Kanok: Two sides have agreed not to use force
6/04/2009
BANGKOK POST AND AFP
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will hold talks with Cambodian leader Hun Sen in Pattaya to defuse border tensions which flared after a Thai soldier stepped on a landmine in a disputed area on Thursday.
Speaking during his weekly television address yesterday, Mr Abhisit said he would raise the border row in talks with Hun Sen when the two join the three-day summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its political and economic partners starting on Friday in Pattaya.
Two Thai soldiers and two Cambodian troops died in clashes on Friday in a disputed area claimed by the two countries near the Preah Vihear temple. Agence France-Presse, quoting a military official, reported a third Thai soldier died on Saturday but this could not be confirmed.
The countries played down the incident, calling the clashes a misunderstanding.
The gun battles prompted Suranaree Task Force commander Kanok Netrakawesanan to hold talks with his counterpart Srey Doek, who is chief of the Cambodian military division 3, at Wat Kaew Khiri Sikha Sawara to prevent fresh fighting.
Maj Gen Kanok said after the meeting the two sides had agreed not to use force and to refrain from any attempt to provoke the other side.
Yesterday, troops could be seen chatting and some had even stowed their weapons but they said they remained ready to fight after the clash, the biggest outbreak of violence over the territory since four people died there in October.
The issue will be high on the agenda in talks today and tomorrow in Phnom Penh of the Joint Boundary Commission led by former Thai ambassador to South Korea Vasin Teeravechayan and Var Kim Hong of Cambodia.
A government source said the JBC would call on the two sides to avoid any use of force.
The two countries will discuss Cambodia's plan to build a road into the disputed area and try to settle on the name to be used in their documents.
Thailand considered the road project a breach of the memorandum of understanding made in 2000 between the two countries regarding surveying and land demarcation, said Mr Vasin.
The last JBC meeting stalled over the issue of what to call the Hindu temple in the agreed minutes as Cambodia wanted to call it "Preah Vihear" while Thailand preferred "Phra Viharn."
If the countries cannot settle this problem, other agreements including land surveys in the disputed area will not proceed.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said the ministry on Saturday sent an aide memoire about the clashes to the Cambodian government to reaffirm the Thai position and counter the Cambodian side, which had sent an aide memoire of its own to the Thai government.
Puea Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit blamed the escalating tension on a flawed foreign policy towards Cambodia.
He said the government made a mistake in appointing Kasit Piromya as foreign minister. The minister had criticised Hun Sen.
Speaking during his weekly television address yesterday, Mr Abhisit said he would raise the border row in talks with Hun Sen when the two join the three-day summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its political and economic partners starting on Friday in Pattaya.
Two Thai soldiers and two Cambodian troops died in clashes on Friday in a disputed area claimed by the two countries near the Preah Vihear temple. Agence France-Presse, quoting a military official, reported a third Thai soldier died on Saturday but this could not be confirmed.
The countries played down the incident, calling the clashes a misunderstanding.
The gun battles prompted Suranaree Task Force commander Kanok Netrakawesanan to hold talks with his counterpart Srey Doek, who is chief of the Cambodian military division 3, at Wat Kaew Khiri Sikha Sawara to prevent fresh fighting.
Maj Gen Kanok said after the meeting the two sides had agreed not to use force and to refrain from any attempt to provoke the other side.
Yesterday, troops could be seen chatting and some had even stowed their weapons but they said they remained ready to fight after the clash, the biggest outbreak of violence over the territory since four people died there in October.
The issue will be high on the agenda in talks today and tomorrow in Phnom Penh of the Joint Boundary Commission led by former Thai ambassador to South Korea Vasin Teeravechayan and Var Kim Hong of Cambodia.
A government source said the JBC would call on the two sides to avoid any use of force.
The two countries will discuss Cambodia's plan to build a road into the disputed area and try to settle on the name to be used in their documents.
Thailand considered the road project a breach of the memorandum of understanding made in 2000 between the two countries regarding surveying and land demarcation, said Mr Vasin.
The last JBC meeting stalled over the issue of what to call the Hindu temple in the agreed minutes as Cambodia wanted to call it "Preah Vihear" while Thailand preferred "Phra Viharn."
If the countries cannot settle this problem, other agreements including land surveys in the disputed area will not proceed.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said the ministry on Saturday sent an aide memoire about the clashes to the Cambodian government to reaffirm the Thai position and counter the Cambodian side, which had sent an aide memoire of its own to the Thai government.
Puea Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit blamed the escalating tension on a flawed foreign policy towards Cambodia.
He said the government made a mistake in appointing Kasit Piromya as foreign minister. The minister had criticised Hun Sen.
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