Thailand ready to mend border dispute with Cambodia

By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

Thailand reaffirmed its commitment to mend border disputes over Hindu temples with Cambodia through bilateral mechanisms when the country has a new Cabinet, newly elected Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said yesterday.

"I will convey a message to Phnom Penh that we will continue negotiations to resolve the problems," he told reporters after a meeting with senior officials at the Foreign Ministry.

The two countries convened two rounds of foreign minister meetings in July and August in Siem Reap and Cha Am respectively to settle the conflict over the Hindu temple of Pheah Vihear and set a timeline for talks on a group of Khmer sanctuaries at Ta Muen.

Both sides agreed to convene a meeting of the Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) in October to discuss issues related to the survey and marking of the sector under the terms of reference and JBC master plan.

A third round of ministerial meetings was earlier scheduled after the JBC meeting.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday accused Thai soldiers of being thieves, "creating anarchy" around border areas, including at the Khmer sanctuaries of Ta Muen Thom and Ta Kwai. "We cannot accept this act," Hun Sen said, calling for fresh border talks with Thailand.

Somchai said if necessary he would call Hun Sen himself to explain the situation and promise further discussion between foreign ministers of both sides when his government completed its new Cabinet.

Thailand, at this stage, has no foreign minister. Somchai said he would appoint a person who knows foreign affairs very well as the new foreign minister. Former career diplomat Saroj Chavanavirat was widely tipped as the minister but Somchai declined to confirm this.

The new foreign minister is scheduled to meet with his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly late this month in New York.

The case of the third temple recently raised in the conflict, Ta Kwai, would be discussed in New York, said the Foreign Ministry's permanent secretary Virasakdi Futrakul.

He said troops on both sides had been redeployed 400 metres away from the Ta Kwai temple following local negotiations. The border dispute must be settled by existing bilateral mechanisms rather than third parties as suggested earlier by Phnom Penh, he said.

Thailand and Cambodia, however, would inform Asean during an informal meeting of foreign ministers to be held September 29 on the sidelines of the UN meeting, Virasak said.