Thai, Cambodian leaders to discuss border dispute

The International Herald Tribune

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodia’s prime minister plans to meet with his Thai counterpart later this week to discuss the tense border dispute between the two Southeast Asian neighbors, Cambodian officials said Monday.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat will meet on the sidelines of a summit of leaders from Asia and the European Union that opens in Beijing on Friday, said Sri Thamrongk, an adviser to Hun Sen.

A Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Koy Kuong, said the “ current standoff at the Cambodian-Thai border” will be the most important topic at the talks.

Somchai said he plans to attend the summit but could not confirm whether he would meet Hun Sen.

“ I don’t know if the Foreign Ministry has scheduled me to hold talks with my Cambodian counterpart,” Somchai told reporters in Bangkok.

It would be the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since a deadly gunbattle erupted Oct. 15 between Thai and Cambodian soldiers in a disputed border area near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple.

The fighting, which killed two Cambodian soldiers and wounded 10 from both sides, sparked fears of war between the countries.

Thai army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkumnerd said earlier that military officials from the two sides agreed last Thursday to hold joint patrols to minimize the chance of new clashes.

But Gen. Ke Kim Yan, commander in chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, denied any deal for joint patrols had been reached. He said the two countries had only agreed to maintain their current troop deployments in the disputed area and inform each other about any troop movements to prevent further misunderstanding.

Last week’s fighting was the latest flare-up in a decades-old dispute over a stretch of jungle near the Preah Vihear temple. The World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but sovereignty over surrounding land has never been clearly resolved.

Hun Sen, accompanied by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh, left Monday for a weeklong visit to China. They planned to attend a trade exposition before heading to Beijing.

Thai, Cambodian troops exchange gunfire on border: Cambodia

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (AFP) — Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged gunfire Wednesday along their border, a Cambodia army commander said, as a row over a disputed patch of land appeared to be escalating.

“ Cambodian and Thai troops are opening fire at each other now,” Brigadier General Bun Thean told AFP from the scene.

“ Our troops prevented Thai troops from entering our territory, but they started to open fire at our troops right away,” he said, adding there was “ heavy gunfire” at two areas near Preah Vihear temple.

Reporters with local Thai television confirmed they witnessed both sides exchanging gunfire.

Thai government and military officials could not be reached immediately for comment.

Cambodia had earlier said that 500 Thai troops were massing near a disputed patch of land near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, while Thai television showed images of tanks heading to the area.

“ They are coming near now. They are just about 50 to 60 meters (165 to 195 feet) away from the area,” Bun Thean said.

No Thai officials were available to confirm any fresh deployment of troops, but Thailand’s Channel Seven — a military-run television station — also reported Wednesday that both sides had reinforced soldiers in the area.

Tensions between the neighbours flared again this week after failed talks on Monday aimed at cooling a months-long stand off over land near Preah Vihear, a United Nations cultural heritage site which is in Cambodian territory.

On Tuesday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen issued an ultimatum to the Thai side after he accused 84 Thai soldiers of entering one of a handful of disputed areas — leave before midday or risk conflict.

Cambodian officials insisted that the troops did leave before the deadline, but Thailand’s foreign minister said they were standing their ground.

Witnesses along the border said the situation was a little calmer on Wednesday, despite the increase in troops.

“ The situation is calmer. Nothing has changed yet,” Cambodian Brigadier General Yim Pim told AFP.

The spat between the neighbours first flared in July after Preah Vihear was awarded World Heritage status by the UN cultural body UNESCO, angering some Thai nationalists who still claim ownership of the site.

The situation quickly escalated into a military confrontation, with up to 1,000 Cambodian and Thai troops facing off for six weeks, although both sides in August agreed to reduce troop numbers in the disputed area.

Thai, Cambodian military postpone border dispute meeting

BANGKOK, Oct 15 (TNA) – Thai and Cambodian authorities have postponed an operational level meeting from Wednesday to Thursday, and tensions at the border near Preah Vihear temple has slightly eased, Lt-Gen. Wiboonsak Neepal, 2nd Army Area Commander said Wednesday. 

Gen. Viboonsak, the regional army commander for the northeast told Modernine TV that the meeting to be held at the operational level Thursday near the disputed temple will discuss troop deployments by the two countries for the satisfaction of both sides to avoid any problem that might occur. 

Information discussed will be presented to a higher level meeting, he said, while reaffirming the Thai military’s policy to continue a presence in all of Thailand’s border areas. 

The border tension escalated on Tuesday following Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ultimatum to Thailand to withdraw its troops from a disputed area near the ancient Khmer Preah Vihear temple by midday Tuesday. 

While Cambodia said Thai troops had retreated ahead of the deadline, the Thai side denied that any troops had been pulled back.

Villagers in seven villages in Si Sa Ket’s Kantharalak district have been prepared for possible evacuation if the border tension develops into military action. 

In nearby Surin province, also bordering Cambodia, Cambodian troops were deployed to border areas near Ta Muen Thom and Ta Kwai temples. Thai troops are stationed at Ta Muen Thom, which remains open for tourists and unarmed Cambodian soldiers. 

Thai and Cambodian travellers are still at Surin’s Chong Jom border pass in Surin but some Cambodian traders closed their shops and returned their goods across the border. However, all shops in Cambodian’s Orsamet are closed. 

Meanwhile, the two Thai-Cambodian border markets in Chanthaburi’s Soi Dao district are quiet with few Cambodian traders. Chairman of the local entrepreneurs club at the Thai- Cambodian border in Chanthaburi Sombat Chuengtrakul admitted the border dispute and negative rumours about it had caused more than half the two markets’ shops, stalls and kiosks to close. 

However, the atmosphere at the Thai-Cambodian border of Sa Kaeo’s Aranyaprathet district was normal after the border crossing opened at 7am. As on any day, many Cambodian traders from Poipet were waiting to step into Thailand to do business at Rong Klua market. (TNA)

Tensions ease as Thai and Cambodian troops withdraw from temple

Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia are easing after a monthlong military standoff over the Preah Vihear temple on their mutual border has ended with the withdraw of most of the troops from the area.

Relations between the neighbours flared up last month after Preah Vihear, which belongs to Cambodia, was awarded heritage status by the United Nations, angering nationalists in Thailand who still claim ownership of the 11th century Khmer temple.

On July the 15th Cambodia arrested three Thai protesters for illegally crossing the border to try to reach the temple, sparking the deployment of troops from both sides on a tiny patch of disputed land near Preah Vihear.

More than 1,000 fully armed soldiers from both countries were deployed around a small pagoda near the temple.

A senior Cambodian military official says 10 soldiers from each side will remain in the pagoda’s compound while another 20 from each side will remain in the disputed border area near the ancient temple.

The next round of talks at the foreign ministerial level will be held in Thailand’s Hua Hin beach resort tomorrow to settle remaining differences between the two nations.

Source: ABC Radio

Cambodia: Thai PM plans to visit Preah Vihear area

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is scheduled to visit the area near the Preah Vihear Temple in the eponymous Cambodian province, English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily Friday quoted official as saying.

“ He has a plan to visit the Preah Vihear area, not the Preah Vihear Temple,” said Cambodian Information Minister and government spokesman Khieu Kanharith, adding that specifics on the visit are yet unavailable.

“ We will welcome (Samak) if he visits there,” he said.

Meanwhile, Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Cambodian Council of Ministers, said that Samak needs to inform the Cambodian government before visiting the disputed area near the temple.

He dismissed the possibility of the visit on Saturday, because Samak is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

Cambodia and Thailand will hold the second foreign ministers’ meeting in Thailand on Aug. 18 to seek peaceful solution to the 25-day-long military standoff over border dispute.

On July 15, Thai troops went into the border area to fetch three trespassers who had intended to claim Thai sovereignty over the Preah Vihear Temple. The troops stationed there ever since, thus triggering the military stalemate.

In the following days, both sides gradually increased their military personnel to a thousand-strong at the border area to showoff their determination for territorial sovereignty.

During the time, Thai troops occupied one pagoda and one temple that the Cambodian government claimed should belong to its kingdom.

The Preah Vihear Temple straddles the Cambodian-Thai border atop the Dangrek Mountain and was listed as a World Heritage Site on July 7 by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice decided that the 11-century temple and the land around belongs to Cambodia, which rankled the Thais and has led to continuous disputes in late years.

Cambodian PM says Thai temple row must be resolved

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Thailand and Cambodia must bury the hatchet in a dispute over a 900-year-old Hindu temple, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday, further easing fears the spat would escalate into military confrontation.

“ We must not bring our countries to war just because of disputes on our border,” Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla who won re-election last month, said in a live television broadcast. He has been prime minister for the past 23 years.

“ We need to stay together as good neighbours for tens of thousands of years to come. We need to narrow our disputes and maximize bilateral cooperation, including trade,” he said, striking a very different tone from the nationalist rhetoric of his campaign trail last month.

Both countries have sent hundreds of soldiers and artillery to lay claim to 4.6 sq km of scrub near the Preah Vihear temple, which sits on the jungle-clad escarpment that separates the two southeast Asian countries.

Talks between the countries’ two foreign ministers the day after Cambodia’s July 27 general election yielded vows to sort out the spat peacefully, but both sides have been reluctant to be the first to withdraw troops for fear of being painted as weak.

Hun Sen said he hoped another meeting between the two foreign ministers in Thailand on Aug. 18 would help narrow the differences.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong will also pay a courtesy call to Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Hun Sen said.

He also said Phnom Penh was ready to withdraw its troops, echoing a Thai cabinet decision on Tuesday to assign a regional military commander to discuss troop “ re-deployment” to calm tensions.

The spat erupted last month when protest groups trying to overthrow the Thai government attacked Bangkok’s backing of Cambodia’s bid to list Preah Vihear as a U.N. World Heritage site.

Preah Vihear has been claimed by both sides for decades, but was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962, a ruling that has rankled in Thailand ever since.

The row spread at the weekend to a second temple on the border although a military stand-off at the Ta Moan Thom site was averted when Thai troops pulled out late on Tuesday.

Cambodia: Cambodian, Thai Troops Pull Back From 2nd Temple

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: Tension at a second border temple that is claimed by both Thailand and Cambodia has eased after troops of the two countries pulled back from the site, Cambodian officials said Wednesday (6 Aug).

Agreement for a troop withdrawal from the grounds of the 13th century Ta Moan Thom temple was reached during a meeting between officials from the two countries late Tuesday (5 Aug), said Maj. Ho Bunthy, a Cambodian army commander in the area.

The sanctuary is located several hundred miles (kilometers) west of Preah Vihear temple, where Cambodian and Thai soldiers have been locked in a standoff for three weeks in a dispute over nearby territory.

Thailand sent troops to the border area after UNESCO approved Cambodia’s application to have the temple complex named a World Heritage Site. Some Thai officials say the temple’s new status will jeopardize their country’s claims to land adjacent to the site.

About 800 troops from Cambodia and 400 from Thailand remain in the Preah Vihear area despite a tentative agreement reached by foreign ministers last week to redeploy them in an effort to ease tensions.

Officials met to mediate the latest dispute in the Cambodian border town of O’Smach in Oddar Meanchey province, about 290 miles (460 kilometers) northwest of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, Ho Bunthy said.

“ Now the situation has eased at the temple. There is no more armed confrontation” between the two sides’ soldiers, said Cambodian Maj. Sim Sokha, a deputy commander of an army border unit in the area.

He said the 70 Thai and 50 Cambodian soldiers, who faced off at the temple, are now back in their respective camps about 330 yards (300 meters) from the temple.

He said the temple is now opened to tourists from both countries.

The dispute surrounding Ta Moan Thom started when Cambodian officials said some 70 Thai soldiers started occupying the temple site last week and prevented Cambodian troops from entering. Thai military officials countered that their troops had been in the area for years.

Thai army commander Gen. Anupong Paojindasaid said Tuesday the temple is within “ Thai territory.”

Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh, however, said the temple “ is clearly under our sovereignty, and we have to demand it back.”

Ta Moan Thom temple was built in the 13th century as a rest house along a road linking the ancient city of Angkor with what is currently northeastern Thailand, said Chuch Phoeun of the Cambodian Ministry of Culture. (By SOPHENG CHEANG/ AP)

Cambodia demands Thai troops pull back

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia on Tuesday demanded that Thailand pull its troops back from a second temple site along their border, the latest in a series of territorial claims and counterclaims that have prompted armed tensions between the Asian neighbors.

The dispute surrounding the 13th century Ta Moan Thom temple started when Cambodian officials said some 70 Thai soldiers started occupying the temple site last week and prevented Cambodian troops from entering. Thai military officials countered that their troops had been in the area for years.

It is located several hundred miles west of the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, where Cambodian and Thai soldiers have been locked in a standoff for three weeks in a dispute over nearby land.

Thai army commander Gen. Anupong Paojindasaid said Tuesday the temple is within “ Thai territory.”

Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh, however, said the temple “ is clearly under our sovereignty, and we have to demand it back.”

“ Our position is to try to talk to them (Thai troops) and get them to withdraw to where they came from,” Cambodia’s Tea Banh told reporters Tuesday.

Cambodian Maj. Ho Bunthy, an army commander in the area, said Tuesday about 50 Cambodian soldiers were stationed near the Thai troops and another 200 deployed about 330 yards from the temple site.

Thailand’s Lt. Gen. Niphat Thonglek, chief of the Border Affairs Department, said Tuesday the Cambodian troops were normally allowed to enter the site because they usually came in small groups and they were unarmed.

“ Over the weekend, about 40 to 50 of them came and they were armed, so the Thai troops did not allow them in,” said Niphat.

Ta Moan Thom temple was built in the 13th century as a rest house along a road linking the ancient city of Angkor with what is currently northeastern Thailand, said Chuch Phoeun of the Cambodian Ministry of Culture.

That dispute erupted last month near the Hindu-style Preah Vihear when UNESCO approved Cambodia’s application to have the complex named a World Heritage Site. Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej had backed the bid, sparking anti-government demonstrations by Thais near the temple. Thailand then sent troops to the border area.

Thai government critics say the temple’s new status will jeopardize their country’s claims to land adjacent to the site.

About 800 troops from Cambodia and 400 from Thailand remain at a pagoda near the temple complex, despite a tentative agreement reached by foreign ministers last week to redeploy them in an effort to ease tensions.

Anupong, the Thai army chief, said the Thai troops were waiting for orders from the government.

Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said new talks with Thailand will have to wait until after a new government takes office in Phnom Penh following elections last month.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear to Cambodia. The decision still rankles many Thais even though the temple is culturally Cambodian, sharing the Hindu-influenced style of the more famous Angkor complex.

Although it is not as well known as the Angkor or Preah Vihear temples, Ta Moan Thom is another of the architectural wonders of the ancient Khmer empire.

Source: The Associated Press

Thais Adding Troops to Border: Commander

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer Original report from Phnom Penh

Thailand has added at least 100 soldiers to border positions near Preah Vihear temple, a Cambodian commander said Monday.

The addition of troops comes as both countries have been unable to solve a tense military standoff of thousands of troops and as Thailand secured military positions at another temple complex.

“ The Ministry of National Defense told us [Thursday] that in two days, there would be a withdrawal of troops, and the announcement passed through the Thai infantry to the Thai regional military, but since the announcement, it has been four days already,” said Maj. Gen. Srey Doeuk, commander of Military Region 4. “ The Thais did not withdraw their troops; contrarily, they deployed more than 100 soldiers west of the temple, and they are digging trenches.”

Officials said over the weekend Thailand had occupied and hardened defense lines in a temple complex where Cambodia claims two temples as its own. The Ta Moan temple complex is on the border of Oddar Meanchey province, west of Preah Vihear.

Officials also said Saturday a Thai soldier had died on the border, due to non-combat related injuries, but could not confirm the cause.

Bilateral talks last week led to promises of withdrawal on both sides, but no dates have been given and troops have not moved so far.

No new meetings have been scheduled between the two countries, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said.

“ The case is not in an alert situation,” he said. “ We are focusing on the preparation of the new government.”

Cambodia welcomes Thai boycott of certain commercial exchange

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) — Cambodian Commerce Minister ChamPrasidh on Sunday welcomed the Thai government’s recent decision to stop its fruit export to Cambodia and cancel its annual product exhibition in the kingdom.

“ Cambodia will not be affected” by this decision, he told Xinhua at the airport while receiving a senior Kuwaiti delegation.

It is a good thing that they stop fruit export and cancel product exhibition, because some Cambodians would become angry and destroy those products on show if they didn’t do so, he said.

“ It could make turmoil,” he said, adding that the 20-day-long military standoff between the two countries at the border area has made the Cambodian people reluctant to buy Thai products.

Dispute over the ownership of the Preah Vihear Temple in the eponymous Cambodian province and the land around it has propelled both sides to station over a thousand troops at the border area since July 15. All diplomatic efforts have failed so far to retrieve the situation.

Trade volume between Cambodia and Thailand stood at 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2007, a 10.56 percent increase over 2006, according to the figures released by the Cambodian Commerce Ministry in March this year.

Source: Xinhuo