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Thai wants to share the name and called it Phra Viharn-Preah Vihear

Posted by admin on Feb-3-2009

4/02/20
By THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL
Bangkok Post

Negotiations between Thailand and Cambodia over Preah Vihear have stumbled over the spelling of the name of the famed ancient temple.

A Thai official said yesterday officials of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission were trying to find a way around the problem so border negotiations could proceed.

Vasin Teeravechyan, who chairs the commission, said a solution acceptable to the two countries would be found.

Thailand insists on using “the Temple of Phra Viharn-Preah Vihear” on documents used in the negotiations. Cambodian officials strongly object, saying Preah Vihear is internationally accepted.

Mr Vasin, who is a retired Foreign Ministry official, said the name proposed by Thailand was very common in international negotiations on the issue.

The Temple of Phra Viharn-Preah Vihear has been approved by parliament for the framework negotiations with Cambodia. Thailand will use it in documents to be signed with Cambodia.

The meeting will be concluded today.

The two countries have been unable to settle on a plan to reduce troops in the disputed area which covers 4.6 square kilometres between Kantharalak district in Si Sa Ket and the Cambodian province of Preah Vihear.

Mr Vasin refused further comment on the issue. But earlier he said Cambodia had told the meeting it had no soldiers stationed in the area.

The Cambodia delegation is led by Senior Minister Var Kim Hong.

Despite the disagreement over the name of the temple, the two countries will set up another team to survey the borderline for demarcation between Nam Yuen district in Ubon Ratchathani and Phu Sing district in Si Sa Ket, which is 195km long.

Thailand and Cambodia have already formed a survey team to study the disputed area near the ancient temple which was the scene of a military clash last year.

A plan to reduce the number of soldiers near the disputed area is expected to be included in talks when Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan visits Phnom Penh on Friday.

Posted in Featured, Preah Vihear News
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Feb
19

1962 World Court Identified Thai Border: Official

Posted by admin

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
18 February 2010

Thai officials should seek clarification from the International Court of Justice if they believe a 1962 judgment does not explain the boundaries between the two countries, Cambodia’s top border negotiator said.

Thai officials have been quoted in the media saying the 1962 judgment of the court awarded Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia, but did not address adjacent land.

However, Var Kimhong (pictured), head of the Cambodian Border Committee, said the court used a map that was agreed on by both sides at the time to reach its decision—that the 11-th Century Hindu temple belonged to Cambodia and thatThai forces would have to vacate it.

In its judgment, the court cited a map from a French survey conducted in the early 1900s, which delineated the frontier between Cambodia, then under French protection, and Thailand, then called Siam. The border was to follow the watershed of the Dangrek mountains, except where it circumvented Preah Vihear temple, which sits on a high escarpment overlooking the Cambodian plains.

Thailand has since claimed it does not recognized the survey map and subsequent 1904 and 1909 border agreements and has laid claim to a small strip of land west of Preah Vihear temple, land that is also claimed by Cambodia.

The 4.6-kilometer area is now in the middle of a longstanding military standoff that has left eight soldiers dead and created a tense build-up of forces between the neighbors. The dispute was sparked by the addition of Preah Vihear temple to Unesco’s World Heritage list, under Cambodian jurisdiction, in July 2008.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said recently he may seek an international solution if the two sides cannot diffuse the situation alone. Multiple rounds of bilateral talks have so far failed.

Meanwhile, Thailand should submit evidence or arguments over the disputed area rather than act outside the World Court decision, Var Kimhong said.

He blamed internal politics in Thailand, which has been shaken by instability in recent years, as the cause behind the intractability of the dispute.

Thai officials have said they believe the problem will be solved at an upcoming Unesco meeting in Brazil in July.

  1. Sen_MD Said,

    I think the original of verdict of International Court of Justice must be published
    for the people of both countries, Cambodia and Thailand.

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