July 18, 2012
The Nation
The agreement between Thailand and Cambodia to redeploy their respective forces in the surrounding areas of Preah Vihear Temple has not impacted on the issue of severeignty, Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat said yesterday.
The agreement between Thailand and Cambodia to redeploy their respective forces in the areas surrounding Preah Vihear Temple has not impacted on the issue of sovereignty, Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat said yesterday.
"The redeployment is simply to comply with the World Court's order designating the disputed areas surrounding the temple as the demilitarised zone," he said.
Security agencies had carefully reviewed options and repercussions before drawing conclusions on the redeployment plan, he said.
Under the plan, the Border Patrol Police will dispatch fewer than 1,000 police to keep the peace in lieu of conventional troops and Cambodia is also to deploy policemen to replace their soldiers.
Sukumpol said critics should not rush to interpret that the absence of Thai troops in the demilitarised zone will lead to the loss of sovereignty, arguing that demilitarisation and sovereignty were two separate issues.
He said he expected the redeployment would have positive impacts on good neighbourly ties between the two countries.
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