Thai nationalists disperse after violent clashes near temple

The Straits Times
Publication Date: 21-09-2009

Thai nationalists who clashed on Saturday with locals and police near an ancient temple on the Cambodian border dispersed yesterday (September 20), after making speeches in an event tightly controlled by the army.

The group from the royalist yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) said it had come to the border to fight for Thailand, and that it was the "duty of every Thai".

It brushed off resentment from locals, who were fearful that the activists would provoke a war with Cambodia, saying local villagers did not understand the issue.

And though the mood at the border was calm yesterday - in contrast to the violent clashes a day earlier - there was every indication that the contentious Preah Vihear temple issue will continue to pose a challenge for the Thai government as domestic political players use it to inflame passions.

Yesterday, a group of 33 activists from the People's Rights and Liberty Protection Group, led by Mr Veera Somkwamkid, was taken by the army in a bus to a cliff called Mo I Daeng, from where the main structure of the Preah Vihear temple was visible on the next ridge. Journalists travelled in a separate bus.

From the cliff, the activists unfurled a white banner that said 'Get out of our land'. Some carried pictures of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and one held aloft a figure of a garuda, which is half-man and half-bird and carries the Hindu god Vishnu. It signifies the King's reign and is Thailand's official symbol.

The group is part of the PAD and while senior PAD leaders have distanced themselves from Mr Veera, he and others said yesterday that they remained very much a part of the PAD. The PAD activists demanded that the military push out Cambodians from the disputed land, an area of about 485ha.

Citing a 1904 border demarcation, Mr Veera said: "The PAD would like the Cambodian government to quickly move its people and soldiers out of this area, or else Thai people will have to do their duty in protecting the country's sovereignty."

Asked whether he was conscious that his actions might ignite a war with Cambodia, Mr Veera replied that the war had already been started - by Cambodia.

A retired army general who was among the PAD activists said this was not the first time, nor would it be the last time the group raises the border dispute issue.

Locals in the area remained deeply resentful of the PAD, and the military personnel at the site also appeared clearly unhappy with the turn of events on Saturday. Between 3,000 and 5,000 of the nationalists fought local Thai residents and police that day after trying to reach the temple. Dozens of people were injured.

A common view among the soldiers is that the border dispute is a complex issue that must be resolved politically, and that the army is caught in the middle as it has to look after local interests too.

Locals in the area, more than 800km to the north-east of the capital, make considerable income from tourism traffic to the temple.

Although the World Court ruled in 1962 that the 11th century temple belonged to Cambodia, the most accessible entrance is from the Thai border province of Si Saket.

One hotel owner in a nearby town said that since the PAD raised the temple issue last year - resulting in skirmishes between Thai and Cambodian troops - business has gone down by 40 per cent.

The powerful PAD, on a mission to bring down the pro-Thaksin Shinawatra government of the time, accused then Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama of having sold out to Cambodia in allowing Unesco to register the temple as a World Heritage Site on Cambodia's application.
The temple controversy feeds into what Thai historian Charnvit Kasetsiri describes as the 'love-hate' relationship between Cambodia and Thailand.

But it has become entangled with Thailand's domestic politics as well. Analysts say it is an easy cause to take up to embarrass any government. And the PAD may be flexing to show that it can create an issue to make trouble for the government.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday called for peace and reconciliation. "We can express different opinions but please don't hurt one another. Don't hurt our own people," he said.
Separately, supporters of Thaksin yesterday vowed to hold further protests after a 20,000-strong rally in Bangkok a day earlier to mark the third anniversary of the coup that toppled him.
The red-shirted United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship wants Mr Abhisit to step down, claiming he came to power illegitimately with the help of the military and the judiciary. The protesters dispersed peacefully early yesterday.