Kasit schedules visit to area near Preah Vihear

Writer: THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL
Published: 11/09/2009
Newspaper section: News

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya is to visit the disputed border area near the Preah Vihear temple on Sunday ahead of talks later this month with his Cambodian counterpart in New York.

His schedule was set after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told him on Wednesday to obtain first-hand information on developments along the border.

"My plan is to visit the troops stationed there as well as to inspect the disputed border area near the Preah Vihear temple," the minister said yesterday.

Mr Kasit has no plans to meet senior Cambodian officials there as he is scheduled to meet Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this month.

Thailand and Cambodia both claim sovereignty over the disputed area which has led to flare-ups of border tension.

Thailand lost the battle over ownership of the Hindu temple to Cambodia before the International Court of Justice in 1962.

Mr Kasit said conflicts between nations in the region were rooted in their bitter history and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was trying to create better understanding among its members.

He said history could not be reversed, but countries in the region should not politicise their past differences.

"All Asean countries have history textbooks written by English and French academics which show hatred or blame another country for defeats in the past," Mr Kasit told a seminar on Thailand and Asean at Ramkhamhaeng University.

"This will make new generations feel loathing and it will be an obstacle to building up the Asean community."

Revising textbooks in all Asean countries would help dispense with misunderstandings and hatred, he said. That would help build up trust among people in the region.

Asean foreign ministers have agreed to let their historians revise the shared history of Southeast Asia together, the minister said.

Mr Kasit said Thais should not deny their history with neighbouring countries, including Burma, and should not use it to put up obstacles to fostering ties.

"It's like Germany and France, which fought for more than 300 years and burned down each other's cities many times. But these two countries were the founding countries in setting up the European Union."