Thailand, Cambodia to hold new talks on overlapping maritime areas in early April

BANGKOK, The Thailand and Cambodia Joint Border Commission (JBC) plans to hold a fresh round of negotiations on overlapping maritime areas between the two countries in early April, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said on Tuesday.

The two neighboring countries in 2000 signed a memorandum of understanding in a bid to solve contested claims covering 20,600 square kilometers, which are potentially rich in natural gas and oil.

Following a number of talks in the past, however, no tangible outcome has been seen, the Thai News Agency reported.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has urged the Thai government to accelerate the process to settle down the overlapping maritime areas' dispute between the two countries, Kasit said.

The joint meeting will take place on April 2-3 in Cambodia's Siem Reap, Panithan Watanayakorn, deputy secretary-general to the Thai Prime Minister said.

The meeting will also consider the land border demarcation since the Thai-Cambodian border has never been fully demarcated due partly to the border is littered with landmines left from decades of war in Cambodia.

The Thai government under former premier Samak Sundaravej approved a 1.4 billion baht (40 million U.S. dollars) worth of fund for a mine clearing operation along the border, but there has been no progress.