Cambodia, Thailand deploy more troops

[Mike Baker]

LINK

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia - Cambodia and Thailand sent more troops Thursday to their disputed border region surrounding an 11th century temple — despite agreeing to hold talks next week to avoid military action.

The standoff — now in its third day — is the latest escalation in a long-standing conflict over land that surrounds Preah Vihear temple, which is similar in style to the more famous Angkor Wat in northeastern Cambodia.

The confrontation came to a head last week when UNESCO approved Cambodia's application for World Heritage Site status for Preah Vihear. Protesters in Thailand have decried their government's decision to endorse the application, saying it undermines Thai claims to the territory.

They have also accused Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej of bypassing Parliament and backing the UNESCO application in exchange for business contracts for the cronies of toppled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The Constitutional Court has ruled in the protesters' favor.

To some extent, the demonstrators appear to be playing to nationalist sentiment to gain support for their larger goal of unseating Samak, whom they accuse of being a proxy for Thaksin.

The border standoff began after three of the protesters crossed into Cambodia on Tuesday to visit the temple and were briefly detained.

Soon afterward, Thai troops deployed to the border. The army has been tightlipped about reasons behind the troop movements, saying only that it is protecting Thai sovereignty, though it's unclear why it thought it was threatened.

More on link.


Best keep an eye on this...
-Deadpan

 

[Mike Baker]

Cambodia reports Thai incursions to U.N.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (CNN) -- Cambodia has sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council to call attention to its continuing standoff with Thailand over an ancient border temple on disputed land.

The country is not asking for U.N. intervention, said Information Minister Kheu Kanharith. Rather, the letter that Cambodia's permanent mission in New York submitted to the chairmen of the Security Council and the General Assembly is meant to draw attention to a crisis that entered its sixth day Sunday.

The two countries agreed to meet Monday to defuse tensions -- even as each side continued to amass more troops to the site of the Preah Vihear temple.

Both Cambodia and Thailand lay claim to the 11th century temple, which sits atop a cliff on Cambodian soil but has its most accessible entrance on the Thai side.

The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962. Thailand claims, however, that the 1.8 square mile (4.6 sq. km) area around it was never fully demarcated.

Thailand further says that the dispute arose from the fact that the Cambodian government used a map drawn during the French occupation of Cambodia that places both the temple and the surrounding area in that country's territory.

Earlier this month, the United Nations approved Cambodia's application to have the temple listed as a World Heritage Site -- places the U.N. says have outstanding universal value.

The decision re-ignited tensions, with some in Thailand fearing it will make it difficult for their country to lay claim to disputed land around the temple.

Opposition parties in Thailand used the issue to attack the government, which initially backed the heritage listing.

A Thai court overturned the pact, prompting the resignation of Thailand's foreign minister, Noppadon Pattama. He had endorsed the application.

Cambodia, meanwhile, is preparing for general elections on July 27. And Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power since the mid-1980s, has portrayed the U.N. recognition as a national triumph.

The current flare-up began Tuesday, when Cambodian guards briefly detained three Thais who crossed into the area. Once they were let go, the three refused to leave the territory.

More on link.
-Deadpan

 

[Mike Baker]

Thai-Cambodia dispute moves to ASEAN

(CNN) -- Cambodia and Thailand failed to resolve a weeklong military standoff over an ancient border temple that sits on disputed land.

An eight-hour meeting on Monday ended with both sides agreeing on only one point: that troops that each country has amassed at the site of the Preah Vihear temple will not fire on each other, the Thai News Agency reported.

Officials will reconvene after Cambodia's general election on July 27. For now, the countries are seeking regional intervention from their Southeast Asian neighbors.

Foreign ministers of the 10 countries that comprise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are meeting in Singapore this week.

Cambodia has also sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council to call attention to the standoff.

At the heart of the dispute is an 11th century temple to which Cambodia and Thailand lay claim. It sits atop a cliff on Cambodian soil but has its most accessible entrance on the Thai side.

The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962. Thailand claims, however, that the 1.8 square mile (4.6 square km) area around it was never fully demarcated.

Thailand further says that the dispute arose from the fact that the Cambodian government used a map drawn during the French occupation of Cambodia -- a map that places the temple and surrounding area in Cambodian territory.

More on the link.
-Dead