June 6, 2011
Source: Bangkok Post
Cambodia should withdraw all border dispute cases from international bodies and return to talks with Thailand, says Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Mr Abhisit said his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen should first show good will by withdrawing his country's request that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) interpret its 1962 ruling on Preah Vihear temple.
Cambodia has also put forward a management plan for the disputed 4.6-square-kilometre area around the temple to Unesco's World Heritage Committee (WHC). Mr Abhisit said it should withdraw that as well.
"If Cambodia agrees and returns to talks with Thailand, both countries will benefit," said Mr Abhisit.
Wichit Yathip, the former army deputy chief, said the Cambodian premier had proposed three ways to solve the problem during recent talks with him in Phnom Penh.
Gen Wichit, a close aide of former premier Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who has close ties with Cambodia, said he proposed that Thai and Cambodian troops be withdrawn from the disputed area, joint oversight of the disputed area, and renewing boundary demarcation work. Mr Abhisit insisted that if Hun Sen really wanted to discuss the border problem, he should raise it at the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meeting, a bilateral mechanism between the two countries for settling disputes.
At the Asia Defence Forum in Singapore, Neang Phat, secretary of state of National Defence and adviser to Hun Sen, spoke to the Bangkok Post about Cambodia's approach for solving the border dispute.
He said Cambodia wanted to know why Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon insisted the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) meeting should be held this month when his Cambodian counterpart Tea Banh had never made any agreement with him to meet.
Cambodia's stance on the GBC meeting was that Thailand must first sign the terms of reference (ToR) on the deployment of Indonesian observers in the disputed area, and that the GBC meeting would be held in Thailand or Cambodia.
The ToR was included in a six-step package solution proposed during a trilateral meeting between Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Cambodian and Thai counterparts, Hor Namhong and Kasit Piromya, on May 9.
"I guarantee the ToR will not compel Thailand to accept the Indonesian Observer Team," Gen Neang Phat said.
"In fact, Gen Prawit and Gen Tea Banh will talk over the matter at the GBC meeting," he said.
"At the meeting we can also talk over whether we will withdraw troops or not."
Gen Prawit said he was upset that Cambodia had failed to keep its promise over the GBC meeting.
He insisted that he and Gen Tea Banh agreed that the GBC meeting would be held if Thailand allowed the Indonesian survey team to enter the area where armed clashes occurred last month.
Deployment of the Indonesian survey team was also included in the package.
The GBC meeting was the only way to solve the border problem, he said.
"I insist Thailand will not sign any ToR," he said.
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