HISTORY OF DISPUTED
PREAH VIHEAR AREA IS IN CAMBODIA'S FAVOUR, SAYS FORMER PRIME MINISTER
Bangkok Post
The dispute along the Thai-Cambodian
border in the Preah Vihear temple area could develop into a heated conflict
among Thais if the International Court of Justice's clarification on the case
does not favour Thailand, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has warned.
The government, under the premiership of
his younger sister Yingluck, will have to work very hard to explain the facts
about the issue and Thailand's justification for its position, he said.
Thailand and Cambodia have been engaged in
a dispute over the sovereignty of 4.6 sq km around the temple in Si Sa Ket
province. The issue caused conflict between the countries when Cambodia applied
to register the temple as a world heritage site with Unesco in 2009.
The Thai government, then under the premiership
of the late Samak Sundaravej, supported Cambodia's application. That led to the
Cambodian government demanding to develop the temple and the 4.6 sq km area to
meet the World Heritage Commission's requirements.
However, the Samak government's move was
strongly opposed by certain groups, including the opposition Democrat Party.
Thaksin, in a recent interview with the
Bangkok Post, admitted that Noppadon Pattama, the foreign minister at that
time, should not have supported Cambodia's application.
''Frankly speaking, Thailand is at a
disadvantage in this case,'' he said.
He recalled an event more than a century
ago when the then minister of interior, Prince Damrong Rajanuparb, who was the
younger brother of King Rama V, visited Preah Vihear temple.
Thaksin said the prince was welcomed by
officials from France, which had colonised Cambodia, at the top of the hill
where the temple was located.
''The French raised the Cambodian national
flag on the hill and then presented a map to Prince Damrong Rajanuparb. Our
prince did not express any objection to the map. Instead, he asked for five
more copies of the map to be given to Thai authorities to use,'' Thaksin said.
Under international practice, if a country
disagrees with the border line in a map drawn by a neighbouring country, it
must object to the map and hold talks with the other country to settle the
disagreement.
But in this case the Thai side did not
object to the map presented by the French and that was interpreted as an
acceptance of the border details.
This led to Thailand losing out in a
dispute in 1962 when the International Court of Justice ruled in favour of
Cambodia over the Preah Vihear issue.
However, the court ruled only that the
temple was under the sovereignty of Cambodia without clarification.
''Therefore, sovereignty over the 4.6
square kilometre area near the temple was unclear,'' Thaksin said.
When he was prime minister, Thaksin said
the area was occupied by Cambodian vendors, so he held talks with the the
country's government, proposing that the area be declared a ''no man's land''
until a joint agreement over sovereignty was made.
Thaksin also recalled that he had offered
his Cambodian counterpart a joint development plan for the area to make it a
tourism spot.
But before an official treaty could be
signed, his government was toppled in the Sept 19, 2006 coup.
After then foreign minister Noppadon
Pattama provided his support to Cambodia's application, the next government,
led by the Democrat Party, highlighted the issue and that prompted the
Cambodian side to take the issue to the International Court of Justice, asking
for a clarification of its verdict in 1962, Thaksin said.
He said he was afraid the clarification
was not likely to be in Thailand's favour.
''And I fear that the issue could develop
into a deep rift among Thais as it concerns the country's sovereignty,''
Thaksin said.
He urged the government to work hard to
explain the facts of what happened in the past to the public so as to avoid
serious conflict.
Although his sister's government has
improved the relationship with Cambodia, it is unlikely to ask Phnom Penh to
withdraw the case from the International Court of Justice.
''If the Cambodian government agreed to
withdraw the case, then it would face a political crisis as the Cambodian
people would strongly oppose their government,'' Thaksin said.
He said the government could try to
prolong the case as long as possible if tensions rise again.
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