|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration
Joined: 12/17/2007
Posts: 48
Points: 144
|
Government kept in dark over Preah Vihear talks
Written by Vong Sokheng
Friday, 02 May 2008
Cambodia was unaware of the abrupt cancellation of this week’s talks with Thailand and UNESCO over the disputed Preah Vihear temple, a government spokesman said April 30, adding that the government has been kept in the dark over rescheduling of the mediation session.
Both countries were invited by the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization to a two-day meeting in Paris starting May 2 to discuss the listing of the ancient temple on the Thai-Cambodian border as a World Heritage Site.
However, less than a week out from the meeting, Thai officials said UNESCO had postponed the Paris talks and the UN organization would now send its coordinator on the matter, Francesco Caruso, to meet separately with the Thai and Cambodian governments.
But Phay Siphan, spokesman of Cambodia’s Council of Ministers, said Phnom Penh had not been informed of any changes to the meeting.
“We did not receive any official notification from UNESCO in Paris about canceling the meeting between Thailand and Cambodia over the listing of the ancient temple,” Siphan told the Post.
He also downplayed the importance of the talks, saying the key issue of ownership over the Preah Vihear ruins had been settled in 1962 when the International Court of Justice ruled they were within Cambodia’s borders.
“We don’t have any conflict with Thailand and it is not necessary to have a coordinator when there isn’t a problem, because the temple is the sovereign property of Cambodia,” Siphan said.
He added that the Cambodian government expected Preah Vihear to be officially approved as a World Heritage Site when the UNESCO committee next meets in early July.
Sounds like more petty squabbling to me.....................
I might make the trip up there on my bike in August before war breaks out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration
Joined: 12/17/2007
Posts: 48
Points: 144
|
No chance to claim temple By Supalak G Khundee The Nation Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama has ruled out any move to try to reclaim sovereignty over the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear. That right, he said yesterday, was lost 30 years ago. Noppadon was dismissing calls by the Democrat Party to lay claim to the temple before Cambodia sought World Heritage listing. He said the International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia. It allowed Thailand to refile its claim within 10 years if it found some new evidence. There is no appeal procedure. Democrat deputy leader Alongkorn Pollabutr had called for Thailand to oppose Cambodia's plan to list the temple as a United Nations' World Heritage site. He rejected joint management of the temple and urged a delay to the listing decision. "Khun Alongkorn has poor knowledge of the matter since it is a legal technicality. He should not raise the point to confuse society," said Noppadon, a highly regarded lawyer who acted as a representative of Thaksin Shinawatra when he was in exile. Link to story here
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration
Joined: 12/17/2007
Posts: 48
Points: 144
|
Temple lockedOriginal linkBy Post Reporters
Cambodia closed the Preah Vihear ruins on Monday amid worries Thai protests over Phnom Penh's plan to propose the ancient temple for World Heritage listing will spill across the border - after it spilled into parliament and the courts.
The issue was a major point raised during yesterday's general debate by senators who attacked Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his government for supporting the Cambodian move.
Outside the parliament, opponents plan to ask the Administrative Court today to nullify the cabinet's endorsement of Cambodia's map of Preah Vihear and a joint declaration to be presented to Unesco.
Senator Kamnoon Sitthisamarn will lead protestors to petition the court.
M.R. Priyanandana Rangsit, deputy chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, will also hand a protest letter to the office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in Bangkok. The letter signed by 300 elite and socially recognised people calls on the UN agency not to accept the temple as a World Heritage site.
The government on June 17 approved the new map drawn by Cambodia, which defines the temple's boundary to be proposed to the World Heritage Committee during its meeting in Quebec starting on June 2, placing it inside Cambodia.
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama also signed a joint statement with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, supporting the application, soon after Bangkok agreed to the map.
The closure of the temple came after Cambodian officials held talks to assess the situation.
About 200 Thai protesters gathered near the temple yesterday. Many of them had completed a 110-km walk protesting against Phnom Penh's move. The group began the "Dharma Walk" in Muang Si Sa Ket and arrived in Kantharalak district, which adjoins the temple, on Sunday.
Their demonstration near Preah Vihear added to the worries of Cambodian officials, who in recent weeks have seen growing protests in Thailand against the listing of the temple.
Cambodian officials said the temple, known as Khao Phra Viharn in Thailand, will reopen to tourists when the protest rally ends.
Protest leader Saman Sri-ngam warned the protest would continue "until we get our Khao Phra Viharn back and expel Cambodian villagers who have encroached on the Thai border."
They sang the Thai national anthem and a patriotic song Rao Su (We Will Fight) during their rally. Some yelled at Cambodian villagers, demanding they leave the Thai border.
A group of monks, led by Phra Maha Boontueng, also joined the rally. They offered prayers in support of the protesters.
A Thai military source said the army had been informed of the closure of Preah Vihear, but had not contacted Phnom Penh on the issue.
The source said some officers agreed with the protest over the encroachment by Cambodians who built shops and other structures.
"The villagers well know that the area belongs to Thailand, but past governments have done nothing about it," the source said.
In the Senate debate, Phetchaburi Senator Sumol Sutawiriyawat roundly criticised the government over its handling of the Preah Vihear issue, including the failure to jointly propose the listing of the ancient temple as a World Heritage site with Cambodia.
In his defence, Mr Samak insisted Thailand will not lose any territory to Cambodia by approving the Cambodian map and the joint statement.
He stressed the temple is inside Cambodia, as a result of the International Court of Justice's ruling in 1962, and criticised those trying to stir up people to try and reclaim it.
Privy Council president Gen Prem Tinsulanonda has reacted to the Preah Vihear issue in a short reply to a letter sent to him on Thursday calling on the government and civic groups to help protect Thai territory. It was handed to him by chief adviser to the Supreme Command Gen Pathompong Kesornsuk.
The letter said approval of the new map of Preah Vihear would lead to legal complications when Thailand and Cambodia hold talks on the overlapping areas along their border in the future.
In his reply on June 21 Gen Prem replied the move "is a way to return a favour to the nation".
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration
Joined: 12/17/2007
Posts: 48
Points: 144
|
Thai protests keep border closedOriginal story Phnom Penh PostWritten by Sambath Teth
Friday, 27 June 2008
3-preah-vihear.jpgTang Chhin Sothy/AFP
Thai tourists visit the Preah Vihear temple on June 21, the day before Cambodia closed the nearby border checkpoint with Thailand due to escalating Thai tensions over a map of the temple’s surrounding area.
The border with Thailand at the Preah Vihear checkpoint will stay closed until Thai protesters near the ancient temple site disperse, amid concerns that the demonstrators might “instigate problems,” said Preah Vihear provincial governor Preap Tan.
“We have to be careful for our people’s security, so we have to close it,” Tan said on June 26.
The checkpoint was closed late on June 22 after the protesters gathered at a market near the main entrance to the temple, on top of a ridge most easily accessed from the Thai side of the border.
The protesters oppose a June 17 decision by the Thai cabinet to approve a new map drawn by Cambodia of the site of the 10th century Hindu monument.
Approval of the map has cleared the way for Cambodia’s nomination for Preah Vihear’s listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site to proceed after years of delays.
Deputy Prime Minister Sok An is leading the Cambodian delegation to a UNESCO meeting in Quebec, Canada, in early July at which the nomination will be considered.
“We hope that Preah Vihear will be added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites,” Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said on June 25.
Siphan said he could foresee no obstacles to listing because of a joint communique endorsing the nomination signed by Sok An and the Thai foreign minister, Noppadon Pattama, on June 18.
However, the Thai government is coming under increasing criticism from opposition parties and civil society groups over its endorsement of the nomination.
The government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was condemned over the issue during a no-confidence debate in the Thai parliament last week. The issue has also been taken up by a coalition of anti-government groups which began street protests in Bangkok last month calling for Samak’s resignation.
The arrival of protesters at the checkpoint came after speakers at the street protests began using the Preah Vihear issue to step up their criticism of Samak.
Siphan said the reopening of the checkpoint will depend on the behavior of the Thai protesters.
“The checkpoint will be reopened after the demonstrators disperse and the situation calms down,” he said.
He criticized Thai opposition parties for politicizing the issue and also accused them of instigating demonstrations against Cambodia’s bid to seek World Heritage listing for Preah Vihear.
Siphan also expressed frustration at the attitude of Thai opposition parties towards the 1962 ruling by International Court of Justice granting sovereignty of Preah Vihear to Cambodia.
“Thai opposition party leaders are lawmakers but they oppose the international court’s decision,” he said.
Meanwhile, the closure of the checkpoint has forced Cambodian snack and souvenir vendors at the temple site to suspend operations.
Ley Eang, who runs a cafe at Preah Vihear, said on June 25 his only customers since the closure had been other Cambodians living at the site.
“My shop has had no customers from outside, so business is not good,” Eang told the Post on June 25.
“Some shopkeepers have returned to their home villages for a rest,” he said.
Preah Vihear checkpoint chief Ros Heng dismissed concerns that the closure would lead to food shortages on the Cambodian side of the border.
“We have no problem with food shortages as in past years because there is now road access to the temple,” Heng said.
He said there were dozens of Thai protesters at the market. “We are watching them,” Heng said.
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration
Joined: 12/17/2007
Posts: 48
Points: 144
|
Going it alone
Link to original story
Written by Sambath Teth
Monday, 30 June 2008
preah-vihear.jpgAFP
Cambodia has vowed to go ahead with its UNESCO application despite Thai objections.
Cambodia has vowed to press ahead with its bid for a UNESCO World Heritage listing for Preah Vihear temple despite a Thai court ruling that Bangkok cannot support the nomination for the ancient Hindu site.
"It's their internal problem," Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan told the Post in a phone interview on June 30.
"[Preah Vihear] is our temple and we want it to receive world heritage listing," Siphan said.
"Preah Vihear belongs to us so we are not interested in this," he added, referring to an injunction issued by Thailand's Administrative Court on June 28.
The injunction temporarily blocked the Thai government from supporting Cambodia's nomination to seek world heritage status for Preah Vihear at a UNESCO meeting in Quebec starting July 2.
The injunction follows a joint communiqué endorsing the nomination that was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama on June 18.
The injunction had been sought by a coalition of activist groups in Thailand, the People's Alliance for Democracy, which has been leading weeks of street protests in Bangkok against the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.
Opposition parties criticized Samak over the communiqué during a no-confidence debate in the Thai parliament last week after the Preah Vihear issue had been raised at the street protests in Bangkok.
Siphan expressed frustration at the role played by Thai opposition parties.
"The Cambodian government is working with the Thai government; we are not working with the Thai opposition," he said.
Siphan downplayed the possibility of unrest in Cambodia over the stand taken by some Thai groups.
"Thai restaurants are full of Cambodian people," he said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong also expressed regret that some Thai parties and politicians were exploiting the Preah Vihear issue as part of their campaign against the Samak government.
"I am very sorry they are using Preah Vihear for their internal political purposes; this can affect the friendship and cooperation between our two countries," Namhong told a news conference on June 27.
On June 22, the Cambodian government closed the border checkpoint at Preah Vihear, citing security concerns after a group of Thai activists gathered at a market near the main entrance to the temple, which is most easily accessed from the Thai side of the border.
In response to the border closure, a ceremony was held at Preah Vihear on June 30 to offer food to the small Cambodian community living at the temple site and to pray for peace.
The ceremony was sponsored by the Khmer Civilization Foundation, which on June 15 hosted a celebration in Phnom Penh to mark the 46th anniversary of the ruling by the International Court of Justice granting ownership of Preah Vihear to Cambodia.
Foundation president Moeung Sonn said the donated food, including four tons of rice and 330 bottles of fish sauce, as well as soy sauce, salt and packaged noodles, had cost $4,000, including $1,000 of his own money.
Sonn said he planned to take doctors with him on a return trip to Preah Vihear because some of the Cambodians there were ill and had requested medicine and medical treatment.
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration
Joined: 12/17/2007
Posts: 48
Points: 144
|
Temple listed as heritage site
Link to Bangkok Post
THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL
The World Heritage Committee (WTC) meeting in Quebec, Canada, late last night approved Cambodia's application to list the 11th century Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
It did not take into account the controversial joint communique between Bangkok and Phnom Penh, a Thai delegate to the meeting said before the decision was made.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama explained the Administrative Court's temporary injunction to the 21 WTC members, Pongpol Adireksan, chairman of the Thai World Heritage Committee, said.
Mr Pongpol is there as an observer.
The court issued an injunction against the cabinet's June 17 resolution, which gave approval for Mr Noppadon to sign a joint communique with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An the following day. Mr Noppadon's signature conveyed Thailand's support for Cambodia's bid to list the temple as a World Heritage site.
The WHC only considered the report of the International Council for Monuments and Sites as a basis for making the decision, Mr Pongpol said.
Bangkok was opposed to Phnom Penh's proposal, instead favouring a joint nomination of the site.
Thailand had been unable to convince the WHC to postpone the issue and wait for a joint nomination, or to defer it until the next meeting.
The WHC said the Preah Vihear issue had already been postponed once, at last year's gathering in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The meeting also inscribed the cities of the Straits of Malacca: Melaka and Georgetown in Malaysia, and the Kuk Early Agricultural Site in Papua New Guinea, AFP reported.
The WHC had sent its representatives to talk with the Thai and Cambodian delegates to clarify their positions.
Mr Pongpol said the temple listing would have no effect on the demarcation of the border between the two countries. It was specifically only the temple site.
Mr Pongpol said political problems in Thailand had affected the country's ability to lobby committee members.
''We are at a disadvantage. Cambodia regards Preah Vihear as a national issue and continued lobbying when Thailand was undergoing a coup,'' he said.
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration
Joined: 12/17/2007
Posts: 48
Points: 144
|
THE STORY RUMBLES ON........ but are the Thai people finally starting to question this nationalistic frenzy which the PAD has been using to further their cause? Preah Vihear - Get over it
Link to Bangkok Posty story
Do people really want to be prisoners of the past? Whipping up this issue could easily result in chaos if not handled carefully and properly.
By Piyaporn Wongruang
Even though Preah Vihear has joined the ranks of places listed as World Heritage sites, former Cambodian soldier Wan, 60, may not play his fiddle in exchange for money from tourists at the temple.
Due to fears of a Thai-mobilised rally against Cambodia's inscription of the temple on the World Heritage List, the border around the temple has been closed. No tourists are allowed until further notice. It is not difficult to imagine how tough the life of the ex-soldier could become. He only has one leg, his musical talents and Preah Vihear to rely on after the war in Cambodia some 30 years ago.
Uncle Wan is but one among the potential losers from this conflict at the moment. Many more are likely to follow his path as resentment among people in both countries has heightened to the point that some academics believe no side can afford to be seen as losing, now that the 11th-century Hindu temple has been listed as a new World Heritage site.
Since the Cambodian government first lodged its application for World Heritage status in 1991, people of the two countries have been drawn into a conflict they did not directly cause. Amid the increasingly politicised dispute, a boundary line which has never been clearly seen on the site has emerged as the crux of the problem caused by the past, unsettled border demarcation.
Historian Srisakra Vallibhotama believes that the site at the temple of Preah Vihear conformed to the ancient concept of using landmarks associated with spiritual belief as boundary marks. Considering the landscape, the promontory of Dangrek Range where Preah Vihear is located, clearly separates the Cambodian plain from the Korat plateau stretching down towards the Thai side.
Historical evidence suggests that the area had long been used as a sacred site before Preah Vihear was built on top of it around the early 11th century.
The ancient concept of organic boundary started shifting toward one that is more fixed - a line on a map - when Western imperialists arrived in the region and took over some parts of it, according to Surachart Bamrungsuk.
The political scientist and military expert at Chulalongkorn University added that the concept of a modern state and clear demarcation lines was a crucial tool for the Western powers to differentiate between states that came under their protection.
"What happened was that those imperial countries tended to have more power over other states in the region. The imbalance led to a forced acceptance of some disadvantages in demarcation, and Thailand, or Siam back then, was no different," said Dr Surachart.
The Preah Vihear case reflects the larger demarcation problem left over from the past. It is a common problem in several areas around the world, Dr Surachart said.
Even though some people keep referring to the fact that Thailand had reserved the right to revive the case regarding ownership of Preah Vihear temple (which it lost to Cambodia in 1962) should new evidence emerge, Dr Surachart cautioned that it is virtually impossible to try to claim lost territory back.
The country functions as a modern state at present. It is bound by international legal and diplomatic mores which it has to respect, or face the consequences.
These "consequences" can take the shape of sanctions, or even war. A war between neighbouring countries could be very painful as the conflict and suffering will be passed on from one generation to another. Such a rift cannot be healed in a short space of time, Dr Surachart said.
The academic views the court case concerning Preah Vihear as being over, especially after Thailand itself drew another boundary line in compliance with the watershed line which excludes the temple, following the 1962 ruling of the International Court of Justice.
Instead of letting emotions run high and clouding the issue, Dr Surachart called on both Thai and Cambodian people to exercise reason and find the wisdom required to get out of the conflict.
Whipping up this issue could easily result in chaos if not handled carefully and properly.
He reminded society that there are established diplomatic channels for countries with overlapping boundaries to explore to settle their disputes. The process can result in a re-drawing of the boundary line. In cases where a dispute cannot be settled, options are available for different ways of joint management. One of the concepts can be applied to the case of Preah Vihear, the surrounding area of which remains disputed as it is claimed by both Thailand and Cambodia.
"I have to emphasise here that the listing of the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site will not affect any country's boundary as the World Heritage Convention clearly sets such a condition to prevent conflicts between concerned countries," said Dr Surachart.
In fact, the two countries have 15 more overlapping locations which need to be settled, and they need to move on with the work, he said.
"The question we have to ask ourselves really hard is whether we really want a war, and whether a war would really bring us back territory perceived as being lost," said Dr Surachart. "Do we still want to be 'a prisoner of the past'? Or do we want to help one another break the 'barrier' imposed by the past?"
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration
Joined: 12/17/2007
Posts: 48
Points: 144
|
Tensions rise ahead of crisis talks
Written by Thet Sambath and Brendan Brady
Link to original article in Phnom Penh Post
Sunday, 20 July 2008
Preah-Vihear-1.gif
Vandy Rattana
Cambodian and Thai soldiers rest on the road to Preah Vihear as a military standoff over territory surrounding the temple enters its sixth day
Tensions remain high at Preah Vihear as Cambodian and Thai troops continue to mass along the border ahead of crisis talks Monday that are hoped to defuse the standoff over territory around the 11th century temple.
More than 1,500 soldiers have now been deployed to Preah Vihear, where Cambodia maintains that Thai troops crossed into its territory last week and continue to occupy land near the temple.
"Thai soldiers have violated Cambodian territory ... I am sorry that they will not leave," Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan told reporters over the weekend after making a trip to the area.
"Preah Vihear is internationally recognized as Cambodia's. So when Thais protest about this, they are protesting against the international community."
Cambodia has written a letter to the UN Security Council informing it of the standoff, officials said over the weekend.
Military officials and diplomatic personnel from China, Vietnam, France and the United States have also traveled to Preah Vihear to review the situation.
Bangkok insists that its soldiers are on Thai territory, and has refused to withdraw them despite Thai military commanders saying Friday that they would leave.
Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart, Samak Sundaravej, have each written letters to other claiming the territory and urging the removal of troops ahead of talks to be held in Thailand on Monday. Hun Sen said last week that the worsening situation was "very bad for relations" between the two countries.
"These [Thai] soldiers have encroached on our territory ... and have since increased in number rather than withdrawing," Hun Sen wrote, according to government spokesman Khieu Kanharith.
An area of 4.8 square kilometers around the temple remains in dispute after the World Court ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia. The temple was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 7 after years of resistance from Bangkok to the inscription, further inflaming Thai nationalism.
Cambodian military police commander Sao Sokha, however, said it is unlikely the dispute will erupt in violence, despite the concentration of men and weapons. "Why would we shoot each other? Let our leaders solve this problem ... we are all Buddhists here," he said, urging the Thais to stop sending troops to the area. A senior Cambodian military commander who did not want to be named also said the Thais were massing troops across the border from Anlong Veng in northern Cambodia. "We have also sent our troops to Anlong Veng. We are matching them at all points along the border," he told the Post on Saturday. The crisis began last Tuesday when Cambodia says Thai soldiers crossed the border and took up positions in Cambodian territory following the arrest of three Thais who jumped an international checkpoint to try and protest Preah Vihear's ownership.
The temple has been closed to Thais since last month, when a group of angry demonstrators massed on the Thai side of the border crossing to rally against Cambodia's claim to the temple.
The dispute has caused political turmoil in Thailand, as opposition parties seized on the issue to put pressure on Samak's government.
On July 10, Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama stepped down after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had acted illegally in signing an agreement supporting Cambodia’s bid to have Preah Vihear temple listed as a World Heritage Site without the permission of parliament.
Things are sure hotting up. I was kinda hoping to cycle that way in September, guess I will have to change my route now.
|
|
|
|
|
Guest |
