealing a moment of intimacy in an encampment with little privacy, to a forest clearing with a bamboo table at the center.

About 20 yards in front of us stood a line of neatly built bunkers; uniformed men could be seen among the dark green sandbags. “So those are Cambodian soldiers?” I asked, trying to get my bearings. “No,” my guide answered, “those are Thais. Over there” — he turned 180 degrees and pointed to a line of bunkers 20 yards in the other direction — “are Cambodians.” The table, I realized, marked the midpoint of no-man’s land.

The Cambodians’ front-line bunkers, made of disintegrating sandbags sprouting grass, were shaded by blue and green tarpaulins and surrounded by orderly gardens. Their raised observation post, topped by a thatched roof, looked as if it might have been on loan from “Gilligan’s Island.” I was in the middle of a very un-Korean Panmunjom, a laid-back, tropical version of Christmas 1914 on the Western Front.

I soon learned that the Cambodian soldiers stationed there call the site Sambok Kmom, or beehive, because, they say, the area’s many wild bees leave Cambodians unmolested but set upon any Thai who encroaches on Cambodian land. Moved by national feeling, domestic tourists wearing krama (traditional checked scarves that serve as something of a Cambodian national symbol) wandered by, distributing cigarettes and other morale-boosting gifts to the soldiers who were deployed to help the bees protect Cambodian sovereignty.

Around the clearing, soldiers from both sides, unarmed and without body armor or helmets, were relaxing in front of their own front-line bunkers. Cambodian officers seemed to find the bamboo table, shaded by trees tall enough to let breezes through, especially congenial. A few paces away, the Thais had strung a hammock between trees, and one soldier, lounging in a white T-shirt, black combat pants and black military boots, was engrossed in a cellphone call.

Despite the apparent tranquillity, I knew that if the order were given, the men on both sides of the invisible line would not hesitate to shoot. In fact, many of the Cambodian troops stationed around Preah Vihear are battle-hardened former Khmer Rouge fighters. For now, though, relations are casual and, I was told, some wary friendships have developed.

The best staging point for a visit to Preah Vihear Temple is Sra Em (also spelled Sa Em), 19 miles by road from the temple. Two years ago, it was a sleepy crossroads hamlet with a single grimy restaurant and one rundown guesthouse. These days, in the wake of the area’s military buildup, it feels like a Gold Rush boomtown, with haphazardly parked four-wheel-drives instead of tethered horses; karaoke bars sporting pink fluorescent lamps and colored lights, instead of saloons; and the gleanings of Cambodia’s recently doubled defense budget, instead of gold nuggets glinting in the stream. Armed men in camouflage uniforms abound.

Sra Em’s accommodation options are rudimentary, to put it politely. My room’s star amenity was a cold-water spigot for filling the plastic bucket used both to bathe and to flush, and below the cheap plastic mirror and its public access comb, dust bunnies had formed around the hair of guests past. Each time I returned to my room, I found a dead cricket, a new one every day, hinting, perhaps, at the presence of some sinister insecticide.

Preah Vihear Temple is, obviously, not quite ready for mainstream tourism. During the two days I spent at the temple in October, I saw only four other Westerners, including an unhappy German couple whose day trip from Angkor Wat had been rather more trying than expected, and perhaps 50 or so Cambodian tourists. But intrepid travelers who brave the diabolical (though improving) roads, substandard accommodations and alarming government travel advisories are richly rewarded.

For 40 generations, Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims have trekked to this temple, seeking to ascend toward the holy and the transcendent. Today, the awe-inspiring nature of this Angkorian masterpiece, accentuated by the challenges of getting there, confer on every trip the aura of a pilgrimage.

NAIL-BITING TAXI TRIPS AND A VOLCANO AT YOUR TABLE

GETTING THERE

With the visa-free crossing from Thailand closed for the foreseeable future, getting to Preah Vihear Temple requires battling Cambodia’s famously potholed roads, which are at their worst during the wet season (about June to October).

Share-taxis, which have no set schedule and depart when full, link Sra Em with Siem Reap via the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng ($7.50 a person; 130 miles; three hours) and with the provincial capital of Tbeng Meanchey ($6.50; 65 miles; two hours). The U.S. dollar is widely accepted.

The taxis, usually “jacked-up” Toyota Camrys, carry six or seven passengers in addition to the driver, so if you want the front seat to yourself you’ll have to pay two fares. Ante up six times the single fare and you’ve got yourself a private taxi.

From Sra Em, a ride to Kor Muy on the back of a motorbike will run about $3.75. Then the three-mile ride up the mountain to Preah Vihear Temple, on a concrete road whose gradients will impress even San Franciscans, is $5 by motorbike or $20 to $25 by four-wheel-drive pickup.

WHERE TO STAY

Glassless windows, sinkless bathrooms, towels with the absorptive capacity of a plastic bag, fans that run only when a generator is sputtering outside your window (usually from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.) and laissez-faire housekeeping are, alas, the norm in Sra Em’s guesthouses. I should have stayed at the 25-room Tuol Monysophon (855-99-620-757), which opened this year. A brown, barn-like structure topped with a red tile roof, it has basic rooms downstairs with private baths, mosquito nets and wood-plank floors, for $10; smaller upstairs rooms with shared facilities are $7.50. To get there from the triangular crossroads, head west (toward Anlong Veng) for 500 yards.

WHERE TO EAT

The Preah Vihear area’s best restaurant, hands down, is Sra Em’s Pkay Prek Restaurant (855-12-636-617), an unpretentious complex of open-air, fluorescent-lit pavilions with plenty of geckos. The specialty is phnom pleoung (hill of fire; $3.75), a meat and veggie feast you grill yourself at your table on an aluminum “volcano” suspended above glowing coals.

SAFETY

Before setting out to Preah Vihear Temple, check the Phnom Penh Post (phnompenhpost.com), the Cambodia Daily or other reliable sources to make sure that Thai-Cambodian tensions are not rising.

According to the Cambodian Mine Action Center (www.cmac.org.kh), the immediate vicinity of the temple is now safe, having been cleared in recent years of more than 8,800 anti-personnel mines. However, nearby areas are still heavily mined, so do not, under any circumstances, wander off the footpaths.

WHAT TO READ

The most useful guidebook in English (and Thai) to the temple’s architecture, symbolism and history is “Preah Vihear” by Vittorio Roveda (Bangkok: River Books, 2000), but it may be difficult to find.

Labels: Preah Vihear, Preah Vihear, Thailand

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Thursday, September 17, 2009

Cambodia deploys police for Thai border protest

Source: AFP

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia deployed riot police Thursday at an ancient temple on the disputed border with Thailand where Thai protesters are due to hold a protest at the weekend, the defence ministry said.

Thailand's royalist "Yellow Shirt" movement says it will rally on Saturday near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple to demand that the government push Cambodian forces out of the area.

The disputed frontier around the temple has been the scene of several deadly clashes between Thai and Cambodian forces since the ruins were granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.

Cambodian defence ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat said at least 50 police with dogs, batons, and tear gas have been deployed at the temple ahead of the demonstration.

More...

Labels: Preah Vihear

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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Cambodia rebukes Thailand

Minister Hor Namhong (left) gestures with repeated comments made by top Thai government officials over the complaint to withdraw Preah Vihear temple from World Heritage site. --PHOTO: AP

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA on Saturday rebuked Thailand for reopening a debate over an ancient temple on their disputed border that has led to seven soldiers being killed.

High-ranking Thai officials this week asked world heritage body Unesco to reconsider its decision to formally list the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, as ownership of land surrounding the ruins is still in dispute.

Soldiers from Cambodia and Thailand continue to patrol the area and occasional outbreaks of violence between them have triggered gunbattles that have killed seven troops in the past year.

But Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters that soldiers would be ready to defend their land again if necessary.

'Cambodia welcomes Thailand militarily, diplomatically, internationally or through peaceful negotiations,' Hor Namhong said.

'(But) it (border fighting) has happened twice... (so) if they want to send their troops to Cambodia a third time, we will welcome them too,' he said.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva made a one-day visit to Cambodia last week in an attempt to push forward border talks, but his subsequent comments only appear to have reignited the dispute.

'I heard that the second Thai commander on the border put his troops on alert and I'd like to tell them that Cambodian soldiers are also on alert,' Mr Hor Namhong added.

Cambodia and Thailand have been at loggerheads over the land around the Preah Vihear temple for decades, but tensions spilled over into violence last July when the temple was granted UN World Heritage status.

The border between the two countries has never been fully demarcated, in part because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia. -- AFP

Labels: Hor Nam Hong, Preah Vihear, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Unesco, world heritage

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

CNN: Claimed by two nations 1:33

Claimed by two nations 1:33 CNN's Dan Rivers takes us on a journey along the front line in the border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.

Labels: Preah Vihear, Thailand, War

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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Thai, Cambodia armies to Meet After Border Battle

Cambodian soldiers sit in a truck at Sraem village, Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 16, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (More Photos)

Cambodian villagers, seen, leaving Anlong Veng, Cambodia, near the Thai border, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008. A tense border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia erupted into a gunbattle that killed two soldiers Wednesday, but officials from both sides downplayed the violence and called for resolving the conflict through talks, not bullets. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Wern Champasak (C), Thailand's chief of border communication, sits with a Cambodian soldier after surrendering at Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh October 15, 2008. Cambodia's army captured 10 Thai soldiers on Wednesday after a battle along a disputed stretch of border near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Cambodian soldiers sit on an armored vehicle at Sraem village in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 16, 2008. Thai and Cambodian troops fired rockets and small arms at each other on a disputed stretch of border on Wednesday, killing two Cambodians and prompting Bangkok to tell its citizens to return home. Both sides accused each other of firing first in the clash, which comes amid huge political instability in Bangkok, with protesters in a long-running street campaign urging the army to launch a coup against the elected government.
REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

By Chor Sokunthea

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (Reuters) - Thai and Cambodian military commanders prepared for talks across their disputed border on Thursday after the most serious clash in years left two Cambodian soldiers dead and 10 Thais in Cambodian hands.

Despite Wednesday's 40-minute exchange of rocket and gun fire, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said a scheduled meeting to resolve arguments over the jungle frontier would go ahead, suggesting escalation was not inevitable.

"It is a good sign that we can start to solve this conflict," he told reporters in Phnom Penh after an emergency meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen about the fighting near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple.

"We consider this an incident between soldiers and not an invasion by Thailand," Hor Namhong said.

The talks were due to begin at 11 a.m. at a location near the disputed temple, known to Thais as Khao Phra Viharn.

Thai regional army commander Wiboonsak Neeparn told Reuters the meeting would focus on the cause of Wednesday's clash and how to ratchet down tensions on the border, where both sides have rushed reinforcements.

There has been no word on the exchange of 10 Thai prisoners, whose existence Bangkok is officially denying.

Hor Namhong said the group, who were photographed by a Reuters photographer under Cambodian guard, would be properly treated and returned to Thailand if Bangkok requested.

Bangkok has urged its citizens to leave Cambodia, mindful of the 2003 torching of its embassy and Thai businesses in Phnom Penh by a nationalist mob incensed by a row over Angkor Wat, another ancient temple.

"Thai businessmen who have no need to be in Cambodia now, please rush back to Thailand," Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat told reporters, adding that the military had an evacuation plan ready if needed.

In 2003, Thai commandos flew into Phnom Penh airport in the middle of the night to help evacuate 600 Thais during the riots.

Security was beefed up outside the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh, with 20 military police armed with assault rifles standing guard.

Both sides accused each other of firing first in the clash, which comes amid huge political instability in Bangkok, with protesters in a long-running street campaign urging the army to launch a coup against the elected government.

"The Thai military are very much under pressure to protect the national sovereignty and territory," Panitan Wattanayagorn, a military analyst at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University said.

(Additional reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan in Kantaralak)
(Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Valerie Lee)

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Development & Analysis:
by Cambodian Information Center

Thais Attacked at 3 Different Places (Phnom Trap - 1,600 meters from the border, Pagoda Keo Sikha Kiri Svara- 700 meters from the border, & the Veal Intry area - 1,120 meters from the border) Deep Inside the Cambodian Territory. Two-hour gunfire started 2:15 p.m. local time. 2 Cambodian soldiers were killed & 2 others injured. 6 Thai soldiers were injured & 10 others captured

300,000 Thai troops equipped by the United States
Royal Cambodian Armed Forces are experienced former fighters of the Khmer Rouge
Both sides were facing off about 100 metres apart
Wen - Oct. 15, 08 - Second Clash: Thais Attacked at 3 Different Places: Two-hour gunfire started 2:15 p.m. local time. 2 Cambodian soldiers killed & 2 others injured. 4 Thai soldiers injured & 10 others captured
Tues - Oct. 14, 08 - Thailand's Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat meeting with military leaders and moving additional troops and weapons closer to a disputed border area.
Mon - Oct. 13, 08 - PM Hun Sen Set Tuesday @ 12:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) as the ultimate time for over 80 Thai troops to withdraw from the Veal Intry area after ending his meeting with visiting Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat in Phnom Penh
Fri - Oct. 10, 08 - The official visit of Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to Cambodia has been canceled
Mon - Oct. 6, 08 - 2 Thai soldiers were injured after stepping on a landmine
Fri - Oct. 3, 08 - First Clash by Angry Finger-Pointing: Two Thai soldiers and one Cambodian soldier were injured
July 22, 2008 - Thai troops with artilleries and tanks building up along the border
July 15, 2008 - The Thai military build-up began, when Cambodian guards briefly detained three Thais who crossed into the area and refused to leave
July, 8 2008, the UNESCO recognized Prasat Preah Vihear to the World Heritage
1979 - Thai soldiers forced Cambodian refugees across a minefield along Dangrek Mountains. Hundreds were shot or blown to pieces
June 15, 1962, Hague Internaional Court of Justice rulled that Preah Vihear Temple lay in Cambodia territory

Labels: Preah Vihear, Thailand, War

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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

BREAKING NEWS: Thais Attacked at 3 Different Places

BREAKING NEWS ALERT: Thais Attacked at 3 Different Places (Phnom Trap - 1,600 meters from the border, Pagoda Keo Sikha Kiri Svara- 700 meters from the border, & the Veal Intry area - 1,120 meters from the border) Deep Inside the Cambodian Territory. Two-hour gunfire started 2:15 p.m. local time. 2 Cambodian soldiers killed & 2 others injured. 4 Thai soldiers injured & 10 others captured

A Cambodian commander talks on a two-way radio after fighting broke out with Thai soldiers near Preah Vihear temple. Thailand and Cambodia exchanged fire in a clash over disputed land which left two soldiers dead and several wounded. (AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

A Cambodian solider crouches in a trench during fighting near Eagle field near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh October 15, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

A Cambodian soldier examines the body of a colleague who was killed near Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, some 543 kilometers north of Phnom Penh on October 15, 2008. (AFP)

A Cambodian soldier (L) sits next to surrendered Thai troops at Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh October 15, 2008. Cambodia's army captured 10 Thai soldiers on Wednesday after a battle along a disputed stretch of border near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Thai troops sit after surrendering at Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh October 15, 2008. Cambodia's army captured 10 Thai soldiers on Wednesday after a battle along a disputed stretch of border near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

A Cambodian solider looks at Thai weapons after fighting at Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh October 15, 2008. Thai and Cambodian troops fired rockets and small arms at each other on a disputed stretch of border on Wednesday, killing two Cambodians and prompting Bangkok to tell its citizens to return home. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

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BREAKING NEWS: Fighting erupts in border dispute

Fighting Erupts in Border Dispute

(AP): A gunfight has broken out between Thai and Cambodian troops at a disputed border zone, escalating a conflict that officials from both sides fear could result in a war between the neighbours.

"Fighting is going on," said Major Prum Saroeun, a Cambodian police official. "Soldiers in the field say that Thai troops fired first and our troops fired back."

Thailand's army spokesman Sansern Kaewkumnerd said Cambodian troops fired the first shot.

"Fighting is ongoing at the border and we are currently getting more details," he said. "As far as we know, the Cambodians fired at the Thai troops first."

It was not immediately clear how many troops were engaged in the gunbattle and if there were any fatalities.

The clash came a day after Cambodia's prime minister issued an ultimatum to Thailand to pull back its soldiers from disputed territory near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple.

Thailand's foreign minister Sompong Amornvivat has urged Thais to leave Cambodia as soon as possible.

Thailand put jet fighters on alert at air force bases nationwide and C-130 transport planes on standby at a base in the capital, Bangkok, to evacuate Thais living in the border area "if the tension escalates to a military confrontation," Thai air force official Group Captain Montol Satchukorn said.

"Our forces are on alert and ready to support the army's possible operations on the border," he said.

"These are just precautionary measures. It's not that we are going to war."

Labels: Preah Vihear, Thailand, War

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BREAKING NEWS: Thai and Cambodia Troops Exchange Border Gunfire

Thai and Cambodia Troops Exchange Border Gunfire

Wed 15 Oct 2008, 7:59 GMT

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (Reuters) - Thailand urged its nationals to leave Cambodia on Wednesday after troops from both countries exchanged gunfire when a long-simmering border dispute turned violent.

Each side accused the other of firing first at a stretch of the border near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple that both sides claim.

The International Court of Justice awarded the 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) patch of scrub to Cambodia in 1962, a ruling that has rankled in Thailand ever since.

The issue has become highly politicised again in Thailand, with opposition protesters who for months have laid siege to the government adopting it as one of their causes.

Tensions have been high since July, when 2,000 soldiers faced off only yards apart in trenches dug into a hillside that until 10 years ago was under the control of remnants of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot's guerrilla army.

On Monday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to turn the area into a "death zone" unless the Thais withdrew troops by midday Tuesday.

A Reuters photographer at the scene said he had to take cover amid rocket and small-arms fire when fighting erupted on Wednesday.

"I heard gunfire all over the place," Chor Sokunthea said by telephone. "One rocket flew from Thailand over my head and landed. I have to find a safe place to hide."

There was no immediate word on casualties.

The Thai military said it was ready for war and the Foreign Ministry told Thais to "think twice" before visiting Cambodia, only five years after a nationalist mob torched the embassy in Phnom Penh in an argument about another ancient Hindu temple.

"Thai businessmen who have no need to be in Cambodia now, please rush back to Thailand," Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat told reporters on Wednesday.

"We have our evacuation plan ready," he added.

The Thai stock market dropped 2.2 in the immediate aftermath of news of Wednesday's firing, but it was not immediately clear if it was a direct consequence.

Singapore and Indonesia have asked both sides to show restraint.

(Writing by David Fox; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Labels: Preah Vihear, Thailand, War

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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Thailand Sends More Troops to Cambodian Border

Thai soldiers stand guard near a pagoda close to Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia. Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs Tuesday of resolving their long-simmering spat over a disputed border area near an ancient temple, with Bangkok insisting its troops would remain in place. (AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)

Thailand Sends More Troops to Cambodian Border

By Nopporn Wong-Anan and Ek Madra

BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Thailand sent more soldiers to a disputed stretch of the Cambodian border near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple on Tuesday, a Thai general said, hours after a Cambodian general said Thai troops had pulled back.

Eastern Region Commander Vibulsak Neepan said troops from both sides had retreated slightly but were facing off about 100 metres apart and Bangkok was sending in reinforcements in case the dispute escalated.

"The situation is quite tense at the front line," Lieutenant-General Vibulsak told Channel 3 television.

"We have mobilised more troops and heavy artillery to the area, just enough to resist and retaliate."

His comments came shortly after Cambodian commander General Chea Mon told Reuters by telephone from the border that nearly 100 Thai soldiers alleged to have made an incursion onto Cambodian soil had retreated.

"The situation seems to have returned to normal," he said. "Our troops are occupying the area where the Thai troops have pulled out."

Vibulsak admitted Thai soldiers had entered a disputed "no-man's land" on the border after getting permission from the Cambodian side, as is normally required, but said they were only there to inspect landmines.

On Monday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to turn the area into a "death zone" unless the Thais retreated by midday Tuesday (6 a.m. British time).

The Thai military said it was ready for war and the Foreign Ministry told Thais to "think twice" before visiting Cambodia, only fives years after a nationalist mob torched the embassy in Phnom Penh in an argument about another ancient Hindu temple.

Singapore and Indonesia asked both sides to show restraint.

Tensions have been high since July, when 2,000 soldiers faced off only yards apart in trenches dug into a hillside that until 10 years ago was under the control of remnants of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot's guerrilla army.

At the heart of the dispute is 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) of scrub near the temple, which the International Court of Justice awarded to Cambodia in 1962, a ruling that has rankled in Thailand ever since.

The dispute flared in July after protesters trying to overthrow the Thai government attacked Bangkok's backing of Phnom Penh's bid to list the Hindu ruins as a World Heritage site.

(Additional reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak and Nopporn Wong-Anan)

(Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Paul Tait)

Labels: Preah Vihear, Thailand

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Thai PM: Negotiations to Resolve Border Problem with Cambodia

BANGKOK, Oct 14 (TNA) - Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat reaffirmed Tuesday that Thailand "will hold negotiations and not use any force" in a bid to end the ongoing border dispute with its neighbour Cambodia.

Speaking to a press conference after holding a meeting with commanders of the three armed forces and senior security officers, Mr. Somchai said the Thai military will stand guard inside Thai territory while negotiations aimed at finding a peaceful solution will be held next week.

A working level meeting is scheduled to be held Wednesday while the military of both countries have agreed to convene a special meeting of the Regional Border Committee next Tuesday.

The planned meetings were urgently arranged after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen reportedly spoke to the media, shortly after ending his meeting with visiting Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat in Phnom Penh on Monday that Thai troops must be withdrawn from the disputed border area near the ancient Preah Vihear temple immediately or risk a large-scale armed conflict.

To date, Thai forces are now posted in Thai territory and "peace" still prevails in the disputed area, said Mr. Somchai, also defence minister, adding that the two neighbouring countries are "still good friends".

Meanwhile, commanders of the Thai three armed forces held a special meeting chaired by military commander Gen. Songkitti Jaggabatara and unanimously agreed that Thai soldiers would continue to patrol disputed area around the Preah Vihear temple because the ownership of the area is not yet settled, according to Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd.

Relations between the two countries, both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, flared up in July after the 11th century temple which belongs to Cambodia was awarded heritage status by the UNESCO.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia, but the 4.6 square kilometre area adjacent to the temple remains at issue between the two countries.

Stressing that the Thai military is now ready for armed confrontation to protect Thai sovereignty, Col. Sansern said the army has already coordinated with other armed forces to evacuate Thais living in Cambodia and bring them home in case the situation gets out of control.

Col. Sansern noted that problem on the disputed area has continued for a long time but has become worsen only recently and this is probably because Cambodia wants to brings the issue to the international level. (TNA)

Labels: Preah Vihear, Thailand

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Thailand Increasing Presence on Cambodia Border

By SE Asia correspondent Karen Percy and wires

Thailand is moving additional troops and weapons closer to a disputed border area with Cambodia.

Earlier, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen issued an ultimatum for the Thais to leave the area or face attack.

When the deadline had passed Cambodia claimed the Thai soldiers withdrew, while the Thais denied that.

A regional army commander in Thailand has told the local media that the military is increasing its presence near the Preah Vihear temple but would not specify how many soldiers, nor what type of armaments are being mobilised.

Both sides have had several thousands troops on stand-by since a border flare up in July.

Thailand's new Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat held a lengthy meeting with military leaders and told reporters that they will do what is needed to protect Thailand's sovereignty.

He emphasised that Thailand would not attack first.

The area has been the centre of a decades long dispute between the two countries.

At the heart of the dispute is 4.6 square kilometres of scrub near the temple, which the International Court of Justice awarded to Cambodia in 1962, a ruling that has rankled many in Thailand ever since.

Tensions have been high since July, when around 1,000 soldiers on both sides faced off only yards apart in trenches dug into a hillside that until 10 years ago was under the control of remnants of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot's guerrilla army.

- ABC/Reuters

Labels: Preah Vihear, Thailand

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Thai troops leave Cambodia border

Thai Troops Leave Cambodia Border

(Asia Pacific News)Thai soldiers have pulled back from a disputed stretch of the border with Cambodia near an ancient temple after Cambodia's leader threatened Thailand with "armed clashes".

General Chea Mon of the Cambodian army, said on Tuesday that Thai troops had "pulled out from our land" shortly before the expiry of a noon deadline set by Hun Sen, the Cambodian prime minister.

After meeting Thailand's foreign minister on Monday, Hun Sen had said "armed clashes" would erupt if Thai troops continued to "trespass" over the border.

"We told them that if they do not stop [trespassing], armed clashes will break out," Hun Sen told reporters, warning that the area could become "a life-and-death battleground".

Disputed area

Hun Sen's meeting with Sompong Amornwiwat, Thailand's foreign minister, was the latest effort to ease tensions over a territorial dispute that earlier this month sparked a brief exchange of gunfire at the border that injured one Cambodian and two Thai soldiers.

Both countries have long claimed Preah Vihear, but the World Court awarded it to Cambodia in 1962.

Sovereignty over some of the land around the temple, however, has not been clearly resolved.

Tensions flared in July when the UN accepted Cambodia's submission to name Preah Vihear a World Heritage site, with both countries deploying troops to the border.

There has been a limited troop withdrawal from the area since, and talks have been held several times to resolve the conflicting claims, but without much progress.

In a statement issued after Monday's meeting, Cambodia's foreign ministry called for more talks to "avoid further unwarranted hostilities".

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Cambodia: Thai troops retreat from disputed border

Thai soldiers pull back from Cambodian border

PHNOM PENH (Reuters): Thai soldiers pulled back from a disputed stretch of the Cambodian border Tuesday, a Cambodian general on the scene said, shortly before the expiry of a conflict deadline set by Phnom Penh.

"They pulled out from our land," General Chea Mon told Reuters by phone from the vicinity of the Preah Vihear temple, which lies at the heart of the border dispute.

"The situation seems to have returned to normal," he said.

(Reporting by Ek Madra; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Darren Schuettler)

===============

Cambodia: Thai troops retreat from disputed border

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian army official says Thai troops have retreated from a disputed border ahead of a noon deadline issued by Cambodia's prime minister.

Cambodian Brig. Gen. Yim Pin, tells The Associated Press that all Thai troops had retreated from the contested area.

Yim Pin said Tuesday that "The tense situation has now eased."

Earlier, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had warned Thailand to withdraw troops by noon or face unspecified consequences.

A day earlier, Hun Sen had warned that "armed clashes will break out" if Thai troops did not retreat.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's prime minister issued an ultimatum to Thailand to withdraw troops from a disputed border area by noon Tuesday.

Prime Minister Hun Sen's warning came amid rising tensions over a stretch of border near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, which has been a source of dispute between the two countries for decades.

Hun Sen accused Thai troops of advancing on a border area called Eagle Field near the temple in an attempt to occupy Cambodian land.

"They must withdraw," Hun Sen said. "I have set the timeline for them to withdraw by 12 o'clock." Noon in Cambodia is 1 a.m. EDT.

"At any cost, we will not allow Thai troops to invade this area. I would like to be clear about this," Hun Sen said. He added that he had ordered Cambodia's army chiefs to "take full responsibility over this area. It is a life-and-death battle zone."

Thailand's Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said he had ordered the army to "take care of the situation so there is no violence."

"We do not object to redeployment so there is no confrontation," Somchai told reporters, adding that he was not aware of Hun Sen's deadline.

Both countries have long claimed Preah Vihear, but the World Court awarded it to Cambodia in 1962. However, sovereignty over some of the land around the temple has not been clearly resolved.

Tensions flared July 15 after UNESCO, the U.N. agency, approved Cambodia's bid to have the Preah Vihear temple named a World Heritage Site. Both sides deployed troops to the border.

A brief gunfight broke out between the two sides early this month, with one Cambodian and two Thai soldiers wounded. Both sides claimed the other fired first and blamed each other for being on the wrong side of the border. Three days later, two Thai soldiers lost legs when they stepped on land mines in the area.

Hun Sen met Monday with Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat, but the meeting appeared to end without a resolution.

He said Monday, "We told them that if they do not stop (trespassing), armed clashes will break out."

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Monday, August 18, 2008

Thai, Cambodian FMs Meet Again for Border Dispute

CHA-AM (PHETCHBURI), Thailand, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Ministers from Thailand and Cambodia met Monday at a central Thai resort for a second-round ministerial talks on a border dispute.

Thai Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag greeted his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong and the two had a diner together Monday evening at a hotel in Cha-am district, Phetchburi province in central Thailand, some 220 kilometers southwest Bangkok, near the beach resort town Hua Hin.

The meeting was to start officially on Tuesday morning here, ina bid to find a peaceful solution to a long border dispute regarding areas around the ancient Khmer-style Hindu temple of Preah Vihear, the 11th-century ruins listed recently as World Heritage, and to lay down foundations for future cooperation on demarcation and demining work along a 4.6-sq kilometers disputed border area.

Taking apart in the meeting also include Lt. Gen Sujit Sithiparpa, Thailand's Second Army Commander who is responsible for security in the northeastern region including the disputed area, and his Cambodian counterpart Gen. Chea Mon, Cambodia's Fourth Army Commander.

As a good gesture ahead of the talks, the two sides began pulling out their troops, believed at over 1,000 from each side earlier, stationed around the Preah Vihear Temple, which sits at the border between Thai northeastern province of Si Sa Ket and Cambodia's Preah Vihear province.

Only about ten soldiers from each side remain at a pagoda near the Preah Vihear temple now after the pull-out since Saturday, and some 20 others from each at areas nearby for patrol.

The military stand-off, which has seen a quick increase of military personnel along the disputed border zone by each side, started after three Thais, including a monk, were briefly detained by Cambodian authorities on July 15 for "intruding Cambodian territory" by breaking into the Preah Vihear temple compound to declare Thai sovereignty over the temple.

The temple was awarded to Cambodia in a 1962 verdict of the International Court of Justice, which some Thais have been reluctant to accept. The dispute became a hot issue when Cambodia launched efforts to bid for the listing of the temple as a World Heritage Site last year.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee approved Cambodia's application early last month, triggering a wave of national sentiment in Thailand urging the Thai government to take counter actions in defense of territorial sovereignty.

Then Thai foreign minister Noppadon Pattama was forced to resign last month for signing a joint communique to endorse Thai support for Cambodia's World Heritage bid without prior parliament approval, which was later held unconstitutional. Veteran diplomat Tej was appointed as the successor just in time for the first ministerial talks on July 28 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, which produced no breakthrough but an agreement to reduce military deployment along the disputed border.

Thai Foreign Ministry officials reiterated to Xinhua that the Thai side did not instigate the situation by deploying more troops to the disputed area around the Preah Vihear temple, but that Thai authorities had sent letters to Cambodian government a few times to protest the setting up of Cambodian communities around the disputed border area in breach of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by two sides in 2000, which was long before the July 15 incident.

The Cambodian authorities had not acted in response to Thailand' protests, the Thai officials said.

On Monday morning, Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Army chief General Anupong Paochinda inspected border points near the Preah Vihear temple.

Reports from Phnom Penh quoted Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong as saying before leaving for Thailand on Monday that he was optimistic about the second bilateral meeting "to seek peaceful resolution to withdraw the troops totally from the Keo Sikha Kiri Svara Pagoda and the surrounding areas of the Preah Vihear Temple."

Following the meeting, Hor Namhong will also be granted an audience by the Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej Tuesday afternoon at the royal summer palace in Hua Hin, where the King now resides, before going back to Cambodia.

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