No border observers until Cambodia withdraws troops: Thai PM

PTI |5 May 2011
(TNA)

Bangkok, May 5 (TNA) Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva insisted that he would not let Indonesian observers enter a 4.6-square-kilometre disputed area on the Thai-Cambodian border unless Cambodia withdrew its soldiers and people from the area adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple.

Mr Abhisit said that the Thai Foreign Ministry already told Indonesia that Cambodia had to withdraw its soldiers and people from the disputed area first because their presence violated the 2000 memorandum of understanding between Thailand and Cambodia.

Thailand wants Indonesia to convince Cambodia to withdraw their troops. Without cooperation from Cambodia, he will not sign the terms of reference (ToR) to receive Indonesian observers."There is not a problem with the content of the TOR.

Whether this can proceed depends on talks between Thailand and Indonesia and between Indonesia and Cambodia. The final goal is to prevent clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. In fact, the area where observers will visit (the Preah Vihear temple) has been free of problem for a few months," the prime minister said.Regarding the upcoming meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers that will precede the ASEAN Summit in Indonesia, Abhisit said Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya would tell the meeting that Thailand did not start a conflict with Cambodia and was calling for peaceful solutions and that Thailand and Cambodia would have to return to bilateral negotiation.The prime minister hopes that Thailand can inform the world community about the border dispute through the International Court of Justice which Cambodia has asked to interpret a past ruling on the Preah Vihear temple.

He said Thailand would prove that Cambodia started border clashes including the one on Wednesday intentionally to bring the border conflict to the international community.In response to former Thai foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai's recommendation for multilateral solutions to the border conflict, Abhisit said Thailand had no problems with a multilateral approach. When the conflict was brought to the United Nations, Thailand was there to explain its side of the story to the United Nations.

He pointed out that an agreement would depend only on Thailand and Cambodia anyway and he wondered what a third party could do with the issue. Indonesia already clearly supports the bilateral approach, he said."There is even the figure of speech for Indonesia facilitating the negotiation. It is like when a car cannot start. It may by push-starting it.

When the car starts, a talk can proceed in the car. We agree with this approach. The arrival of observers will not intervene in the dispute but they will arrive to ensure a truce," the prime minister said.