PM agrees to debate Cambodian border dispute issues with PAD

The prime minister has agreed to a proposal for a debate with the People's Alliance for Democracy on the border dispute with Cambodia, but the yellow shirts are pushing for two separate forums.

Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday accepted a proposal by the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association, which offered to broker talks between the government and the PAD.

He said the proposed debate should set a clear goal to support a better understanding and build national unity between the government and the yellow shirts in dealing with the border conflict with Cambodia.

The debate should not degenerate into a quarrel or be a forum for each side to promote its version of the conflict on television, he said.

Mr Abhisit said it would not be right for the two parties to use the debate just to exchange words or to present sensitive issues that might cause harm to the country.

The PAD and the government had different information on the border issue and they should compare notes to reach a unified stance.

He called on the two sides to stop pointing fingers at each other, particularly in the case of Thai Patriots Network coordinator Veera Somkwamkid and his secretary Ratree Pipattanapaibul, who have been jailed in Phnom Penh for illegal entry, trespassing in a military area and espionage.

Mr Abhisit insisted the government had done its best to try to secure the release of the two Thais linked with the PAD, and dismissed the yellow shirts' claim that the government had never contacted them about holding talks.

The PAD has turned down the idea of a debate with the government. It wants two three-hour forums in which the government and the yellow shirts would present the public with information on the border dispute.

PAD spokesman Parnthep Pourpongpan said yesterday a debate with the government was unnecessary.

Two forums, broadcast live, should be held - one for the media and the other open to the public.

Each would be three hours long and the audience would be able to ask questions and present their own views.