Thailand welcomes Hun Sen's call for peace

Thailand on Friday welcomes Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's desire to peacefully resolve the border conflict around the Preah Vihear temple through existing bilateral mechanisms.

Hun Sen on Wednesday said the dispute should be settled on a bilateral basis and through peaceful means, following the military standoff since the middle of last month.

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday welcoming Hun Sen's views, saying it also wished to find a peaceful solution to the Preah Vihear issue.

The statement said the dispute should be resolved by existing bilateral mechanisms, including meetings between the foreign ministers of both countries and the ThaiCambodian Joint Boundary Commission, and the General Border Committee.

The countries' foreign ministers are to hold their second meeting on the dispute later this month in Hua Hin.

Both countries agreed to redeploy their troops from the area following the first meeting between Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong in Siem Reap late last month.

Differences on boundary issues between the nieghbours are not unusual, the Thai Foreign Ministry statement said.

This issue is just one small part of the overall relations between Thailand and Cambodia. The two countries have a myriad of common interests and wideranging cooperation in economic, political, social and other dimensions, it said.