Thai armed forces bring foreign military attaches to Thai-Cambodian border

Monday 21 February 2011
(Bernama)

SI SA KET - The Thai Defence Ministry on Monday brought foreign military attaches to Thailand to Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket province in northeastern Thailand bordering Cambodia so that they can see the truth concerning border clashes between Thai and Cambodian soldiers and understand the operations of the Thai military, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

Lieutenant General Sirichai Ditthakul, Army deputy chief-of-staff supervising intelligence, and military attaches of 14 Southeast Asian nations and countries that are dialogue partners of Asean left the aviation division of the Department of Army Transportation in Bangkok at 7am.

The delegation of foreign military attaches from those countries including France, the United States, Indonesia, China, Korea, Japan, Russia, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam went to the Thai-Cambodian disputed area in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket province.

The delegation first went to Phum Srol School that was damaged by Cambodian shells. Then they visited the Mor I Daeng cliff for a briefing. The foreign military attaches are expected to report their findings to their governments.

Sirichai said Thailand wanted other countries, especially Southeast Asian countries and other concerned nations, to know the real situations and realise that Thailand had its clear principle and wanted to resolve conflicts peacefully.

Asked if there was the evidence that Cambodia had started the shooting, the army deputy chief-of-staff said the 2nd Army would elaborate on that. He also said the trip would not have any impact on the Asean foreign ministers' meeting that would discuss issues between Thailand and Cambodia in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Tuesday.

On Sunday, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya on behalf of the Thai government announced that in the Asean foreign ministers』 meeting in Jakarta tomorrow Thailand would insist on resolving its conflicts with Cambodia through mechanisms of bilateral negotiation. They refer to the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) headed by Asda Jayanama and the Regional Border Committee (RBC) that is under the responsibility of the Thai 2nd Army chief.