[Tlc] TC-border crisis II

[justinm at ucr.edu]

FYI.
Thanks,
justin


http://www.bangkokpost.net/topstories/topstories.php?id=128939
 
Tension along Thai-Cambodian border continues
 
BangkokPost.com, agencies

Cambodian and Thailand Saturday increased their troops in the fifth day of a tense standoff on disputed land near Preah Vihear temple.

There are more than 500 Thai troops and over 1,000 Cambodian soldiers stationing in the area, according to AFP.

The mood among Cambodians reportedly became tense on Friday evening when Cambodian ambassador to Thailand Ung Sean was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to hear the Thai government's protest over Cambodia's claim of ownership of the disputed zone near the temple.

According to the ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat, the ministry handed the ambassador a letter from Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to his Cambodian counterpart HunSen, which insisted Thai soldiers were deployed on Thai soil.

Mr Samak's letter said the area the Cambodian leader claimed was part of Cambodia was actually within Thailand.

Brigadier Chea Keo, commander of Cambodian forces in the area, replied on Saturday: "On the map, it is our territory."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/07/19/headlines/headlines_30078485.php

Thai troops are in Thai territory : Thai PM

Published on July 19, 2008

It is Cambodian troops who invade in our soil

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej insisted on Friday that the Thai troops can station at Keo Sikha Kiri Svara Pagoda because it is in the Thai soil.

In his reply letter to his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen, Samak stressed that presence of the Cambodian troops at the area instead violated the Thai territory.

Samak reminded Hun Sen, "the establishment of the Cambodian community, including construction of a temple and houses, and the presence of the Cambodian military personnel in the area constitute a continued violation of Thai sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Hun Sen said in his letter sent to Samak on Thursday that Thai troops deployed to the pagoda's area should be immediately withdrawn as the area is in the Cambodian soil.

The Thai government has issued four written protests to the Cambodian side regarding this matter in 2004, 2005, 2007 and April 2008 respectively.

Meanwhile, the deployment by Cambodia of more than 1,000 troops, in addition to around 200 troops stationed there earlier, has caused the situation to deteriorate, Samak said in his letter. 

Prime Minister Samak called on both sides to exercise restraint and hoped that the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission will accelerate its work to survey and demarcate the entire stretch of the Thai-Cambodian border so that similar problems would not arise in the future. 

In addition, pending completion of the JBC's work in this area, the Thai side was ready to jointly explore with Cambodia possible interim measures, he said.

To avoid military action, Prime Minister Samak who is also the Defense Minister assigned Supreme Commander General Boonsarng Niumpradit to lead Thai delegation to a special session of General Border Committee (GBC) in Sa Kaew Monday.

Later on Friday, the Foreign Ministry invited the eight other ASEAN Ambassadors to the ministry and informed them of the situation between Thailand and Cambodia, which are Asean members.

They were also given copies of the letter dated July 17, 2008 from Hun Sen to Samak and the latter's note dated July 18,2008 to his Cambodian counterpart.

Other documents attached included the attached copies of the four Aide-Memoires which Thailand sent to protest Cambodia, and copies of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries on the Survey and Demarcation of Land Boundary dated 4 June 2000.

The ministry has also circulated all of those documents to other foreign missions in Bangkok.

Meanwhile Thai Foreign Ministry's Spokesman Tharit Charungvat explained that the four protests by Thailand to Cambodia were made on the basis of Article 5 of the 2000 MOU, under which both sides agree not to carry out any work resulting in changes of environment of the frontier zone, pending the survey and demarcation of the common land boundary. 

However, to date, no action whatsoever has been undertaken by Cambodia to address Thailand's concerns, protests and requests.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/07/19/politics/politics_30078466.php

Thai construction workers flee Cambodia

Published on July 19, 2008

About 300 construction workers near the Cambodian border fled back to Thailand yesterday morning as the bilateral dispute over the Preah Vihear temple intensified.
Cambodia dispatched some 2,000 troops to strategic areas along the border, citing the need to beef up security for tourists, residents and merchants. Their presence caused a drastic drop in cross-border trade.

The workers for Thai contractor Ch Karnchang left behind heavy and light equipment worth an estimated Bt100 million and crossed back to the Thai side of the border from Cambodia's Udommedchai province out of fear of violence erupting over the controversial temple.

Hattachai Pengchaem, deputy chairman for foreign affairs at the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said business across the border had almost ground to a halt over the past three days.

Thai tourists should avoid talking about the temple issue with Cambodians for their own safety, he said.

However, no bloody clashes are likely, as both governments believe the current tension is a result of domestic politics in Thailand, he added.



______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu