Samak visits border troops, advises patience

The Bangkok Post
By Wassana Nanuam

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Monday advised soldiers guarding the border to be patient as Thailand and Cambodia attempt to resolve the row over the disputed area near the Preah Vihear temple through negotiations.

“All soldiers should help maintain ties between Thailand and Cambodia. You should be patient and ignore any attempt to cause rifts between the two countries,”the prime minister said during a visit yesterday to the border in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket, which is adjacent to Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province.

Mr Samak stressed the importance of Thai-Cambodian relations as the two countries are immediate neighbours and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

He hoped Cambodia would reduce troop numbers in the disputed area to the same level as Thailand.

Thailand has 300 troops in the 4.6-sqkm overlapping zone, while Cambodia has 500 in total, the prime minister said.

The Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers, Tej Bunnag and Hor Namhong, were to meet at an informal dinner last night in Cha-am district of Phetchaburi. They will co-chair the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meeting today.

Army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda visited the area and the Ta Moan Thom temple in Phanom Dong Rak sub-district in neighbouring Surin yesterday and said later he was not worried about the border situation in the area.

Neither country wanted a military stand-off, Gen Anupong said. He hoped the two ministers would agree at the JBC talks to withdraw more troops from the overlapping zone.

Thailand and Cambodia completed the first round of troop reductions on Sunday. The pullout agreement was reached at the JBC meeting in Siem Reap on July 28.

Hor Namhong was also optimistic that a new round of talks with Thailand would result in a lasting solution to the long-running border dispute.

“The meeting will achieve good success in resolving the problem step by step,” the Cambodian minister said in Phnom Penh before departing for Thailand.

Hor Namhong insisted his government wished to resolve the problem peacefully, amicably and by legal means. The two countries share “a lot of economic and trade interests”, he said. (with additional reporting by AFP)

Thailand, Cambodia Agree Not to Send Troops to 2ND Temple

SURIN, Aug 8, Asia Pulse – Thailand and Cambodia, which have exchanged new claims over a second disputed temple ruin on their mutual border, agreed Tuesday not to dispatch troops into the area in order to ease tensions along the border.

The agreement was reached following a closed-door half-an-hour talk between Maj-Gen. Kanok Netrakawesana, commander of Thailand’s Suranaree Task Force, and San Wanna, deputy governor of Cambodia’s Uddor Meanchey province, at the Task Force headquarters in Kap Choeng border district of Surin province.

Deputy Governor San Wanna later told journalists that the talks were held in a “positive atmosphere” and there would be no more problem. The Cambodian governor said the two countries agreed not to send troops into the disputed area.

The two neighbours are now locked in new unneighbourliness over the Ta Muen Thom ruins, which Thailand claims sit in the Thai border district of Phanom Dong Rak in the northeastern province of Surin, and Cambodia argues are in Cambodia’s Uddor Meanchey province.

Tensions in the area heightened after Gen. Boonsang Niempradit, Thai supreme commander, on Monday asked Cambodia to withdraw its soldiers from the temple environs. The demarcation boundary between the two countries has not yet been settled by the Thailand-Cambodia General Border Committee (GBC).

A Thai foreign ministry spokesman has said the Ta Muen Thom ruin is only one of a number of sites along the unclear boundary between the two countries.

Thailand is trying to conduct its actions under the framework of the GBC, he said, and the temple problem should also be discussed under that mechanism.

Thai Fine Arts officials at Ta Muen Thom ruin said Tuesday that Cambodians frequently visited the ruins, especially during April. The number of tourists visiting the site has now increased following reports of tensions in the area.

Theerawat Sudsook, Phanom Dong Rak district officer, said the overall situation along the common border in the district was still normal and that residents on both sides of the border were still communicating with each other normally.

On Monday last week, foreign ministers of the two countries agreed at a meeting in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province to redeploy their troops at Preah Vihear ancient temple and the area surrounding it in an attempt to reduce tensions along the border, but until the Thai Cabinet met Tuesday, neither side showed any sign of making the first move.

The Cabinet agreed “in principle” to reduce the presence of its military in the vicinity of the temple tension point on the border. However, Thai government spokesman Wichianchot Sukchotrat indicated no timetable or the numbers of troops to be pulled back from the frontier.

The International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia in 1962.

More than one thousand troops from both countries are still at Preah Vihear.

Source: Asia Pulse

Lights, Donations Ease Life for Troops

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer Original report from Phnom Penh

A Cambodian boy stands at the side of his father, a soldier posted at Preah Vihear temple.

As the Preah Vihear military standoff continued Thursday, Cambodian soldiers said they were happy to have at least a few comforts at their posts.

Entrenched high on an escarpment overlooking the Preah Vihear planes, and sometimes just meters away from Thai troops, the soldiers said they were happy for solar-powered lamps sent by Prime Minister Hun Sen, and for donations that have come in from Cambodian celebrities and others.

Cambodia soldiers are happy with the lights, and “we can use them for i-com or to charge mobile phones,” said Maj. Gen. Srey Doeuk, commander of the intervention unit of Military Division 12, which is securing Preah Vihear temple.

The lights have made patrols easier as well, he said.

Soldiers received donations every day from the government and NGOs, including fresh water, soy sauce and canned fish. Some people have even donated tents, he said.

The soldiers have enough to eat, he said, and seem to be “strong.” No one had a serious illness, though some of the soldiers have headaches and the flu, he said.

Sath Samy, an undersecretary at the Ministry of Mines and Industry, said 30 poles with solar-powered lamps had been installed around Preah Vihear temple, but 50 more were needed.

The foreign ministers of Thailand and Cambodia are scheduled for talks Aug. 18 to help resolve the crisis, which began July 15 after Preah Vihear temple was granted World Heritage status.

Thousands of troops have been posted on the border for the past three weeks, but no violence has been reported.

Two rounds of bilateral talks have so far failed to diffuse the standoff, and Cambodia has a request for discussion of the crisis at the UN Security Council, pending the outcome of this month’s talks.

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.”

Thailand Asks Cambodia To Withdraw Troops From Second Temple

BANGKOK (AFP)–Thailand’s military chief on Monday asked Cambodia to withdraw its soldiers from around a second Khmer ruin along their joint border, raising fears of a fresh territorial dispute.

General Boonsrang Niumpradit, head of Thailand’s armed forces, said he asked his Border Affairs Department to pass on the message to Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh.

“We ask Cambodia to move their soldiers, who are near the Ta Muen Thom temple, ” he said. “I have not received the response yet.”

Ta Muen Thom, known as Ta Moan Thom in Cambodia, lies west of the more well- known Preah Vihear temple, where more than 1,000 Thai and Cambodian troops have been stationed since a border dispute erupted last month.

Ta Muen Thom sits on one of many disputed areas along the border. Thai troops have been stationed there since 1998, officials from both countries say, but both sides lay claim to the land on which the Khmer ruin sits.

Boonsrang said a small group of Cambodian soldiers advanced either on Sunday or Monday towards the temple, which sits on the border between northern Cambodia and northeastern Thailand.

He denied that Thailand had increased the number of troops stationed at Ta Muen Thom, and he declined to comment on ownership of the ruin.

Relations between the neighbors 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 prized ruin.

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

During talks last week, Cambodia and Thailand both said they were willing to stand down the soldiers, but neither have shown signs of making the first move.

Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Monday that his side was committed to avoiding the “explosion of gunfire” along the frontier.

“The situation along the border has not yet reached emergency state,” he told reporters.

Source: AFP

Cambodia, Thailand to pull troops from temple

(CNN) — Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to redeploy some troops away from the site of a border temple at the center of a tense military standoff in its second week.

Thai soldiers take a rest near the Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province.

The decision came after the two sides met to resolve the impasse.

Government officials from both nations plan to meet again to decide how many troops will remain at the site of the Preah Vihear temple, the Thai News Agency reported Monday.

At a later meeting, the two sides plan to discuss how to tackle the thorny issue at the center of the ongoing dispute — the question of whether land around the temple belongs to Thailand or Cambodia.

The 11th century temple sits atop a cliff on Cambodian soil but has its most accessible entrance on the Thai side. The two countries differ on whether some territory around the temple forms part of Thailand or Cambodia.

The decision to redeploy troops took place after a Monday meeting in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Last week, an eight-hour meeting between Thai and Cambodian officials ended with both sides agreeing on only one point: that troops each country has amassed at the site of the temple will not fire on each other.

The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962. Thailand claims, however, that the 1.8 square mile (4.6 sq. km) area around it was never fully demarcated.

Thailand says the dispute arose from the fact that the Cambodian government used a map drawn during the French occupation of Cambodia — a map that places the temple and surrounding area in Cambodian territory.

This month, the United Nations approved Cambodia’s application to have the temple listed as a World Heritage Site — a place the U.N. says has outstanding universal value.

The decision re-ignited tensions, with some in Thailand fearing it will make it difficult for their country to lay claim to disputed land around the temple.

Opposition parties in Thailand used the issue to attack the government, which initially backed the heritage listing.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power since 1985, portrayed the U.N. recognition as a national triumph in the run-up to the general elections.

Analysts believe that the nationalist sentiments stirred up by the military standoff helped Hun Sen’s ruling party win enough seats in Sunday’s parliamentary elections so that it can form a government without the need for a coalition.

The current flare-up began July 15, when Cambodian guards briefly detained three Thais who crossed into the area. Once they were let go, the three refused to leave the territory.

Cambodia claims Thailand sent troops to retrieve the trio and gradually built up their numbers. Thailand denies that, saying its troops are deployed in Thai territory