Why is Abhisit Lying about Preah Vihear?

The Nation:


Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday he wanted to keep the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and international involvement away from Preah Vihear temple.

Cabinet's move to maintain its objection to World Heritage listing for the site, which it achieved last year, was just reserving Thailand's right to handle boundary demarcation with Cambodia, he said.

Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Cambodia in 2000 not to make any change in regard to "overlapping" areas claimed by both countries before the completion of demarcation, he said.

"As the temple is listed as World Heritage, there will be more hands involved, which is contrary to the MoU," Abhisit told reporters before leaving for China.

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Chulalongkorn University academic Chaiwat Khamchoo said the government's objection to Cambodia's plan would not benefit Thailand but only created conflict with its neighbour.


Somchai Phetprasert, chairman of House committee on military affairs, accused the government of pushing the country nearer to war. Prime Minister Abhisit should talk with Cambodia about a joint nomination for the temple, Somchai said.


"Prime Minister Abhisit might be confused over the boundary. The Unesco won't deal with the boundary issue but will help to protect the site in Cambodia," he said.

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Supalak in a different Nation column:

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thailand had to raise objections because Unesco and the World Heritage panel violated their own regulations and the listing ignited conflicts.

However, Abhisit never clarified which regulations were violated and whether Thailand's objections would force the panel to change its decision. Actually, nobody expects any changes because the objections are nothing new - they were filed during the World Heritage Committee's 32nd session in Quebec last July.

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Abhisit said he opposed World Heritage status for the site because it might affect Thailand's right to claim land in an "overlapping" 4.6 square kilometres adjacent to the temple and any chance to "re-claim" the temple.

However, his concerns make little sense because the Unesco World Heritage Convention's Article 11 clearly says that "the inclusion of a property [in the World Heritage list] situated in a territory, sovereignty or jurisdiction, which is claimed by more than one state, shall in no way prejudice the rights of the parties to the dispute".

Thailand will not lose the right to demarcate its border with Cambodia and, in fact, the joint boundary demarcation committee is already working on the matter. Now, it is up to Thailand whether or not to send a representative to sit on the International Coordination Committee (ICC) as mentioned in Article 14 of the World Heritage listing. The committee was originally due to convene in February, but it has been delayed because Thailand has yet to make a decision.

Sadly, Thailand's move to maintain its objection is nothing more than a plan to delay Cambodia's work, which has only resulted in added tension.

Abhisit should really explain what he wants from sticking to his stance, how it would benefit the country and what would happen if his deputy does manage to cool Hun Sen down.

What I find interesting about these pieces in The Nation is that these may be the first instances where The Nation actually does any critical analysis of Abhisit's policies.

Normally The Nation whitewashes Abhisit's failures and stupidity by either blaming Thaksin, Suthep, the opposition or Bhoom Jai Thai party.

With everything on Abhisit's plate, you have to wonder why Preah Vihear has become such a burning issue.

There is no doubt in my mind that Abhisit is playing up the right-wing nationalist card to distract the media and the country from his policy failures.

What I find disturbing is that Abhisit is actually lying and he thinks he can do his typical shuck and jive and think everybody will fall in line.

The UNESCO decision and border demarcation are completely separate issues. UNESCO isn't going to de-list Preah Vihear based on these border issues. And it is Abhisit who is turning this thing into an international crisis and disturbing relations with Cambodia.

The notion that Abhisit can make things right by sending his personal henchman to Cambodia to sweet talk Hun Sen is a farce.

Abhisit re-ignited this crisis and he has nobody to blame but himself for inflaming an issue that doesn't need to inflamed--especially based on such moronic and baseless reasons.

Texas Standoff on Thai-Cambodia Border Ends, Cambodia Claim Capture of 10 Thai Soldiers

Fighting Erupts on Border

Phnom Penh Post


Heavy fighting erupted Wednesday on the border near Preah Vihear temple, killing at least two Cambodian soldiers and wounding two others, Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said. Several Thai troops were also hurt in the clash, a Cambodian military commander said as a standoff over disputed border territory that has simmered since July turned violent.


"This is very serious," said General Chea Saran, deputy commander of infantry operating on the frontier between the two countries.


An unnamed military officer at the Ministry of Defence also confirmed that the two sides engaged in battle at Veal Antri, saying that a Thai helicopter had fired on the Cambodian lines, with the Cambodians responding with anti-aircraft weapons.


The fighting lasted for more than two hours before Thai military commanders asked for negotiations, said Chum Chamrong, deputy commander of military police in Preah Vihear province.


Tensions have been building on the frontier since Thai troops reportedly crossed the border into Cambodia in July. Several rounds of crisis talks, the most recent occurring on Monday between Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat and his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong, and Prime Minister Hun Sen, have failed to find a solution.


Soldiers from both sides engaged in a brief firefight at Veal Antri on October 3, wounding three troops. Two Thai soldiers were badly wounded when they stepped on land mines two days later while patrolling near the Cambodian front lines.


Following Monday's negotiations, Hun Sen threatened to turn the border into a "battle zone" if Thai troops did not leave Cambodia. Cambodian commanders said Tuesday that Thailand withdrew its soldiers - a claim that was disputed by Bangkok.


Loun An, deputy governor of Oddar Meanchey province, said Cambodian and Thai troops have shelled each other, and some 40 Thai troops have been surrounded by Cambodian soldiers.


Ten Thai troops near Preah Vihear temple were captured during the clash, military officials said. In Phnom Penh, fears of a repeat of the 2003 anti-Thai riots forced the Thai embassy to send its non-essential staff home, while Thailand's foreign minister said he was prepared to evacuate Thai citizens, according to wire service reports.


Neither The Nation or the Bangkok Post are reporting troop caputures so far.

Sorry, The Nation does report of the troop captures and the denial here.

Sumet Jumsai Makes Sense (RE: Preah Vihear)

Postbag

Bangkok Post

A little lesson in history The ongoing fury over the listing of the Phra Viharn temple as a World Heritage Site results from domestic politics as much as nationalism. Neither has anything to do with history and, in this case, architecture, which none of the vociferous parties involved has shown any appreciation for.

I can't help but fret over our shortcomings in history and culture as listed below.

1. My father, who spent years in the archives in France back in the 1960s, has the French map, or a microfilm of it, showing the "kink" from the watershed line to exclude Prasat Khao Phra Vihara from Siam. The said map was appendiced to the border agreement between France and Siam. This is something which nobody in Siam knew about when M R Seni Pramoj took the case to the World Court, and my father told me that it was obvious that Siam had to lose the case because of this map.

2. After the Court's deliberation, Field Marshal Sarit refused to cede the temple to Cambodia. A higher authority called him in to say that the country is bound by the said verdict and there the matter rested.

(Of course the approach to the temple is possible only from the Thai side of the border.)

3. Thais have never been good at keeping historical records, and we have to go to the archives in Paris, London, The Hague, Cornell, etc, in order to do our PhD's in Thai history!

4. Without the sense of real history, Thais are vehemently nationalistic, which is dangerous. For example, school textbooks still teach Thais that we came from the Altai Mountains and founded the Nanchao Kingdom, which Chinese scholars dismiss as pure nonsense.

5. Few Thais realise that the Khmer Empire used to cover much of present-day Thailand and Laos, as evidenced by Prasat Muang Sing to the west on the Burmese border, and the Khmer ruins in Sukhothai in central Siam, and Laos. The Thais, having wrested from the Khmers their outpost town of Sukhothai in the 13th century, took over the Khmer language - the Thai script being a simplified form of Khmer - and in the early Ayutthaya period adopted, with variations or aesthetic licence, Khmer architecture, classical dance and other facets of Khmer civilisation which were then unwittingly exported back to Kampuchea by the French in the 19th century. (Witness the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh which is a mediocre copy of our Grand Palace).

6. Kampuchea to Siam (or to history-less Thailand), is like ancient Greece and Rome to the rest of Europe, or 3rd century BC China and the T'ang Dynasty to Japan. That much do we owe to the Khmers!

7. In the end, a great monument like Prasat Khao Phra Vihara doesn't belong to any particular country. It belongs to the world. Only this or that country has the obligation to look after it on behalf of mankind.

8. History is the future. When people refuse to understand this, with a tinge of humour, they have to start from the beginning again and again.

SUMET JUMSAI

I'm surprised the Bangkok Post published this. They have been on the right-wing nationalist bandwagon lately. I agree with the sentiments of this letter. Unfortunately, I doubt anybody will listen to Ajarn Sumet's wisdom and facts. It would be too rational for Thai politics.