Cambodianclaims being countered

By Wassana Nanuam

The army has stepped up its campaign to counter Cambodia's territorial claims over an overlapping border area around Preah Vihear temple.

The Suranaree military task force has set up a public relations and information dissemination centre at the office of the Preah Vihear national park, some eight kilometres from the temple ruins.

Veeravit Chornsamrit, deputy commander of the Second Army, has been assigned to oversee the divulgence of information.

An army source said previously the army did not allow reporters access to the disputed 4.6sqkm overlapping area for fear of possible leak of military secrets.

But they have now changed their position after seeing the Cambodian authorities permit their reporters into the area to report on the developments freely, the source said. Earlier, Thai reporters had been allowed into the area only twice- on July 20 and 24.

"This is a pro-active information operation. But Cambodian troops are now complaining. They don't want Thai reporters entering the area. We have refused to budge since the area also belongs to us," the same source said.

Maj-Gen Veeravit said media coverage on the issue generally lacked consistency, causing confusion among the people.

He said all is well and there is no tension. "Most importantly, there are no troop buildups. Even though the troops of both sides are standing face to face, they are on good terms."

They are acting on the orders of the the Thai-Cambodia General Border Committee (GBC), which has told them to maintain the spirit of brotherhood.