The temple of gloom

Thailand's "active support" for the proposed inscription of Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage site is strongly highlighted in both words and pictures in Cambodia's main application document to Unesco.

The document, a copy of which was received yesterday by The Nation, features photos of Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama engaged in bilateral activities proclaimed to be progress towards reconciliation after decades of territorial dispute.

Disclosure of the document is likely to inflame the ongoing controversy, in which the besieged Samak government is accused of bypassing Parliament and the public alike in making crucial moves that carry possible effects on national sovereignty.

The document's key sections include Cambodia's insistence that the temple is under its sovereignty, the temple's cultural and historical value, international support for the temple's inscription and Thailand's virtual support for the nomination.

Whereas the controversy has centred on a joint communique between Thailand and Cambodia signed by Noppadon, the application document is likely to galvanise critics accusing the Samak government of either being naive and exploited by Phnom Penh or conspiring with the neighbouring government in exchange for political vested interests.

While critics have said the joint communique would put Thailand at a legal disadvantage if new territorial disputes arose in the area, the application document to Unesco could be perceived by some as a diplomatic embarrassment for Bangkok.

The Unesco document devotes considerable space to Cambodia's legal victory over Thailand in the International Court of Justice, detailing the court's rulings on why the contentious temple belongs to Cambodia. Then, only a few pages apart, the document goes on to highlight Thailand's "active support" for inscription.

Samak, whose photo taken during a visit to Phnom Penh in March was played up in the document, was cited as "confirming" Thailand's intention to support the inscription, as was Noppadon, whose photo was also given prominence in the document.

The Preah Vihear controversy will place the Samak government under fire in Parliament today, as the opposition Democrats are set to grill the decision virtually to give up Thailand's long-lasting sovereignty claims, which persisted even after the world court's ruling.

Key points in today's debate will likely include questions on whether the Samak government violated the Constitution in supporting the World Heritage-site push without consulting Parliament and whether it instead should have, for the inscription's sake, proposed a joint effort in which Thailand and Cambodia approached Unesco on more equal grounds.