Cambodia-Thailand talks on border issue "fruitful": Cambodian PM
www.chinaview.cn 2009-06-30 17:55:30 Print
PHNOM PENH, June 30 -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday that the talks he had made with Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan on Saturday were "fruitful and honest."
He said the meeting, which was held in a private and close-door form.
Elaborating the content of the talks, Hun Sen said the Thai delegation, upon his prior warning, did not raise Preah Vihear issue, but many other topics such as those related to joint development projects between the two nations.
Attributing to the points, he said, "We talked about developments of overlapping maritime areas that aimed at exploiting oil and gas, among others development projects."
The premier, however, said he did reiterate how to ease border tension in general and to avoid further armed clashes and urged Thailand to withdraw their troops from the area near Preah Vihear Temple.
He said Cambodian troops will never withdraw unless 30 Thai troops deployed near Preah Vihear temple first withdraw.
Also, during the talks, Hun Sen said he had warned Thai side not to fly their military aircraft over Cambodian territory, saying his armed forces have been newly equipped with modern ground-to-air missiles.
Hun Sen, however, said his statement meant nothing to show off his country's armament or any will to have warfare, but they were stocked and would be used only for self-defense purposes.
Cambodia and Thailand have had border dispute after Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was listed as World Heritage site in July last year.
30 June, 2009
Thai black-clad soldier shot an injured a young Cambodian migrant worker girl
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
The Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper reported that Thai black-clad soldiers opened fire on 5 Cambodian migrant workers when they returned back from a rice planting job in Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaew province, Thailand.
The shooting injured a young Cambodian migrant worker girl. The shooting took place at 7:45PM on 28 June 2009, near Palai village, Aranyaprathet district, Sa Kaew province which is located in front of Cambodia’s Poipet town. According to relatives of the victim, the young Cambodian teenager worker is 16-year-old Yen Sophy. She lives near Tumnub (dike) Korng, Tuol Prasat commune, Poipet city, Banteay Meanchey province.
The teenager was seriously injured on her left calf which was pierced by a bullet. According to the victim, she was among a group of five Cambodian migrant workers from her village. These workers went to plant rice in Thailand and they returned back home in the evening. At the location of the incident, about 150-meter from the Cambodian border, one Thai black-clad soldier among a group of many other soldiers opened fire and shot 6 bullets on the Cambodian workers with the intention of killing all these Cambodian workers.
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
The Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper reported that Thai black-clad soldiers opened fire on 5 Cambodian migrant workers when they returned back from a rice planting job in Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaew province, Thailand.
The shooting injured a young Cambodian migrant worker girl. The shooting took place at 7:45PM on 28 June 2009, near Palai village, Aranyaprathet district, Sa Kaew province which is located in front of Cambodia’s Poipet town. According to relatives of the victim, the young Cambodian teenager worker is 16-year-old Yen Sophy. She lives near Tumnub (dike) Korng, Tuol Prasat commune, Poipet city, Banteay Meanchey province.
The teenager was seriously injured on her left calf which was pierced by a bullet. According to the victim, she was among a group of five Cambodian migrant workers from her village. These workers went to plant rice in Thailand and they returned back home in the evening. At the location of the incident, about 150-meter from the Cambodian border, one Thai black-clad soldier among a group of many other soldiers opened fire and shot 6 bullets on the Cambodian workers with the intention of killing all these Cambodian workers.
If Thailand wants to attack Preah Vihear, it must send in 50,000 troops
It will take 30,000 to 50,000 Thai troops to fight 10,000 battle-scarred Cambodian soldiers: Hun Sen boasts
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Hun Sen issued a warning to the daring Thai troops stationed along the border near Preah Vihear temple. He said that if Thai soldiers want to fight to take back Preah Vihear temple, Thai army must prepare to bring in at least 30,000 to 50,000 of its soldiers. Hun Sen made this declaration at the National Education Institute in the morning of Tuesday 30 June 2009. Hun Sen claimed that he told Suthep Thaugsuban, Thailand’s deputy-PM, and Prawit Wongsuwan, Thailand’s defense minister, during their private visit with him last Saturday, that if Thailand wants to fight to take back Preah Vihear temple, Thailand will need at least 30,000 to 50,000 troops to fight against 10,000 battle-scarred Cambodian soldiers. Hun Sen added that Thailand counts a population of 70 million and an army of more than 300,000 men, whereas Cambodia counts a population of 14 million and an army of about 100,000 men. Therefore, if Thailand wants to attack Cambodian troops, they have to bring in a force of 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers to fight the 10,000-strong Cambodian troops.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Hun Sen issued a warning to the daring Thai troops stationed along the border near Preah Vihear temple. He said that if Thai soldiers want to fight to take back Preah Vihear temple, Thai army must prepare to bring in at least 30,000 to 50,000 of its soldiers. Hun Sen made this declaration at the National Education Institute in the morning of Tuesday 30 June 2009. Hun Sen claimed that he told Suthep Thaugsuban, Thailand’s deputy-PM, and Prawit Wongsuwan, Thailand’s defense minister, during their private visit with him last Saturday, that if Thailand wants to fight to take back Preah Vihear temple, Thailand will need at least 30,000 to 50,000 troops to fight against 10,000 battle-scarred Cambodian soldiers. Hun Sen added that Thailand counts a population of 70 million and an army of more than 300,000 men, whereas Cambodia counts a population of 14 million and an army of about 100,000 men. Therefore, if Thailand wants to attack Cambodian troops, they have to bring in a force of 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers to fight the 10,000-strong Cambodian troops.
US lifts curb on Cambodia, Laos trade
Asia Times
Southeast Asia
Jun 30, 2009
By Brian McCartan
BANGKOK - The removal of Cambodia and Laos from a United States blacklist that limits government support for US companies doing business with the two countries represents the latest strategic move by Washington to counterbalance China's rising influence in mainland Southeast Asia. The new designation will open the way for more American investment in two of Southeast Asia's poorest nations, both US adversaries during the Cold War era.
President Barack Obama has determined that Cambodia and Laos have both shown commitment to open markets, including through more liberal investment laws and fewer market controls, and should no longer be considered "Marxist-Leninist" countries as defined by the 1945 Export-Import Bank Act, the White House announced on June 12.
With the trade restrictions removed, American companies can apply for financing through the Export-Import Bank of the United States for working capital guarantees, export credit insurance and loan guarantees to conduct business in Cambodia and Laos. Only six countries now remain on the US trade blacklist: Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
With a combined population of 20 million, Cambodia and Laos do not represent an especially large or high purchasing power market for US companies. US exports to Cambodia in 2008 totaled US$154 million while those to Laos were a mere $18 million. Cambodia's exports to the US, which mostly consist of clothing and textiles, last year totaled around $2.4 billion while US-bound shipments from Laos were just $42 million. US trade with Thailand stood at $30 billion last year, and with Vietnam $15 billion.
Obama's decision was highly criticized by US-based ethnic Hmong groups, comprised of people who fled Laos after the 1975 communist takeover and claim their relatives continue to be persecuted by the authoritarian regime. Several thousand Hmong remain in a refugee camp in northern Thailand with another 158 Hmong recognized by the United Nations as refugees with real concerns for their safety if repatriated to Laos held in an immigration detention center in northeastern Thailand.
US-based Hmong activists have said that the Obama administration should first secure guarantees from the Laos government for the safety of the Hmong and investigate claims of human-rights abuses before agreeing to improved diplomatic and economic ties. The Hmong and their former Central Intelligence Agency and military allies during the Vietnam War have said the Hmong deserve better from a country they honorably served.
The US State Department's information site on Cambodia says, "In the past three years, bilateral relations between the US and Cambodia have deepened and broadened." That hasn't always been the case. When the Khmer Rouge deposed a US-propped regime in 1975, the American Embassy was evacuated and a mission was not reestablished in the country until 1991. A US embargo on trade with Cambodia ended with the normalization of economic relations in 1992 and full diplomatic relations were recommenced the following year.
A Congressional ban on direct assistance to the Cambodian government was imposed in 1997 following violent factional infighting between current Prime Minister Hun Sen and then co-prime minister Norodom Ranariddh. Further complicating US-Cambodian relations was a grenade attack that same year on a rally for opposition politician Sam Rainsy, where a US citizen was injured. A US Federal Bureau of Investigation probe that followed linked the attackers to government politicians and Hun Sen's special bodyguard unit. The congressional ban was only lifted 10 years later in 2007 and allowed for direct technical assistance.
The US sent over $57 million to Cambodia last year, scattered across programs in health, education, governance and economic development. The US State Department's website also lists as programs it supports as the fight against terrorism, reduction in HIV/AIDS, improving democratic institutions, promotion of human rights, elimination of corruption, accounting for MIAs and justice for victims of the Khmer Rouge.
Long on a diplomatic backburner, US-Laos relations have also seen a revival in recent years. Although diplomatic relations were never severed after the communist takeover in 1975, the US mission in Vientiane was downgraded and full diplomatic relations were not restored until 1992. Trade ties with Vientiane were normalized in December 2004 after congress passed the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act which extended non-discriminatory treatment of Lao products entering the US. The following year, a bilateral trade agreement between the two former adversaries entered into force.
Commercial countermove
The motivation behind these overtures, some analysts say, is growing US concern over the diplomatic and commercial inroads China has made the region. Since the late 1990s, China has stepped up its influence in both Cambodia and Laos. Although China is not the largest single donor to either country, its investments and aid projects are often strongly publicized, including high-profile infrastructure projects such as hydro-electric dams and roads and public projects like the main stadium for the 2009 Southeast Asia Games to be held in Vientiane.
The exact amounts of Chinese aid are difficult to discern since development assistance is often tied together with direct economic investment and loans. According to a January 2008 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report entitled "China's 'Soft Power' in Southeast Asia", the US disbursed some $55 million annually in aid to Cambodia during 2006-2007. China, which for the first time donated money through the Western-dominated Consultative Group that coordinates foreign aid to Cambodia, pledged $91.5 million in 2007.
According to the same CRS report, the US has been a small donor in Laos, with aid amounting to $4.5 million between 2005 and 2007. The US bolstered its disbursements last year, according to the US State Department statistics, with $18 million going to the removal of unexploded bombs and mines, counter-narcotics, health, education, economic development and governance. China has become increasingly important to Vientiane as a source of low-interest loans, grants, development projects, technical assistance and foreign investment.
US relations with Cambodia and Laos have been tempered by concerns lingering from the Vietnam War. In Laos, that includes issues involving the treatment of ethnic Hmong who supported the US during the war and accounting for US servicemen lost during the conflict. Laos and Cambodia, for their part, remain wary of engaging too closely with the US, which dropped thousands of tons of bombs on both countries during the 1960s and early 1970s and as unexploded ordinance continue to kill and maim innocent civilians.
Yet China has its own public image problem in both countries, including Beijing's support for the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. In Laos, there are new fears of being swallowed up by its massive northern neighbor, a perception reinforced by the growing presence of all things Chinese ranging from imported goods to migrant workers, who, Lao officials say, do not return home once their work obligations have expired.
China has worked to counter those criticisms, including through building high-profile infrastructure and public works projects. There have also been frequent visits of Chinese cultural missions, expansion of local Chinese language courses, scholarships for study at Chinese universities, technical assistance programs and Beijing-supported study tours to China for government officials.
Some analysts sense a shift, especially in the younger generation of officials whose formative years did not take place during the Vietnam War, away from erstwhile ally Vietnam to a more pro-China stance. China's recent extensive investments in both Cambodia and Laos have convinced many that the way to prosperity comes through working with the Chinese.
China's inroads into both countries have been helped by inconsistent US attention to the region. Under the George W Bush administration, Washington was perceived by many to have downgraded its commitment to Southeast Asia while concentrating its resources on the so-called global war on terror. When America did engage with the region, it seemed to be focused primarily on counter-terrorism.
It was not lost on countries in the region that then-secretary of state Condoleezza Rice skipped the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum in 2007, or that Bush postponed the US-ASEAN summit in September 2007 and left a day early the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting later that year.
Under the Obama administration, some sense a change in course, with this month's lifting of restrictions on Cambodia and Laos. Southeast Asian nations noted with some pleasure that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's included Indonesia in her inaugural tour of Asia and were heartened by her attendance of ASEAN's opening session in Jakarta. Clinton has also announced that she will be attending the annual ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting and ASEAN Regional Forum in Phuket, Thailand, next month.
Still, Beijing is considered the primary economic patron of both Cambodia and Laos, underlined in April when it announced a "special" aid package of $39.7 million to meet "urgent needs" in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The US's re-engagement in Cambodia and Laos, some say, has demonstrated a new willingness in Washington to provide both governments alternative avenues to prosperity apart from engagement with China.
At the same time, some say Obama must hedge his diplomacy to avoid upsetting its traditional regional ally, Thailand. Despite being made in 2003 a US non-NATO ally, Bangkok has shown signs of moving closer to China, especially under deposed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thai military officers say increased US prioritization of Cambodia, which is currently engaged with Thailand in a pitched border conflict, could push further Thai military ties with China.
Several articles have already appeared in the Thai and English language press expressing annoyance with America's move on Cambodia and Laos and dismay that Thailand as a key strategic ally was not first consulted. That's added to official consternation that began with a perceived snub by Clinton's choice of Indonesia over Thailand for her first Southeast Asia visit earlier this year.
There are still some formalities to iron out under the new relaxed trade regime and American officials have said it will be several months before loans can actually be extended to Cambodia and Laos. Whether US private companies are in a financial position to take advantage of the new designation of two of the region's more marginal economies is also in question. But Obama has now publicly stated and put money in the message that the US is keen to more strongly engage Laos and Cambodia, with the subtext of countering China's recent regional gains.
Brian McCartan is a Bangkok-based freelance journalist. He may be reached at brianpm@comcast.net.
(Copyright 2009 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Southeast Asia
Jun 30, 2009
By Brian McCartan
BANGKOK - The removal of Cambodia and Laos from a United States blacklist that limits government support for US companies doing business with the two countries represents the latest strategic move by Washington to counterbalance China's rising influence in mainland Southeast Asia. The new designation will open the way for more American investment in two of Southeast Asia's poorest nations, both US adversaries during the Cold War era.
President Barack Obama has determined that Cambodia and Laos have both shown commitment to open markets, including through more liberal investment laws and fewer market controls, and should no longer be considered "Marxist-Leninist" countries as defined by the 1945 Export-Import Bank Act, the White House announced on June 12.
With the trade restrictions removed, American companies can apply for financing through the Export-Import Bank of the United States for working capital guarantees, export credit insurance and loan guarantees to conduct business in Cambodia and Laos. Only six countries now remain on the US trade blacklist: Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
With a combined population of 20 million, Cambodia and Laos do not represent an especially large or high purchasing power market for US companies. US exports to Cambodia in 2008 totaled US$154 million while those to Laos were a mere $18 million. Cambodia's exports to the US, which mostly consist of clothing and textiles, last year totaled around $2.4 billion while US-bound shipments from Laos were just $42 million. US trade with Thailand stood at $30 billion last year, and with Vietnam $15 billion.
Obama's decision was highly criticized by US-based ethnic Hmong groups, comprised of people who fled Laos after the 1975 communist takeover and claim their relatives continue to be persecuted by the authoritarian regime. Several thousand Hmong remain in a refugee camp in northern Thailand with another 158 Hmong recognized by the United Nations as refugees with real concerns for their safety if repatriated to Laos held in an immigration detention center in northeastern Thailand.
US-based Hmong activists have said that the Obama administration should first secure guarantees from the Laos government for the safety of the Hmong and investigate claims of human-rights abuses before agreeing to improved diplomatic and economic ties. The Hmong and their former Central Intelligence Agency and military allies during the Vietnam War have said the Hmong deserve better from a country they honorably served.
The US State Department's information site on Cambodia says, "In the past three years, bilateral relations between the US and Cambodia have deepened and broadened." That hasn't always been the case. When the Khmer Rouge deposed a US-propped regime in 1975, the American Embassy was evacuated and a mission was not reestablished in the country until 1991. A US embargo on trade with Cambodia ended with the normalization of economic relations in 1992 and full diplomatic relations were recommenced the following year.
A Congressional ban on direct assistance to the Cambodian government was imposed in 1997 following violent factional infighting between current Prime Minister Hun Sen and then co-prime minister Norodom Ranariddh. Further complicating US-Cambodian relations was a grenade attack that same year on a rally for opposition politician Sam Rainsy, where a US citizen was injured. A US Federal Bureau of Investigation probe that followed linked the attackers to government politicians and Hun Sen's special bodyguard unit. The congressional ban was only lifted 10 years later in 2007 and allowed for direct technical assistance.
The US sent over $57 million to Cambodia last year, scattered across programs in health, education, governance and economic development. The US State Department's website also lists as programs it supports as the fight against terrorism, reduction in HIV/AIDS, improving democratic institutions, promotion of human rights, elimination of corruption, accounting for MIAs and justice for victims of the Khmer Rouge.
Long on a diplomatic backburner, US-Laos relations have also seen a revival in recent years. Although diplomatic relations were never severed after the communist takeover in 1975, the US mission in Vientiane was downgraded and full diplomatic relations were not restored until 1992. Trade ties with Vientiane were normalized in December 2004 after congress passed the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act which extended non-discriminatory treatment of Lao products entering the US. The following year, a bilateral trade agreement between the two former adversaries entered into force.
Commercial countermove
The motivation behind these overtures, some analysts say, is growing US concern over the diplomatic and commercial inroads China has made the region. Since the late 1990s, China has stepped up its influence in both Cambodia and Laos. Although China is not the largest single donor to either country, its investments and aid projects are often strongly publicized, including high-profile infrastructure projects such as hydro-electric dams and roads and public projects like the main stadium for the 2009 Southeast Asia Games to be held in Vientiane.
The exact amounts of Chinese aid are difficult to discern since development assistance is often tied together with direct economic investment and loans. According to a January 2008 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report entitled "China's 'Soft Power' in Southeast Asia", the US disbursed some $55 million annually in aid to Cambodia during 2006-2007. China, which for the first time donated money through the Western-dominated Consultative Group that coordinates foreign aid to Cambodia, pledged $91.5 million in 2007.
According to the same CRS report, the US has been a small donor in Laos, with aid amounting to $4.5 million between 2005 and 2007. The US bolstered its disbursements last year, according to the US State Department statistics, with $18 million going to the removal of unexploded bombs and mines, counter-narcotics, health, education, economic development and governance. China has become increasingly important to Vientiane as a source of low-interest loans, grants, development projects, technical assistance and foreign investment.
US relations with Cambodia and Laos have been tempered by concerns lingering from the Vietnam War. In Laos, that includes issues involving the treatment of ethnic Hmong who supported the US during the war and accounting for US servicemen lost during the conflict. Laos and Cambodia, for their part, remain wary of engaging too closely with the US, which dropped thousands of tons of bombs on both countries during the 1960s and early 1970s and as unexploded ordinance continue to kill and maim innocent civilians.
Yet China has its own public image problem in both countries, including Beijing's support for the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. In Laos, there are new fears of being swallowed up by its massive northern neighbor, a perception reinforced by the growing presence of all things Chinese ranging from imported goods to migrant workers, who, Lao officials say, do not return home once their work obligations have expired.
China has worked to counter those criticisms, including through building high-profile infrastructure and public works projects. There have also been frequent visits of Chinese cultural missions, expansion of local Chinese language courses, scholarships for study at Chinese universities, technical assistance programs and Beijing-supported study tours to China for government officials.
Some analysts sense a shift, especially in the younger generation of officials whose formative years did not take place during the Vietnam War, away from erstwhile ally Vietnam to a more pro-China stance. China's recent extensive investments in both Cambodia and Laos have convinced many that the way to prosperity comes through working with the Chinese.
China's inroads into both countries have been helped by inconsistent US attention to the region. Under the George W Bush administration, Washington was perceived by many to have downgraded its commitment to Southeast Asia while concentrating its resources on the so-called global war on terror. When America did engage with the region, it seemed to be focused primarily on counter-terrorism.
It was not lost on countries in the region that then-secretary of state Condoleezza Rice skipped the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum in 2007, or that Bush postponed the US-ASEAN summit in September 2007 and left a day early the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting later that year.
Under the Obama administration, some sense a change in course, with this month's lifting of restrictions on Cambodia and Laos. Southeast Asian nations noted with some pleasure that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's included Indonesia in her inaugural tour of Asia and were heartened by her attendance of ASEAN's opening session in Jakarta. Clinton has also announced that she will be attending the annual ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting and ASEAN Regional Forum in Phuket, Thailand, next month.
Still, Beijing is considered the primary economic patron of both Cambodia and Laos, underlined in April when it announced a "special" aid package of $39.7 million to meet "urgent needs" in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The US's re-engagement in Cambodia and Laos, some say, has demonstrated a new willingness in Washington to provide both governments alternative avenues to prosperity apart from engagement with China.
At the same time, some say Obama must hedge his diplomacy to avoid upsetting its traditional regional ally, Thailand. Despite being made in 2003 a US non-NATO ally, Bangkok has shown signs of moving closer to China, especially under deposed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thai military officers say increased US prioritization of Cambodia, which is currently engaged with Thailand in a pitched border conflict, could push further Thai military ties with China.
Several articles have already appeared in the Thai and English language press expressing annoyance with America's move on Cambodia and Laos and dismay that Thailand as a key strategic ally was not first consulted. That's added to official consternation that began with a perceived snub by Clinton's choice of Indonesia over Thailand for her first Southeast Asia visit earlier this year.
There are still some formalities to iron out under the new relaxed trade regime and American officials have said it will be several months before loans can actually be extended to Cambodia and Laos. Whether US private companies are in a financial position to take advantage of the new designation of two of the region's more marginal economies is also in question. But Obama has now publicly stated and put money in the message that the US is keen to more strongly engage Laos and Cambodia, with the subtext of countering China's recent regional gains.
Brian McCartan is a Bangkok-based freelance journalist. He may be reached at brianpm@comcast.net.
(Copyright 2009 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Weekly highlights
By: BangkokPost.com
Published: 26/06/2009 at 01:16 PM
Bolstered by the Sakhon Nakhon by-election triumph last Sunday, Thaksin Shinawatra has renewed his phone-ins with an appeal for his supporters bring him home to manage the ailing economy.
Meanwhile, the Democrats appear to be further isolated by their coalition partners as relations get worse.
In a recent phone-in to his supporters at a rally held in Pattaya by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, Thaksin talked about his hardship in Dubai, where he is currently residing, and pleaded with his supporters to bring him home - saying that he doesn’t want to die in the desert.
Thaksin had kept a low profile since the Songkran festival riot in Bangkok by the red-shirts, but that changed shortly before the Sakhon Nakhon by-election when he phoned-in to plead with northeastern people to vote for the Puea Thai candidate. Many followers expect him to make a video address to Saturday night's anti-government rally at Sanam Luang.
The Puea Thai’s by-election triumph in Sakhon Nakhon seemed to dent the confidence of the coalition Chart Thai Pattana Party, which goes up against Puea Thai in Sunday's by-election in Si Sa Ket. Puea Thai which has mobilised all the resources available, including several former MPs of the banned Thai Rak Thai party, to campaign for its candidate.
Should Puea Thai triumph again this Sunday, it will reinforce the notion that the opposition party will be a hard cut to crack in future elections in the Northeast, and that Thaksin still commands widespread respect and loyalty among the Isan people despite being a fugitive in exile.
While Thaksin remains a thorn in the flesh of rival parties attempting to breach Puea Thai’s northeastern fortress, relations between the Democrats and their coalition partners seem to have soured even further.
The Democrats were excluded from a get-together of coalition party leaders at the Oriental Hotel on Monday. All key members of Chart Thai Pattana, Bhumjaithai, Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana and Puea Pandin attended the dinner hosted by Suwat Liptapallop.
Just coincidentally, the gathering was scheduled for the same day Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban left for a pre-announced official visit to Singapore.
It was reported the meeting was meant to show the coalition partners' dissatisfaction with the Democrat Party's foot-dragging on constitutional amendments, particularly regarding the provisions which would allow the returned of banned party executive members from the political wilderness.
The government was dealt another blow to its reputation when an opinion poll by Bangkok University showed that public confidence in the government had dropped. Literally, the government has failed in its performance rating for its first six months in office.
The government’s stability appears to be at risk with at least 30 government MPs being investigated by the Election Commission for alleged breaches of the constitution for holding stocks in media firms or in companies granted state concessions of a monopolistic nature.
Should these MPs be disqualified, the government will be wobbling.
The EC has decided to extend the investigation for another 15 days to give MPs a brief breathing space. The government is hoping the Constitution Court, the final arbiter, will see things differently from the EC.
Catching the State Railway of Thailand management totally unprepared, the railway union staged a snap strike on Monday morning in protest against what they alleged is a government plan to privatise the state enterprise. The work stoppage stranded tens of thousands of passengers at train stations across the country.
The flustered government assigned Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart to negotiate with the union leaders. It was finally agreed that the government would revise the restructuring plan plan, and union representatives would have a say in the review. The government iknsisted there never was any intention to privatise the SRT, just to set up two subsidiary companies to manage it.
Rail services resumed in the evening the following day, but the puiblic wasn't at all happy with the labour union.
Relations between Thailand and Cambodia appeared to have improved somewhat following the visit to Cambodia by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjjajiva last week, but rapidly turned sour again after Thailand demanded the Preah Vihear temple be jointly developed as a world heritage site by the two countries. The World Heritage Committee last year accepted Phnom Penh's application to register the site, which is on Cambodian soil although entry is through Thailand and some disputed land.
The situation along the border suddenly became tense again, as both sides rushed in troop reinforcements.
In an attempt to cool down the situation, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban will leave for Phnom Penh on Saturday for talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Mr Suthep will take along some mangos and sticky rice, a favourite of Mr Hun Sen.
Mr Hun Sen has said quite strongly the Preah Vihear issue will not be on the table for discussion.
Will mangos and sticky rice be enough to sweeten his somewhat gruff disposition?
Published: 26/06/2009 at 01:16 PM
Bolstered by the Sakhon Nakhon by-election triumph last Sunday, Thaksin Shinawatra has renewed his phone-ins with an appeal for his supporters bring him home to manage the ailing economy.
Meanwhile, the Democrats appear to be further isolated by their coalition partners as relations get worse.
In a recent phone-in to his supporters at a rally held in Pattaya by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, Thaksin talked about his hardship in Dubai, where he is currently residing, and pleaded with his supporters to bring him home - saying that he doesn’t want to die in the desert.
Thaksin had kept a low profile since the Songkran festival riot in Bangkok by the red-shirts, but that changed shortly before the Sakhon Nakhon by-election when he phoned-in to plead with northeastern people to vote for the Puea Thai candidate. Many followers expect him to make a video address to Saturday night's anti-government rally at Sanam Luang.
The Puea Thai’s by-election triumph in Sakhon Nakhon seemed to dent the confidence of the coalition Chart Thai Pattana Party, which goes up against Puea Thai in Sunday's by-election in Si Sa Ket. Puea Thai which has mobilised all the resources available, including several former MPs of the banned Thai Rak Thai party, to campaign for its candidate.
Should Puea Thai triumph again this Sunday, it will reinforce the notion that the opposition party will be a hard cut to crack in future elections in the Northeast, and that Thaksin still commands widespread respect and loyalty among the Isan people despite being a fugitive in exile.
While Thaksin remains a thorn in the flesh of rival parties attempting to breach Puea Thai’s northeastern fortress, relations between the Democrats and their coalition partners seem to have soured even further.
The Democrats were excluded from a get-together of coalition party leaders at the Oriental Hotel on Monday. All key members of Chart Thai Pattana, Bhumjaithai, Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana and Puea Pandin attended the dinner hosted by Suwat Liptapallop.
Just coincidentally, the gathering was scheduled for the same day Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban left for a pre-announced official visit to Singapore.
It was reported the meeting was meant to show the coalition partners' dissatisfaction with the Democrat Party's foot-dragging on constitutional amendments, particularly regarding the provisions which would allow the returned of banned party executive members from the political wilderness.
The government was dealt another blow to its reputation when an opinion poll by Bangkok University showed that public confidence in the government had dropped. Literally, the government has failed in its performance rating for its first six months in office.
The government’s stability appears to be at risk with at least 30 government MPs being investigated by the Election Commission for alleged breaches of the constitution for holding stocks in media firms or in companies granted state concessions of a monopolistic nature.
Should these MPs be disqualified, the government will be wobbling.
The EC has decided to extend the investigation for another 15 days to give MPs a brief breathing space. The government is hoping the Constitution Court, the final arbiter, will see things differently from the EC.
Catching the State Railway of Thailand management totally unprepared, the railway union staged a snap strike on Monday morning in protest against what they alleged is a government plan to privatise the state enterprise. The work stoppage stranded tens of thousands of passengers at train stations across the country.
The flustered government assigned Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart to negotiate with the union leaders. It was finally agreed that the government would revise the restructuring plan plan, and union representatives would have a say in the review. The government iknsisted there never was any intention to privatise the SRT, just to set up two subsidiary companies to manage it.
Rail services resumed in the evening the following day, but the puiblic wasn't at all happy with the labour union.
Relations between Thailand and Cambodia appeared to have improved somewhat following the visit to Cambodia by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjjajiva last week, but rapidly turned sour again after Thailand demanded the Preah Vihear temple be jointly developed as a world heritage site by the two countries. The World Heritage Committee last year accepted Phnom Penh's application to register the site, which is on Cambodian soil although entry is through Thailand and some disputed land.
The situation along the border suddenly became tense again, as both sides rushed in troop reinforcements.
In an attempt to cool down the situation, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban will leave for Phnom Penh on Saturday for talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Mr Suthep will take along some mangos and sticky rice, a favourite of Mr Hun Sen.
Mr Hun Sen has said quite strongly the Preah Vihear issue will not be on the table for discussion.
Will mangos and sticky rice be enough to sweeten his somewhat gruff disposition?
Kiva: a different way to microlend
The Phnom Penh Post
Written by Holly Pham
Monday, 29 June 2009
Kiva.org is putting Cambodians in touch with global lenders via local microcredit organisations, no matter that the borrowers themselves haven't necessarily heard of the innovative Web site.
MICROFINANCE is known for its grassroots contact with rural, low-income populations. So using the Internet as a tool to boost this distinctive style of lending might seem like a mismatch.
However, Cambodia in particular is proving that online microlending organisation Kiva.org - the world's most visited microfinance Web site - has hit on an innovative approach that utilises the reach of the Web to further boost lending to rural areas.
Set up in 2005 by Matt Flannery and Jessica Jackley, both of the United States, not-for-profit Kiva profiles would-be micro-borrowers across the planet, connecting them with potential lenders who donate as little as US$25 electronically using the site. The organisation says one of its core values is transparency, meaning that lenders can track the progress of their loans via Kiva's Web site.
Kiva sends its fellows to its local partners for assistance, which includes anything from posting profiles to managing repayment data that goes back to Kiva as part of feedback.
In Cambodia, Kiva uses four local microlenders - Angkor Microfinance Kampuchea (AMK), Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL), Maxima Mikroheranhvantho and Credit - to work as field partners that profile potential borrowers on the Web site and disperse the loans that are raised online.
Field partners are required to hire technical coordinators to put profiles on Kiva.org, but they say that this minimal investment easily pays off through access to a new funding source - ordinary people worldwide.
"We have no problem with capital because we ... have access to many sources," said Dr Uong Kim Seng, Maxima chairman and executive director.
It is these field partners who receive the 2-3 percent interest payments as would be the case for conventional micro-finance lending, meaning the institutions themselves become the vehicles for microfinance with Kiva and not the lenders, a twist on the standard microfinance model established by the likes of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank.
"We spend a lot of time explaining to clients the benefits of exposing their profiles to the world through Kiva," says Julie Picquet, a Kiva fellow who worked for Maxima from February to May. "Almost every single profile on Kiva gets funded."
That includes Le Mak of Kouk Chambat village, Choam Chao district, who took a series of Kiva loans to help stock for a grocery store. She said she now earns US$12 a day, enough to support five family members, including a son who lost his job in a garment factory.
Ouch Chenda, 40, a mother of four from Kampong Speu, has borrowed twice on Kiva through HKL - one $1,000 loan to buy three cows and five pigs before repaying and borrowing again, this time $3,000, to purchase a 30-metre-by-100-metre area of pasture to raise the animals, she said.
"When HKL lent to us, we were able to buy them [the animals and land], and we saved part of our monthly salaries to repay the debt," said Ouch Chenda, admitting that she has never heard of Kiva.
And even if many of the Kingdom's microborrowers are not aware of what Kiva is or how it works, the site has been perhaps more successful here than anywhere else.
Cambodia already has the most developed microfinance environment in Asia, says Darren Miao, Kiva's partnership manager for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
"Cambodia has a well-defined set of regulations governing the microfinance sector," Miao says of the Kingdom's $300 million microfinance industry. "MFIs [Microfinance Institutions] are well-regulated by the Cambodian government, [and they] have been very proactive on improving their services."
The Kingdom's well-established MFI sector has, however, become a victim of its own success in going online.
"Kiva found its Cambodia partners' share of the portfolio was a bit too big. They had almost been too successful at fundraising," says John Briggs, a Kiva fellow who served at Maxima from October last year until February. "In the interest of risk management, when Kiva rebalanced its global portfolio it had to give its Cambodia MFI partners a slightly smaller share of the overall pie."
Darren Miao says that the Kingdom remains one of the few microfinance environments in Asia that is actively sought after by both debt and equity funds, indicating its viability and sustainability.
"Our Cambodian partners are some of the largest MFI partners in the Kiva network in terms of gross loan portfolio and asset size," he said.
Written by Holly Pham
Monday, 29 June 2009
Kiva.org is putting Cambodians in touch with global lenders via local microcredit organisations, no matter that the borrowers themselves haven't necessarily heard of the innovative Web site.
MICROFINANCE is known for its grassroots contact with rural, low-income populations. So using the Internet as a tool to boost this distinctive style of lending might seem like a mismatch.
However, Cambodia in particular is proving that online microlending organisation Kiva.org - the world's most visited microfinance Web site - has hit on an innovative approach that utilises the reach of the Web to further boost lending to rural areas.
Set up in 2005 by Matt Flannery and Jessica Jackley, both of the United States, not-for-profit Kiva profiles would-be micro-borrowers across the planet, connecting them with potential lenders who donate as little as US$25 electronically using the site. The organisation says one of its core values is transparency, meaning that lenders can track the progress of their loans via Kiva's Web site.
Kiva sends its fellows to its local partners for assistance, which includes anything from posting profiles to managing repayment data that goes back to Kiva as part of feedback.
In Cambodia, Kiva uses four local microlenders - Angkor Microfinance Kampuchea (AMK), Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL), Maxima Mikroheranhvantho and Credit - to work as field partners that profile potential borrowers on the Web site and disperse the loans that are raised online.
Field partners are required to hire technical coordinators to put profiles on Kiva.org, but they say that this minimal investment easily pays off through access to a new funding source - ordinary people worldwide.
"We have no problem with capital because we ... have access to many sources," said Dr Uong Kim Seng, Maxima chairman and executive director.
It is these field partners who receive the 2-3 percent interest payments as would be the case for conventional micro-finance lending, meaning the institutions themselves become the vehicles for microfinance with Kiva and not the lenders, a twist on the standard microfinance model established by the likes of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank.
"We spend a lot of time explaining to clients the benefits of exposing their profiles to the world through Kiva," says Julie Picquet, a Kiva fellow who worked for Maxima from February to May. "Almost every single profile on Kiva gets funded."
That includes Le Mak of Kouk Chambat village, Choam Chao district, who took a series of Kiva loans to help stock for a grocery store. She said she now earns US$12 a day, enough to support five family members, including a son who lost his job in a garment factory.
Ouch Chenda, 40, a mother of four from Kampong Speu, has borrowed twice on Kiva through HKL - one $1,000 loan to buy three cows and five pigs before repaying and borrowing again, this time $3,000, to purchase a 30-metre-by-100-metre area of pasture to raise the animals, she said.
"When HKL lent to us, we were able to buy them [the animals and land], and we saved part of our monthly salaries to repay the debt," said Ouch Chenda, admitting that she has never heard of Kiva.
And even if many of the Kingdom's microborrowers are not aware of what Kiva is or how it works, the site has been perhaps more successful here than anywhere else.
Cambodia already has the most developed microfinance environment in Asia, says Darren Miao, Kiva's partnership manager for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
"Cambodia has a well-defined set of regulations governing the microfinance sector," Miao says of the Kingdom's $300 million microfinance industry. "MFIs [Microfinance Institutions] are well-regulated by the Cambodian government, [and they] have been very proactive on improving their services."
The Kingdom's well-established MFI sector has, however, become a victim of its own success in going online.
"Kiva found its Cambodia partners' share of the portfolio was a bit too big. They had almost been too successful at fundraising," says John Briggs, a Kiva fellow who served at Maxima from October last year until February. "In the interest of risk management, when Kiva rebalanced its global portfolio it had to give its Cambodia MFI partners a slightly smaller share of the overall pie."
Darren Miao says that the Kingdom remains one of the few microfinance environments in Asia that is actively sought after by both debt and equity funds, indicating its viability and sustainability.
"Our Cambodian partners are some of the largest MFI partners in the Kiva network in terms of gross loan portfolio and asset size," he said.
Duty-free garment access bill faces opponents in US Senate
The Phnom Penh Post
Written by HOLLY PHAM AND CHRISTOPHER SHAY
Monday, 29 June 2009
Trade Act of 2009 would eliminate tariffs on Cambodian garments entering America, but might not escape committee in its current form, analysts say.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Trade Act of 2009 would eliminate tariffs on Cambodian garments entering America, but might not escape committee in its current form, analysts say.
Photo by: TRACEY SHELTONOfficials and analysts in the United States suggest that the Trade Act of 2009 has little chance of being passed.
ABILL that would provide a major boost to Cambodia's beleaguered garment industry is stuck in the US Senate's finance committee, and analysts fear it has little chance of seeing the light of day. However, some are optimistic that a revised, broader bill benefitting the Kingdom could yet pass under the Barack Obama administration.
"This bill is really important to Cambodia in the midst of the economic crisis," said Mean Sophea, director of the trade preferences system at the Ministry of Commerce. "Cambodia is a poor country with poor human resources and infrastructure, so access to trade is vital."
The Trade Act of 2009, which was introduced by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, would provide duty-free access for textiles and apparel goods to 14 least developed countries (LDCs), one of which is Cambodia. When Feinstein introduced the bill, she said it would reduce poverty and improve relations with some of the world's poorest countries.
"Despite the poverty seen in these countries and the importance of the garment industry and the US market, they face some of the highest US tariffs in the world," she said in a May 21 statement. "This legislation will help these countries to compete in the US market and let their citizens know that Americans are committed to helping them realise a better future for themselves and their families."
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There are a number of high-priority issues facing the US Congress ... which may take greater precedence over this bill.
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Cambodia pays the highest tariffs, in percentage terms, of any US trading partner because of its dependence on garment exports. The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), a US think tank, says Cambodia paid US$419 million in tariffs on $2.46 billion worth of goods in 2007. That works out to a 17 percent import tax, compared with an average of 1.3 percent for other countries.
"[The US tariff system towards Cambodian goods] is not fair at all," said Edward Gresser, director of the project on trade and global markets at PPI. "This is not meant to target Cambodia per se. It is the reality of the US tariff system, which singles out cheap clothes and shoes for the highest tariff rates - but I can't see how anyone could call it fair."
This is third time that a bill to cut tariffs for LDCs that include Cambodia has been introduced in Congress. The previous two attempts failed, but there was some hope that under the new administration the third effort would succeed.
A 2007 report from the Economic Institute of Cambodia estimated that permitting duty-free access to the US would boost the Kingdom's garment exports by a quarter to US$626 million. That would add 77,000 jobs to the garment industry and another 69,000 jobs in supporting industries.
"Undoubtedly, the effect of duty-free access to the US market is not limited to the industry, as it would also impact the country's overall economy. The measure would translate into a 4.6 percent" increase of real GDP growth, the report said.
But the garment sector - one of the Kingdom's four pillars of economic growth - has slumped in the past year. The Ministry of Commerce's trade preferences systems department estimates that garment exports fell 26 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to US$534.6 million.
The World Bank believes 63,000 workers have lost their jobs.
Industry players say that passing the bill is crucial to pulling the garment industry out of its depressed phase.
"As we have seen over the years with various preference programmes, designated countries receive a strong economic boost," said Nate Herman, senior director for international trade at the American Apparel and Footwear Association.
And market access gained from this bill would boost the appeal of the Kingdom as an investment-friendly destination, said Nicole Bivens Collinson, a trade negotiations lawyer with US firm Sandler, Travis and Rosenberg.
She said in an emailed statement that although the current bill is unlikely to pass, it shows that Congress is debating the issue, and that LDCs such as Cambodia could one day gain duty-free access to the US market.
"It is a very opportune time to get preferences for the LDCs, given the Democratic majority in both Congress and the administrative branches of the US government," she said.
Some lobbyists see the bill as a zero-sum game in which gains for Cambodia mean losses for others. Latin American and African nations that already enjoy preferential agreements for garments are actively working to torpedo the bill, as is the American Manufacturing Trade Action Committee (AMTAC).
Lloyd Wood, the director of membership and media outreach at AMTAC, said that textile exports from countries that have signed the Central America Free Trade Agreement are "losing market share hand over fist" to other nations, particularly China. A statement on AMTAC's Web site claimed that removing garment tariffs on Bangladeshi and Cambodian imports would cost US producers US$800 million annually.
"Cambodia and Bangladesh are already superpowers in the apparel world. Cambodia is enormously competitive in the market now," said Wood, noting that the Kingdom has 3.8 percent of the US apparel market.
And Paul Fakes, government affairs associate at the Whitaker Group - a pro-Africa development agency - said that because Bangladesh and Cambodia have already developed competitive apparel industries, neither needs further beneficial access.
"Extending preferential treatment to all LDCs would be like putting an Olympic runner in the same race as a man with a broken leg," Fakes said. "Once Africa's apparel industries develop under AGOA [the African Growth and Opportunity Act - US legislation that provides trade preferences for sub-Saharan Africa] to the point where they can be competitive on the global market, then we can talk about a level playing field and similar treatment for both regions."
It certainly seems as though the chances of the bill passing are bleak. Of the previous two bills that failed, the Trade Act of 2005 had 21 co-sponsors, while the Trade Act of 2007 had five. This bill has just one co-sponsor: Kit Bond, a Republican Senator from Missouri who does not have a seat on the Senate Finance Committee.
Low priority in Washington
US Embassy spokesman John Johnson said in an emailed statement that the administration had bigger priorities that made it difficult to predict the bill's chances.
"There are a number of high-priority issues facing the US Congress, including responding to the economic crisis and tackling health care reform, which may take greater precedence over this bill," he said.
And Kaing Monika, the external affairs manager at the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia, told the Post that the private sector here had given up lobbying for the bill.
Regardless of the outcome, said Gresser at the Progressive Policy Institute, beneficiary countries would be better off in the long run by improving their own competitive advantages.
"Ultimately the best guarantees of success are well-trained workers, efficient ports and roads, and good governance," he said.
29 June, 2009
Cambodia-Thailand: Details of talks under wraps
Details of talks under wraps
The Phnom Penh Post
Written by CHEANG SOKHa AND THET SAMBATH
Monday, 29 June 2009
Tensions remain high along Thai-Cambodian border: officials.
PRIME Minister Hun Sen met privately with a Thai deputy prime minister and minister of defence on Saturday, but both Cambodian and Thai officials remain tight-lipped about the substance of the discussions.
Hun Sen's wife, Bun Rany, cooked lunch for Suthep Thaugsuban and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon at their residence in southern Kandal province, Suthep said Saturday after returning to Thailand. Tensions have recently escalated over the UNESCO listing of an ancient temple.
Hun Sen said in advance of the meeting that he would not discuss Thailand's decision to challenge UNESCO's listing of Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage site.
Abhisit said earlier this month that he would contest the July 2008 inscription during the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Seville, Spain.
"I will only welcome an explanation about their withdrawal from Cambodian territory," Hun Sen said on Friday.
Upon his return to Bangkok, Suthep declined to reveal details of Saturday's unofficial talks but told Thai media that the two countries should move past the tension caused by previous border clashes.
"We should let bygones be bygones, forget the nightmare of the past and look forward to a positive future for both countries," he said.
Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said he had no information about the lunch, calling it a "private meeting".
Officials said Sunday that the high-level talks had not lowered tension along the border.
"People left here ... because Thai soldiers were doing military exercises on their land," said Peuy Saroeun, the deputy governor of Anlong Veng district in Oddar Meanchey province.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP
The Phnom Penh Post
Written by CHEANG SOKHa AND THET SAMBATH
Monday, 29 June 2009
Tensions remain high along Thai-Cambodian border: officials.
PRIME Minister Hun Sen met privately with a Thai deputy prime minister and minister of defence on Saturday, but both Cambodian and Thai officials remain tight-lipped about the substance of the discussions.
Hun Sen's wife, Bun Rany, cooked lunch for Suthep Thaugsuban and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon at their residence in southern Kandal province, Suthep said Saturday after returning to Thailand. Tensions have recently escalated over the UNESCO listing of an ancient temple.
Hun Sen said in advance of the meeting that he would not discuss Thailand's decision to challenge UNESCO's listing of Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage site.
Abhisit said earlier this month that he would contest the July 2008 inscription during the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Seville, Spain.
"I will only welcome an explanation about their withdrawal from Cambodian territory," Hun Sen said on Friday.
Upon his return to Bangkok, Suthep declined to reveal details of Saturday's unofficial talks but told Thai media that the two countries should move past the tension caused by previous border clashes.
"We should let bygones be bygones, forget the nightmare of the past and look forward to a positive future for both countries," he said.
Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said he had no information about the lunch, calling it a "private meeting".
Officials said Sunday that the high-level talks had not lowered tension along the border.
"People left here ... because Thai soldiers were doing military exercises on their land," said Peuy Saroeun, the deputy governor of Anlong Veng district in Oddar Meanchey province.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP
Thai shameful defeat for its request to review the listing of Preah Vihear temple
Thai shameful defeat for its request to review the listing of Preah Vihear temple
29 June 2009
DAP news
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
The UNESCO World Heritage meeting in Seville, Spain, ended at 7PM on Sunday 28 June (01AM local time in Phnom Penh on Monday 29 June 2009). Thailand was shamefully defeated in its request for a review of the listing of Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site. Preah Vihear temple is a priceless Cambodian heritage that cannot be haggled for. As a result of the UNESCO meeting, the review request by Thailand was not included the agenda of the meeting and Thailand’s representatives were not allowed to give any declaration during the meeting.
29 June 2009
DAP news
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
The UNESCO World Heritage meeting in Seville, Spain, ended at 7PM on Sunday 28 June (01AM local time in Phnom Penh on Monday 29 June 2009). Thailand was shamefully defeated in its request for a review of the listing of Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site. Preah Vihear temple is a priceless Cambodian heritage that cannot be haggled for. As a result of the UNESCO meeting, the review request by Thailand was not included the agenda of the meeting and Thailand’s representatives were not allowed to give any declaration during the meeting.
Preah Vihear, le conflit au regard de l’Histoire.
Preah Vihear, le conflit au regard de l’Histoire.
Mardi, 23 Juin 2009
English Version
À la lecture de la presse anglophone de Bangkok, on est fréquemment surpris d’un manque patent de neutralité quant à l’affaire du temple de Préah Vihear.
Le parti de la Thaïlande y est pris sans nuance et l’on va jusqu’à affirmer que les Cambodgiens seraient les véritables fauteurs de troubles, tout comme les premiers à tirer… Le souci de vérité tout comme l’amitié que j’ai pour le Cambodge me forcent ici à tenter de clarifier quelques points d’histoire concernant les rapports entre les deux pays.
Provenant de Chine méridionale, c’est vers la fin du IXe siècle que ceux qui allaient devenir les Siamois, puis les Thais, commencent à s’établir sur les marches septentrionales de l’empire khmer, au nord de la chaîne des Dangreks.Ils se renforcent progressivement jusqu’à devenir le Royaume Thaï d’Ayuthaya qui saccagera Angkor à deux reprises en 1351 et 1431, déportant chaque fois une grande partie de la population khmère et imposant sa suzeraineté sur le Cambodge, dont il annexera au fil du temps des provinces entières.
« Atlantide en sursis », avalé au Nord Ouest par le Siam et à l’Est par le Vietnam, le Cambodge allait tout bonnement disparaître. Conscient de cela, le roi Ang Duong sollicita en 1853 l'intervention de la France de Napoléon III. Mis au courant, les Siamois firent échouer ce traité d'alliance et c’est le fils d’Ang Duong, le Roi Norodom, qui signera finalement en 1863 ce traité de Protectorat avec la France.
L’influence des Anglais était forte sur le Siam, mais l’accord franco-britannique du 14 juillet 1884, avait reconnu comme « zone française » le bassin du Mékong, ce qui n’empêcha pas les Siamois de couper ledit bassin et de s’avancer à travers le Laos. Ces empiètements répétés conduisirent, en juillet 1893, une flottille française à remonter le Ménam jusqu’à Bangkok. La France fit alors le blocus des côtes, ce qui obligea la cour du Siam à renoncer à toute revendication sur la rive gauche du Mékong tandis que nous gardions en otage les provinces de Chantaboun et de Paknam. Des troupes de la marine occupèrent ces régions jusqu’à la Convention de 1904 qui rendait au Cambodge la province côtière de Koh Kong ainsi que celle de Steung Treng, assorties des régions de Melou Preï et Tonle Repou, territoires cédés par le Siam au Laos et réintégrés au Cambodge par la France.
Cette Convention de 1904 conduisit au Traité de 1907, où, contre retour au Siam des provinces de Trat, Chantaboun et du territoire de Dan Sai dans l’actuelle province de Loei, le Roi Chulalongkorn (Rama V) abandonnait à la France, qui les rétrocédait au Cambodge, les provinces de Battambang, de Sisophon et de Siem Reap.
Lorsque le Roi Sisowath pu finalement se rendre à Angkor reprendre possession de ces terres indubitablement khmères il déclara que c’était là « la plus grande gloire de son règne ».
Mais les Siamois ne renoncèrent jamais, profitant de la défaite française face à l’Allemagne lors de la seconde guerre mondiale, ils violent immédiatement le pacte de non-agression signé avec la France le 12 juin 1940.
Le Premier ministre thaïlandais Phibun organise alors une série de manifestations nationalistes et anti-françaises à Bangkok, puis des escarmouches frontalières se succèdent le long du Mékong. L’aviation thaïlandaise, supérieure en nombre, bombarde de jour Vientiane, Sisophon, et Battambang en toute impunité. Les forces aériennes françaises tentent des raids en représailles, mais les dégâts causés sont bien moindres. En décembre 1940, la Thaïlande occupe Pak-Lay et le Bassac.
Début janvier 1941, Bangkok lance une offensive sur le Laos et le Cambodge. La résistance franco-indochinoise est en place, mais la plupart des unités sont surpassées par les forces thaïlandaises, mieux équipées (20 chars côté français, 134 côté siamois). Les Thaïlandais occupent rapidement le Laos, alors qu’au Cambodge la résistance française est meilleure.
Le 16 janvier, la France lance une large contre-offensive menée par le 5e REI (Régiment Etranger d’Infanterie) sur les villages de Yang Dang Khum et de Phum Préav, où se déroulent les plus féroces combats de la guerre. La contre-attaque est bloquée et s’achève par une retraite, mais les Thaïlandais ne peuvent poursuivre les forces françaises, leurs blindés ayant été cloués au sol par les canons anti-char français (qui, faute de moyens adéquats, avaient été tractés sur place par des bœufs). Alors que la situation à terre est critique pour la France, l’amiral Decoux donne le feu vert pour exécuter une opération contre la marine thaïlandaise. L'ordre est donné aux navires de guerre disponibles d’attaquer dans le golfe de Thaïlande. Au matin du 17 janvier 1941, le « groupe occasionnel » attaque les navires thaïlandais à Koh Chang. Bien que la flotte ennemie la surclasse largement en nombre, l'opération de la marine française, s'achève par une victoire complète. À l'issue du combat, une bonne partie de la flotte de guerre thaïlandaise est détruite. Mais, le 24 janvier, la bataille aérienne finale a lieu lorsque l’aéroport de Siem Reap est atteint par un raid des bombardiers thaïlandais.
Le Japon intervient rapidement dans le conflit au profit des Thaïs, impose un armistice, puis un traité de paix, le 9 mai, par lequel la France abandonne les provinces cambodgiennes de Battambang et Siem Reap, ainsi que les provinces laotiennes de Champassak et Sayaburi, soit un territoire de plus de 50 000 km2 habité par 420 000 personnes.
Les territoires annexés au Cambodge ne seront restitués par la Thaïlande, sous pression internationale (traité de Washington), qu'en novembre 1947.
Mais dès 1953, alors que le Cambodge accède à peine à l’indépendance, des troupes thaïes investissent Préah Vihear, en chassent les fonctionnaires khmers et hissent leur drapeau national. Neuf ans plus tard, en 1962, l’habileté consommée du prince Sihanouk permit d’obtenir une décision internationale de justice et les Thaïs durent faire marche arrière, mais le répit allait être de courte durée, la guerre arrivait et Préah Vihear y serait engouffré.
Passons sur les occupations successives du site par les armées en conflit, la reddition des dernières troupes de Lon Nol aux Khmers rouges en mai 1975, le pire moment de son histoire fut un effroyable holocauste orchestré il y a trente ans par l’armée thaïlandaise elle-même !
Peu après la défaite des Khmers rouges en 1979, la Thaïlande fut submergée de réfugiés cambodgiens et pour démontrer au monde qu’elle ne pouvait seule sans argent gérer ce phénomène, elle planifia une atroce mise en scène. Au matin du vendredi 8 juin 1979, 110 bus se rangèrent devant le camp de Nong Chan qui abritait des dizaines de milliers de réfugiés cambodgiens. On leur déclara qu’ils allaient être transférés dans un camp plus à même de les recevoir et tous ces survivants du génocide Khmer rouge furent renvoyés en enfer…
Fort éloigné de Nong Chan, le site de Préah Vihear avait été choisi à dessein, on se vengeait de la perte du temple en 1962. Une falaise abrupte couverte de jungle, des mines par milliers, l’issue ne faisait pas de doute…
Comprenant ce qui allait se passer, les malheureux réfugiés durent être sortis des bus sous la menace des armes. Des scènes horribles eurent lieu : arrivés de nuit, bus après bus, les Cambodgiens furent poussés comme du bétail entre deux rangées de militaires sur un étroit chemin, non sans avoir été dépouillé de tout l’argent qu’ils possédaient. Les militaires maniaient leurs armes comme des bâtons et tiraient sur ceux qui refusaient de descendre le chemin. Terrorisés à l’idée de sauter sur les mines innombrables (posées par les Khmers rouges quatre ans auparavant), les réfugiés tentaient par tous les moyens de rester sur le chemin, mais plus haut, on poussait sans cesse de nouveaux malheureux et les gens étaient finalement forcés de marcher dans le champ de mines. Il fallut trois jours aux survivants pour traverser cette étendue de mort, de soif et de faim au milieu des cadavres en putréfaction et des blessés se tordant de douleur. On estime à quarante-cinq mille le nombre de Cambodgiens ainsi expulsés. Pendant plusieurs jours, ils furent convoyés en enfer par une noria de bus, mais il est impossible d’estimer le nombre des victimes, les Khmers rouges n’ont pas tenu de registre…
On ignore trop cette affreuse page d’histoire pour ne retenir que cette « Amazing Thailand » des brochures touristiques. Les torts des Thaïs à l’encontre des Khmers doivent être rappelés, non pour dresser à nouveau les peuples les uns contre les autres, mais pour que justice soit enfin rendue.
Les Cambodgiens n’agressent personne, ils sont trop conscients du déséquilibre des forces en présence, il n’y a de leur part que du courage et de la détermination à défendre leur pays, mais la Thaïlande a trop de problèmes intérieurs pour ne pas tenter d’exploiter le mythe de l’Union Sacrée contre la barbarie du voisin, les morts du passé n’y changeront rien.
Cette tragédie est malheureusement loin d’un heureux dénouement, les Américains détestent trop Hun Sen pour raisonner leurs partenaires thaïs, et quant aux Français, il est peu probable qu’ils enverront une fois de plus des canonnières devant Bangkok…
Pierre-Yves Clais
Ancien Casque Bleu au Cambodge (1992)
Mardi, 23 Juin 2009
English Version
À la lecture de la presse anglophone de Bangkok, on est fréquemment surpris d’un manque patent de neutralité quant à l’affaire du temple de Préah Vihear.
Le parti de la Thaïlande y est pris sans nuance et l’on va jusqu’à affirmer que les Cambodgiens seraient les véritables fauteurs de troubles, tout comme les premiers à tirer… Le souci de vérité tout comme l’amitié que j’ai pour le Cambodge me forcent ici à tenter de clarifier quelques points d’histoire concernant les rapports entre les deux pays.
Provenant de Chine méridionale, c’est vers la fin du IXe siècle que ceux qui allaient devenir les Siamois, puis les Thais, commencent à s’établir sur les marches septentrionales de l’empire khmer, au nord de la chaîne des Dangreks.Ils se renforcent progressivement jusqu’à devenir le Royaume Thaï d’Ayuthaya qui saccagera Angkor à deux reprises en 1351 et 1431, déportant chaque fois une grande partie de la population khmère et imposant sa suzeraineté sur le Cambodge, dont il annexera au fil du temps des provinces entières.
« Atlantide en sursis », avalé au Nord Ouest par le Siam et à l’Est par le Vietnam, le Cambodge allait tout bonnement disparaître. Conscient de cela, le roi Ang Duong sollicita en 1853 l'intervention de la France de Napoléon III. Mis au courant, les Siamois firent échouer ce traité d'alliance et c’est le fils d’Ang Duong, le Roi Norodom, qui signera finalement en 1863 ce traité de Protectorat avec la France.
L’influence des Anglais était forte sur le Siam, mais l’accord franco-britannique du 14 juillet 1884, avait reconnu comme « zone française » le bassin du Mékong, ce qui n’empêcha pas les Siamois de couper ledit bassin et de s’avancer à travers le Laos. Ces empiètements répétés conduisirent, en juillet 1893, une flottille française à remonter le Ménam jusqu’à Bangkok. La France fit alors le blocus des côtes, ce qui obligea la cour du Siam à renoncer à toute revendication sur la rive gauche du Mékong tandis que nous gardions en otage les provinces de Chantaboun et de Paknam. Des troupes de la marine occupèrent ces régions jusqu’à la Convention de 1904 qui rendait au Cambodge la province côtière de Koh Kong ainsi que celle de Steung Treng, assorties des régions de Melou Preï et Tonle Repou, territoires cédés par le Siam au Laos et réintégrés au Cambodge par la France.
Cette Convention de 1904 conduisit au Traité de 1907, où, contre retour au Siam des provinces de Trat, Chantaboun et du territoire de Dan Sai dans l’actuelle province de Loei, le Roi Chulalongkorn (Rama V) abandonnait à la France, qui les rétrocédait au Cambodge, les provinces de Battambang, de Sisophon et de Siem Reap.
Lorsque le Roi Sisowath pu finalement se rendre à Angkor reprendre possession de ces terres indubitablement khmères il déclara que c’était là « la plus grande gloire de son règne ».
Mais les Siamois ne renoncèrent jamais, profitant de la défaite française face à l’Allemagne lors de la seconde guerre mondiale, ils violent immédiatement le pacte de non-agression signé avec la France le 12 juin 1940.
Le Premier ministre thaïlandais Phibun organise alors une série de manifestations nationalistes et anti-françaises à Bangkok, puis des escarmouches frontalières se succèdent le long du Mékong. L’aviation thaïlandaise, supérieure en nombre, bombarde de jour Vientiane, Sisophon, et Battambang en toute impunité. Les forces aériennes françaises tentent des raids en représailles, mais les dégâts causés sont bien moindres. En décembre 1940, la Thaïlande occupe Pak-Lay et le Bassac.
Début janvier 1941, Bangkok lance une offensive sur le Laos et le Cambodge. La résistance franco-indochinoise est en place, mais la plupart des unités sont surpassées par les forces thaïlandaises, mieux équipées (20 chars côté français, 134 côté siamois). Les Thaïlandais occupent rapidement le Laos, alors qu’au Cambodge la résistance française est meilleure.
Le 16 janvier, la France lance une large contre-offensive menée par le 5e REI (Régiment Etranger d’Infanterie) sur les villages de Yang Dang Khum et de Phum Préav, où se déroulent les plus féroces combats de la guerre. La contre-attaque est bloquée et s’achève par une retraite, mais les Thaïlandais ne peuvent poursuivre les forces françaises, leurs blindés ayant été cloués au sol par les canons anti-char français (qui, faute de moyens adéquats, avaient été tractés sur place par des bœufs). Alors que la situation à terre est critique pour la France, l’amiral Decoux donne le feu vert pour exécuter une opération contre la marine thaïlandaise. L'ordre est donné aux navires de guerre disponibles d’attaquer dans le golfe de Thaïlande. Au matin du 17 janvier 1941, le « groupe occasionnel » attaque les navires thaïlandais à Koh Chang. Bien que la flotte ennemie la surclasse largement en nombre, l'opération de la marine française, s'achève par une victoire complète. À l'issue du combat, une bonne partie de la flotte de guerre thaïlandaise est détruite. Mais, le 24 janvier, la bataille aérienne finale a lieu lorsque l’aéroport de Siem Reap est atteint par un raid des bombardiers thaïlandais.
Le Japon intervient rapidement dans le conflit au profit des Thaïs, impose un armistice, puis un traité de paix, le 9 mai, par lequel la France abandonne les provinces cambodgiennes de Battambang et Siem Reap, ainsi que les provinces laotiennes de Champassak et Sayaburi, soit un territoire de plus de 50 000 km2 habité par 420 000 personnes.
Les territoires annexés au Cambodge ne seront restitués par la Thaïlande, sous pression internationale (traité de Washington), qu'en novembre 1947.
Mais dès 1953, alors que le Cambodge accède à peine à l’indépendance, des troupes thaïes investissent Préah Vihear, en chassent les fonctionnaires khmers et hissent leur drapeau national. Neuf ans plus tard, en 1962, l’habileté consommée du prince Sihanouk permit d’obtenir une décision internationale de justice et les Thaïs durent faire marche arrière, mais le répit allait être de courte durée, la guerre arrivait et Préah Vihear y serait engouffré.
Passons sur les occupations successives du site par les armées en conflit, la reddition des dernières troupes de Lon Nol aux Khmers rouges en mai 1975, le pire moment de son histoire fut un effroyable holocauste orchestré il y a trente ans par l’armée thaïlandaise elle-même !
Peu après la défaite des Khmers rouges en 1979, la Thaïlande fut submergée de réfugiés cambodgiens et pour démontrer au monde qu’elle ne pouvait seule sans argent gérer ce phénomène, elle planifia une atroce mise en scène. Au matin du vendredi 8 juin 1979, 110 bus se rangèrent devant le camp de Nong Chan qui abritait des dizaines de milliers de réfugiés cambodgiens. On leur déclara qu’ils allaient être transférés dans un camp plus à même de les recevoir et tous ces survivants du génocide Khmer rouge furent renvoyés en enfer…
Fort éloigné de Nong Chan, le site de Préah Vihear avait été choisi à dessein, on se vengeait de la perte du temple en 1962. Une falaise abrupte couverte de jungle, des mines par milliers, l’issue ne faisait pas de doute…
Comprenant ce qui allait se passer, les malheureux réfugiés durent être sortis des bus sous la menace des armes. Des scènes horribles eurent lieu : arrivés de nuit, bus après bus, les Cambodgiens furent poussés comme du bétail entre deux rangées de militaires sur un étroit chemin, non sans avoir été dépouillé de tout l’argent qu’ils possédaient. Les militaires maniaient leurs armes comme des bâtons et tiraient sur ceux qui refusaient de descendre le chemin. Terrorisés à l’idée de sauter sur les mines innombrables (posées par les Khmers rouges quatre ans auparavant), les réfugiés tentaient par tous les moyens de rester sur le chemin, mais plus haut, on poussait sans cesse de nouveaux malheureux et les gens étaient finalement forcés de marcher dans le champ de mines. Il fallut trois jours aux survivants pour traverser cette étendue de mort, de soif et de faim au milieu des cadavres en putréfaction et des blessés se tordant de douleur. On estime à quarante-cinq mille le nombre de Cambodgiens ainsi expulsés. Pendant plusieurs jours, ils furent convoyés en enfer par une noria de bus, mais il est impossible d’estimer le nombre des victimes, les Khmers rouges n’ont pas tenu de registre…
On ignore trop cette affreuse page d’histoire pour ne retenir que cette « Amazing Thailand » des brochures touristiques. Les torts des Thaïs à l’encontre des Khmers doivent être rappelés, non pour dresser à nouveau les peuples les uns contre les autres, mais pour que justice soit enfin rendue.
Les Cambodgiens n’agressent personne, ils sont trop conscients du déséquilibre des forces en présence, il n’y a de leur part que du courage et de la détermination à défendre leur pays, mais la Thaïlande a trop de problèmes intérieurs pour ne pas tenter d’exploiter le mythe de l’Union Sacrée contre la barbarie du voisin, les morts du passé n’y changeront rien.
Cette tragédie est malheureusement loin d’un heureux dénouement, les Américains détestent trop Hun Sen pour raisonner leurs partenaires thaïs, et quant aux Français, il est peu probable qu’ils enverront une fois de plus des canonnières devant Bangkok…
Pierre-Yves Clais
Ancien Casque Bleu au Cambodge (1992)
Looking at the Preah Vihear Conflict in the Light of History
Looking at the Preah Vihear Conflict in the Light of History
Op-Ed by PIERRE-YVES CLAIS
La version francaise
Reading the English-language press in Bangkok one is frequently surprised by the lack of objective reporting regarding the dispute over the Preah Vihear temple.
As a matter of fact, this Thai press is immensely unbalanced and will even go as far as to say that the Cambodians are the true troublemakers as well as the first to shoot.
A personal fondness I have for truth as well as the friendship I have for Cambodia both urge me to clarify some historic points between these two countries.
Toward the end of the ninth century people coming from Southern China started to establish themselves inside the Khmer Empire to the north of the Dangrek mountain range. They would be known as the Siamese and later on, the Thais.
They progressively strengthened themselves until the area they inhabited became the Thai Kingdom of Ayuthaya.
This Kingdom would destroy Angkor in two waves: Once in 1351 and another time in 1431, each time deporting a large part of the Khmer population and imposing its sovereignty over Cambodia, from which it annexed entire provinces in the years to come.
Like an "Atlantis in waiting," swallowed to the northwest by Siam and to the east by Vietnam, Cambodia was on its way to complete extinction.
Aware of the situation, King Ang Duong solicited in 1853 the intervention of France, which was at that time ruled by Napoleon III.
The Siamese were informed of the alliance about to be made between France and Cambodia and succeeded in making it fail. But in 1863, King Norodom eventually signed a protectorate treaty with France.
The English influence was strong in Siam, but the Franco-British agreement of July 14, 1884 had already recognized the Mekong Basin as a French-owned zone. This would not prevent the Siamese from cutting off the basin and advancing toward Laos.
In 1893, the French had had enough of these gradual advances and sent their warships up the Menam River to Bangkok. France thus blocked any trade from reaching the shores, which obliged the Siamese court to renounce all of their claims to the left bank of the Mekong River. Meanwhile, France kept the provinces of Chantaboun and Paknam as hostages. Some French naval troops occupied these regions until the Convention of 1904 gave back the Province of Koh Kong and Steung Treng to Cambodia. Other areas included Melou Prei and Tonle Repou, which were left by Siam to Laos and finally given back to Cambodia by France.
The Convention of 1904 led to the Treaty of 1907, which was drawn up by France and Siam, where in exchange for the return of the provinces of Trat, Chantaboun and the territory of Dan Sai, which is in the current province of Loei, King Chulalongkorn of Siam (Rama V) left the provinces of Battambang, Sisophon and Siem Reap to France, who gave them back to Cambodia.
When King Sisowath was finally able to go to Angkor and repossess a land that had always been undoubtedly Khmer, he declared that this was the biggest glory of his reign.
But the Siamese would not give up.
Taking advantage of the French defeat against Germany during World War II, the Siamese immediately violated the pact of non-aggression signed with France on June 12, 1940.
The Thai Prime Minister, Field Marshall Phibun Songkhram, organized a series of nationalist and anti-French demonstrations in Bangkok. Then, the border disputes multiplied in number along the banks of the Mekong. During daytime, the Thai air force, superior in number, bombed Vientiane, Sisophon and Battambang without any objection from abroad. The French air force attempted to strike back, but the damage inflicted was minimal.
In December 1940, Thailand then occupied the provinces of Pak-Lay and Bassac. At the beginning of January 1941, Bangkok men launched an offensive on Laos and Cambodia. The Franco-Indochinese resistance was in place, but the majority of the military units were overwhelmed by the better-equipped Thai forces (20 French tanks vs. 134 Thai tanks.)
The Thais quickly occupied Laos.
However, French resistance in Cambodia was more resilient. By Jan 16, France launched a large counter attack led by the 5th REI (a regiment belonging to the French Foreign Legion) on the villages of Yang Dang Khum and Phum Preav, where the fiercest fighting of the war took place.
The French counterattack was blocked and ended in a retreat, but the Thais could no longer pursue the French forces as their tanks had been nailed to the ground by the French anti-tank canons. For lack of means, these very canons had been pulled by buffaloes to the battlefield.
As the ground situation was critical for France, Admiral Decoux gave the green light to execute an operation against the Thai Navy. The order was given to the available French navy to attack the Gulf of Thailand. On the morning of Jan 17, 1941, "the Provisional Group" (a force assembled for that very occasion) attacked the Thai Navy at Koh Chang. Although the Thai ships were far superior in number, the operation of the French navy managed to bring home a comprehensive victory.
After the battle, a large part of the Thai navy was destroyed. But on January 24, the final air battle took place while a Thai air raid attacked Siem Reap Airport.
Japan intervened quickly in the conflict in favor of the Thais and imposed an armistice followed by a peace treaty causing France to relinquish the Cambodian provinces of Battambang, Siem Reap as well as the Lao provinces of Champassak and Sayaburi on May 9. These territories were more than 50,000 km squared in size and inhabited by 420,000 people.
These territories annexed from Cambodia were, however, handed back by Thailand on November 1947 under international pressure (Treaty of Washington).
But from 1953, although Cambodia had only just achieved its independence from France, Thai troops invaded Preah Vihear and hoisted their national flag above the temple. Nine years later in 1962, the clever mind of then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk paved the way for obtaining an international decision at the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the Thais were obliged to retreat from the Khmer temple.
Unfortunately, the respite would be short lived: War broke out shortly after and Preah Vihear was again in the mix, the temple being occupied by successive armies fighting each other.
A little while after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, Thailand was submerged with Cambodian refugees and, to show to the world that it couldn't cope without international aid Thailand planned what could be considered a staged atrocity.
On the morning of Friday June 8, 1979,110 trucks parked in front of the Nong Chan Refugee Camp, which housed tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees.
Thai officials told the refugees that they were going to be transferred to another, better equipped camp. In reality, these survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide were being sent back to hell.
Far away from Nong Chan, the site of Preah Vihear had been chosen with a precise goal: To seek revenge for the loss of the temple in 1962. With a high cliff covered in jungle and thousands of land mines laid around the temple, the outcome of the forced expulsion of those thousands of Cambodian refugees could be guessed easily.
The unfortunate refugees were taken out of the trucks under the constant threat of weapons. Horrible scenes took place. All night long, truckloads after truckload of Cambodians were pushed – after first being despoiled of all their possessions – like livestock between two rows of soldiers through a narrow passage. The soldiers used their weapons as sticks and shot at those who refused to file down the narrow passage.
Terrorized by the thought of stepping on one of the many mines, laid previously there by the Khmer Rouge, the refugees desperately attempted to stay on the track. But the Thais continuously pushed more refugees along the path and people were forced to walk through the minefields.
Both thirsty and hungry, the survivors of this atrocity needed three days to cross the immense mine field filled with decaying corpses and injured victims squirming in pain.
One estimates that over 45,000 Cambodians were forced out of Thailand in this manner. For several days, the refugees were transported into hell by a huge number of trucks that dumped them at Preah Vihear. It is still impossible to evaluate the number of casualties from this expulsion, as the Khmer Rouge who waited to greet the refugees did not keep records.
All too often this awful page of history is ignored, one retains only this "Amazing Thailand" image in today's tourist brochures.
The wrongdoings of the Thais against the Khmers should be remembered, not to set the two populations against each other but so that justice can at last be achieved.
Let it be said that Cambodians don't attack anyone. They know too well that the balance of power is not in their favor. Still they vow to defend their country through courage and determination-they have no other choice.
But Thailand has too many internal political problems not to try and exploit the myth of a "sacred national alliance" against its barbaric neighbors, and the deaths of the past will change nothing in it.
This historical tragedy is unfortunately far from over and there is no happy ending in sight.
The Americans dislike Prime Minister Hun Sen too much to pressure their Thai partners into a peaceful solution. And it is unlikely that the French will send their warships against Bangkok again...
Pierre-Yves Clais was a former UN peacekeeper in Cambodia (1992). He currently owns Terre Rouge Lodge with his wife in the Ratanakiri.
------------
Op-Ed by PIERRE-YVES CLAIS
La version francaise
Reading the English-language press in Bangkok one is frequently surprised by the lack of objective reporting regarding the dispute over the Preah Vihear temple.
As a matter of fact, this Thai press is immensely unbalanced and will even go as far as to say that the Cambodians are the true troublemakers as well as the first to shoot.
A personal fondness I have for truth as well as the friendship I have for Cambodia both urge me to clarify some historic points between these two countries.
Toward the end of the ninth century people coming from Southern China started to establish themselves inside the Khmer Empire to the north of the Dangrek mountain range. They would be known as the Siamese and later on, the Thais.
They progressively strengthened themselves until the area they inhabited became the Thai Kingdom of Ayuthaya.
This Kingdom would destroy Angkor in two waves: Once in 1351 and another time in 1431, each time deporting a large part of the Khmer population and imposing its sovereignty over Cambodia, from which it annexed entire provinces in the years to come.
Like an "Atlantis in waiting," swallowed to the northwest by Siam and to the east by Vietnam, Cambodia was on its way to complete extinction.
Aware of the situation, King Ang Duong solicited in 1853 the intervention of France, which was at that time ruled by Napoleon III.
The Siamese were informed of the alliance about to be made between France and Cambodia and succeeded in making it fail. But in 1863, King Norodom eventually signed a protectorate treaty with France.
The English influence was strong in Siam, but the Franco-British agreement of July 14, 1884 had already recognized the Mekong Basin as a French-owned zone. This would not prevent the Siamese from cutting off the basin and advancing toward Laos.
In 1893, the French had had enough of these gradual advances and sent their warships up the Menam River to Bangkok. France thus blocked any trade from reaching the shores, which obliged the Siamese court to renounce all of their claims to the left bank of the Mekong River. Meanwhile, France kept the provinces of Chantaboun and Paknam as hostages. Some French naval troops occupied these regions until the Convention of 1904 gave back the Province of Koh Kong and Steung Treng to Cambodia. Other areas included Melou Prei and Tonle Repou, which were left by Siam to Laos and finally given back to Cambodia by France.
The Convention of 1904 led to the Treaty of 1907, which was drawn up by France and Siam, where in exchange for the return of the provinces of Trat, Chantaboun and the territory of Dan Sai, which is in the current province of Loei, King Chulalongkorn of Siam (Rama V) left the provinces of Battambang, Sisophon and Siem Reap to France, who gave them back to Cambodia.
When King Sisowath was finally able to go to Angkor and repossess a land that had always been undoubtedly Khmer, he declared that this was the biggest glory of his reign.
But the Siamese would not give up.
Taking advantage of the French defeat against Germany during World War II, the Siamese immediately violated the pact of non-aggression signed with France on June 12, 1940.
The Thai Prime Minister, Field Marshall Phibun Songkhram, organized a series of nationalist and anti-French demonstrations in Bangkok. Then, the border disputes multiplied in number along the banks of the Mekong. During daytime, the Thai air force, superior in number, bombed Vientiane, Sisophon and Battambang without any objection from abroad. The French air force attempted to strike back, but the damage inflicted was minimal.
In December 1940, Thailand then occupied the provinces of Pak-Lay and Bassac. At the beginning of January 1941, Bangkok men launched an offensive on Laos and Cambodia. The Franco-Indochinese resistance was in place, but the majority of the military units were overwhelmed by the better-equipped Thai forces (20 French tanks vs. 134 Thai tanks.)
The Thais quickly occupied Laos.
However, French resistance in Cambodia was more resilient. By Jan 16, France launched a large counter attack led by the 5th REI (a regiment belonging to the French Foreign Legion) on the villages of Yang Dang Khum and Phum Preav, where the fiercest fighting of the war took place.
The French counterattack was blocked and ended in a retreat, but the Thais could no longer pursue the French forces as their tanks had been nailed to the ground by the French anti-tank canons. For lack of means, these very canons had been pulled by buffaloes to the battlefield.
As the ground situation was critical for France, Admiral Decoux gave the green light to execute an operation against the Thai Navy. The order was given to the available French navy to attack the Gulf of Thailand. On the morning of Jan 17, 1941, "the Provisional Group" (a force assembled for that very occasion) attacked the Thai Navy at Koh Chang. Although the Thai ships were far superior in number, the operation of the French navy managed to bring home a comprehensive victory.
After the battle, a large part of the Thai navy was destroyed. But on January 24, the final air battle took place while a Thai air raid attacked Siem Reap Airport.
Japan intervened quickly in the conflict in favor of the Thais and imposed an armistice followed by a peace treaty causing France to relinquish the Cambodian provinces of Battambang, Siem Reap as well as the Lao provinces of Champassak and Sayaburi on May 9. These territories were more than 50,000 km squared in size and inhabited by 420,000 people.
These territories annexed from Cambodia were, however, handed back by Thailand on November 1947 under international pressure (Treaty of Washington).
But from 1953, although Cambodia had only just achieved its independence from France, Thai troops invaded Preah Vihear and hoisted their national flag above the temple. Nine years later in 1962, the clever mind of then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk paved the way for obtaining an international decision at the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the Thais were obliged to retreat from the Khmer temple.
Unfortunately, the respite would be short lived: War broke out shortly after and Preah Vihear was again in the mix, the temple being occupied by successive armies fighting each other.
A little while after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, Thailand was submerged with Cambodian refugees and, to show to the world that it couldn't cope without international aid Thailand planned what could be considered a staged atrocity.
On the morning of Friday June 8, 1979,110 trucks parked in front of the Nong Chan Refugee Camp, which housed tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees.
Thai officials told the refugees that they were going to be transferred to another, better equipped camp. In reality, these survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide were being sent back to hell.
Far away from Nong Chan, the site of Preah Vihear had been chosen with a precise goal: To seek revenge for the loss of the temple in 1962. With a high cliff covered in jungle and thousands of land mines laid around the temple, the outcome of the forced expulsion of those thousands of Cambodian refugees could be guessed easily.
The unfortunate refugees were taken out of the trucks under the constant threat of weapons. Horrible scenes took place. All night long, truckloads after truckload of Cambodians were pushed – after first being despoiled of all their possessions – like livestock between two rows of soldiers through a narrow passage. The soldiers used their weapons as sticks and shot at those who refused to file down the narrow passage.
Terrorized by the thought of stepping on one of the many mines, laid previously there by the Khmer Rouge, the refugees desperately attempted to stay on the track. But the Thais continuously pushed more refugees along the path and people were forced to walk through the minefields.
Both thirsty and hungry, the survivors of this atrocity needed three days to cross the immense mine field filled with decaying corpses and injured victims squirming in pain.
One estimates that over 45,000 Cambodians were forced out of Thailand in this manner. For several days, the refugees were transported into hell by a huge number of trucks that dumped them at Preah Vihear. It is still impossible to evaluate the number of casualties from this expulsion, as the Khmer Rouge who waited to greet the refugees did not keep records.
All too often this awful page of history is ignored, one retains only this "Amazing Thailand" image in today's tourist brochures.
The wrongdoings of the Thais against the Khmers should be remembered, not to set the two populations against each other but so that justice can at last be achieved.
Let it be said that Cambodians don't attack anyone. They know too well that the balance of power is not in their favor. Still they vow to defend their country through courage and determination-they have no other choice.
But Thailand has too many internal political problems not to try and exploit the myth of a "sacred national alliance" against its barbaric neighbors, and the deaths of the past will change nothing in it.
This historical tragedy is unfortunately far from over and there is no happy ending in sight.
The Americans dislike Prime Minister Hun Sen too much to pressure their Thai partners into a peaceful solution. And it is unlikely that the French will send their warships against Bangkok again...
Pierre-Yves Clais was a former UN peacekeeper in Cambodia (1992). He currently owns Terre Rouge Lodge with his wife in the Ratanakiri.
------------
26 June, 2009
Thai claim on temple dismissed
Thai claim on temple dismissed
The Phnom Penh Post
Written by SEBASTIAN STRANGIO AND THET SAMBATH
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Cambodian officials say UNESCO rejected Preah Vihear complaint.
UNESCO has refused to hear a complaint by Thailand over Preah Vihear temple's listing as a World Heritage site at the annual meeting of its World Heritage Committee in Seville, Spain, Cambodian officials said Wednesday.
Last week, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva announced that Thailand would use the 33rd session of the committee to contest its July 2008 inscription of the temple.
"The Thais tried to put Preah Vihear on the agenda, but the World Heritage Committee won't consider [it]. They are moving ahead with the main agenda," Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said Wednesday.
Local civil society groups applauded the committee's move.
"It is good news that UNESCO has rejected the Thai government's request. UNESCO doesn't dare to violate Cambodian sovereignty by following the Thai PM's request because Cambodia is backed by the 1962 [World Court] decision," said Union leader Rong Chhun, a vocal critic of Thai moves over the temple.
Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said that any other ruling would have undermined the committee's own decision to inscribe Preah Vihear last year.
He added that Bangkok, pressured by domestic opinion, had actually created more problems for itself by forcing the issue. "I think the fact they [objected] unsuccessfully just undermines the credibility of their own position," he said.
But following the decision, border troops say they remain on alert for any Thai incursions.
"We welcome the news that UNESCO has refused Thailand's request for a discussion about Preah Vihear temple," said Brigade 8 commander Yim Phim. "If [the Thais] ... do not try any more moves into Cambodian territory, there will be no clashes."
The Phnom Penh Post
Written by SEBASTIAN STRANGIO AND THET SAMBATH
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Cambodian officials say UNESCO rejected Preah Vihear complaint.
UNESCO has refused to hear a complaint by Thailand over Preah Vihear temple's listing as a World Heritage site at the annual meeting of its World Heritage Committee in Seville, Spain, Cambodian officials said Wednesday.
Last week, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva announced that Thailand would use the 33rd session of the committee to contest its July 2008 inscription of the temple.
"The Thais tried to put Preah Vihear on the agenda, but the World Heritage Committee won't consider [it]. They are moving ahead with the main agenda," Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said Wednesday.
Local civil society groups applauded the committee's move.
"It is good news that UNESCO has rejected the Thai government's request. UNESCO doesn't dare to violate Cambodian sovereignty by following the Thai PM's request because Cambodia is backed by the 1962 [World Court] decision," said Union leader Rong Chhun, a vocal critic of Thai moves over the temple.
Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said that any other ruling would have undermined the committee's own decision to inscribe Preah Vihear last year.
He added that Bangkok, pressured by domestic opinion, had actually created more problems for itself by forcing the issue. "I think the fact they [objected] unsuccessfully just undermines the credibility of their own position," he said.
But following the decision, border troops say they remain on alert for any Thai incursions.
"We welcome the news that UNESCO has refused Thailand's request for a discussion about Preah Vihear temple," said Brigade 8 commander Yim Phim. "If [the Thais] ... do not try any more moves into Cambodian territory, there will be no clashes."
Tense but calm around Preah Vihear
Tense but calm around Preah Vihear
By: Bangkok Post.com
Published: 26/06/2009 at 10:21 AM
The Thai-Cambodia border remains calm despite troop reinforcements by both sides near Preah Vihear temple and the disputed area, army chief Anupong Paojinda said on Friday morning.
There was no confrontation and the situation would not lead to violence, Gen Anupong said.
He confirmed Thai troops have been reinforced following reports that extra Cambodian troops and artillery had been deployed to the area.
Gen Anupong said the two sides agree they do not want to fight.
Thai soldiers had been warned to be alert, but not to initiate a clash with Cambodian troops.
Tension along the border has risen since Thailand decided to petition against the listing of the ancient khmer temple by the World Heritage Committee, which approved the application by Phnom Penh. Thailand has repeatedly argued the old temple should be jointly registered as a world heritage site.
By: Bangkok Post.com
Published: 26/06/2009 at 10:21 AM
The Thai-Cambodia border remains calm despite troop reinforcements by both sides near Preah Vihear temple and the disputed area, army chief Anupong Paojinda said on Friday morning.
There was no confrontation and the situation would not lead to violence, Gen Anupong said.
He confirmed Thai troops have been reinforced following reports that extra Cambodian troops and artillery had been deployed to the area.
Gen Anupong said the two sides agree they do not want to fight.
Thai soldiers had been warned to be alert, but not to initiate a clash with Cambodian troops.
Tension along the border has risen since Thailand decided to petition against the listing of the ancient khmer temple by the World Heritage Committee, which approved the application by Phnom Penh. Thailand has repeatedly argued the old temple should be jointly registered as a world heritage site.
Suthep unlikely to achieve border breakthrough with Hun Sen: THAI MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?
Suthep unlikely to achieve border breakthrough with Hun Sen: THAI MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?
June 26, 2009
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban will likely face a tough stance from Cambodian Premier Hun Sen when they meet in Phnom Penh tomorrow to discuss the Preah Vihear Temple.
Suthep was assigned by Prime Minsiter Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is currently on an official visit to China, to discuss the sensitive issue with the Cambodian leader, who yesterday seemed to reject any comprehensive peace talks with Thailand.
Tensions have escalated at the Thai-Cambodian border, with Thailand's Second Army Area commander Lt General Wiboonsak Neeparn having rotated troops at Preah Vihear so that they are fresh and ready for a possible attack from Cambodia.
Cambodia has already boosted its presence in the border area.
Wiboonsak said his forces would exercise utmost restraint to prevent a military clash with Cambodia for the safety of Thai residents in the area.
Reflecting his tough position, Hun Sen was quoted by China's official Xinhua news agency as saying: "I will not listen to him [Suthep] about a clarification of jointly developing and jointly registering Preah Vihear Temple.
"But if he talks about the withdrawal of Thai troops from our soil, we can talk and welcome him."
"This is my message for him before he decides to visit Cambodia," Hun Sen said during a graduation ceremony at a university in Phnom Penh.
The controversial Hindu(Khmer) temple came under the spotlight again after the Thai Cabinet decided last week to maintain its objection to the site's World Heritage status, even though it was listed last July.
Bangkok's move has disappointed Phnom Penh, whose plan for safeguarding and developing the site has been delayed.
Cambodia also cannot convene a meeting of the International Coordination Committee scheduled since February, as Thailand has been reluctant to accept an invitation to sit on the panel.
Suthep is due to visit Phnom Penh tomorrow to explain the Thai position that it has no gripe with Cambodia, but has a problem with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
Abhisit said on Wednesday that his government's move was aimed at preventing Unesco and other countries from getting involved in the areas claimed by both Thailand and Cambodia.
Natural Resource and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti attended the 33rd meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Spain this week to reaffirm the Thai stance, but Cambodian media reported that the committee had dismissed the Thai complaint.
Thailand also expressed its desire to participate in a joint nomination of Preah Vihear, but Hun Sen said the temple belongs to Cambodia, according to the 1962 verdict of the International Court of Justice.
Thailand is not a co-owner of that property, he said, asserting that the Preah Vihear Temple is now humanity's heritage.
The territorial dispute over Preah Vihear began when the World Heritage Committee decided last July to have the popular tourist attraction inscribed on its list of World Heritage sites, causing discontent among Thai nationalists and the then-opposition Democrat Party.
The dispute ignited two border skirmishes in October and April, which left at least four soldiers on both sides dead.
Cambodia wants all troops withdrawn from the overlapping areas.
The National Park of Phra Viharn, which is the gateway to Preah Vihear from the Thai side, has been closed for security reasons since the April clash.
A plan to reopen it next month has been suspended for an indefinite period, said Kasemsan Jinnawaso, director-general of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.
June 26, 2009
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban will likely face a tough stance from Cambodian Premier Hun Sen when they meet in Phnom Penh tomorrow to discuss the Preah Vihear Temple.
Suthep was assigned by Prime Minsiter Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is currently on an official visit to China, to discuss the sensitive issue with the Cambodian leader, who yesterday seemed to reject any comprehensive peace talks with Thailand.
Tensions have escalated at the Thai-Cambodian border, with Thailand's Second Army Area commander Lt General Wiboonsak Neeparn having rotated troops at Preah Vihear so that they are fresh and ready for a possible attack from Cambodia.
Cambodia has already boosted its presence in the border area.
Wiboonsak said his forces would exercise utmost restraint to prevent a military clash with Cambodia for the safety of Thai residents in the area.
Reflecting his tough position, Hun Sen was quoted by China's official Xinhua news agency as saying: "I will not listen to him [Suthep] about a clarification of jointly developing and jointly registering Preah Vihear Temple.
"But if he talks about the withdrawal of Thai troops from our soil, we can talk and welcome him."
"This is my message for him before he decides to visit Cambodia," Hun Sen said during a graduation ceremony at a university in Phnom Penh.
The controversial Hindu(Khmer) temple came under the spotlight again after the Thai Cabinet decided last week to maintain its objection to the site's World Heritage status, even though it was listed last July.
Bangkok's move has disappointed Phnom Penh, whose plan for safeguarding and developing the site has been delayed.
Cambodia also cannot convene a meeting of the International Coordination Committee scheduled since February, as Thailand has been reluctant to accept an invitation to sit on the panel.
Suthep is due to visit Phnom Penh tomorrow to explain the Thai position that it has no gripe with Cambodia, but has a problem with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
Abhisit said on Wednesday that his government's move was aimed at preventing Unesco and other countries from getting involved in the areas claimed by both Thailand and Cambodia.
Natural Resource and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti attended the 33rd meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Spain this week to reaffirm the Thai stance, but Cambodian media reported that the committee had dismissed the Thai complaint.
Thailand also expressed its desire to participate in a joint nomination of Preah Vihear, but Hun Sen said the temple belongs to Cambodia, according to the 1962 verdict of the International Court of Justice.
Thailand is not a co-owner of that property, he said, asserting that the Preah Vihear Temple is now humanity's heritage.
The territorial dispute over Preah Vihear began when the World Heritage Committee decided last July to have the popular tourist attraction inscribed on its list of World Heritage sites, causing discontent among Thai nationalists and the then-opposition Democrat Party.
The dispute ignited two border skirmishes in October and April, which left at least four soldiers on both sides dead.
Cambodia wants all troops withdrawn from the overlapping areas.
The National Park of Phra Viharn, which is the gateway to Preah Vihear from the Thai side, has been closed for security reasons since the April clash.
A plan to reopen it next month has been suspended for an indefinite period, said Kasemsan Jinnawaso, director-general of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.
Reality off the rails in Phnom Penh
Southeast Asia
Jun 26, 2009
Asia Times
Reality off the rails in Phnom Penh
By Sam Campbell
PHNOM PENH - Science fiction author Philip K Dick once explained reality as "that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away". As sensible as this may sound, it is a definition unlikely to take hold in Cambodia, where recent events have shown the government's tendency to obstinately dismiss anything but the most convenient information.
The denials have come from the highest ranks of government to the lowest rungs of social entertainment and conscripted the judicial system to fend off criticism. Experts and economists say the government backlash risks driving away the vital foreign investment and international aid the country now desperately needs to keep the economy afloat.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have both predicted a 0.5% contraction in Cambodia's 2009 gross domestic product (GDP), while the independent Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) estimated an even sharper 3% drop. The government sees things differently and announced last month a beaming 6% GDP growth projection, down only slightly from its 7% projection in April.
That optimistic spin, economists and experts say, is totally out of whack with Cambodia's on-the-ground economic realities, as well as regional and global trends. The crucial garment industry, usually the country's main export engine, saw exports plummet 25% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2009. The foreign revenue-generating tourism sector is equally troubled, with air arrivals in the first four months of 2009 down 16% over the same period last year.
The kingdom's rapid economic growth - GDP increases were measured in double digits for several years - seems to have made officials reluctant to concede that the downturn is having serious effects in Cambodia.
Indeed, Prime Minister Hun Sen's economic lieutenants have been slow to acknowledge the impact of the global crisis on Cambodia's until recently rising fortunes, opting instead to discredit or clamp down on critical news and assessments.
Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon said in early June that a US$6.6 million training program and a $1 million micro-loans program would be adequate to mitigate the 60,000 garment factory workers who recently lost their jobs - a claim greeted with skepticism from economic analysts. Keat Chhon did not respond to an Asia Times Online request for an interview about the programs.
Hun Sen has responded to downcast projections with a characteristic sharp tongue. When the EIU this year rated Cambodia among global countries at high risk of political instability due to the economic crisis, the strongman leader questioned the report's "political orientation" and said the experts that compiled it wore "glasses with prescriptions too strong for their eyes".
In an April 6 speech, the premier went further, claiming that the report was "a political attempt to stop the flow of investments". Meanwhile, Cambodia's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hor Nambora, dismissed the report as based on "sketchy and unconvincing" evidence. In a letter to the EIU, he called the report "perverse" and "insulting".
"Your scare-mongering allegations are highly dangerous, as they could be construed as actively inciting unrest," wrote Hor Nambora, son of Cambodia's veteran Foreign Minister Hor Namhong. "They also happen to be a gross distortion and misrepresentation of Cambodia's true position, and there can be no justification for these claims."
He also upbraided the EIU for having "arrogantly dismissed" Hun Sen's vow that Cambodia would maintain its economic growth this year: "You seem to have ignored this reassurance from the highest possible level, preferring to rely on your own evidence."
Comedic criticism
The government's protestations peaked in early June following a May 30 concert organized by rights organizations to bring attention to the thorny issue of corruption.
At the so-called "Clean Hands Concert", newly appointed United States ambassador Carol Rodley called corruption one of the main obstacles to socio-economic development in the country, claiming the scourge "costs Cambodia up to $500 million per year in terms of forgone state revenue that could otherwise be spent on public services in education and health care and jobs for Cambodian youth".
She claimed that the sum was "equivalent to the cost of constructing 20,000 six-room school buildings or the ability to pay every civil servant in Cambodia an additional US$260 per month". Her arithmetic, however, was not well received by the government.
"The Royal Government of Cambodia absolutely refutes the politically motivated and unsubstantiated allegation made by the United States diplomat in contradiction of the good relations between Cambodia and the United States Government," read a stern letter the Cambodian Foreign Ministry sent to the US Embassy.
Cambodia's UK ambassador Hor Nambora again entered the fray, saying Rodley seemed to have allied herself "with the discredited views of the international pressure group Global Witness which continually engages in virulent and malicious campaigns against the Royal Government of Cambodia". Global Witness has long been an irritating antagonist to Hun Sen's administration, once labeling its leaders as a "kleptocratic elite".
Pointing to a conspiracy to undermine the government is becoming a common theme when responding to critics of the government. The eventual aims of this unnamed group of conspirators - which encompasses such diverse organizations as environmental watchdogs like Global Witness, economic think-tanks such as the EIU and human-rights groups - is unclear.
One conspiracy theory was put forth publicly by Chy Koy, a performer with the popular Koy comedy troupe. Although Koy had performed at the Clean Hands anti-graft concert, he appeared on June 6 on a Cambodian People's Party-owned television station to ridicule anti-corruption NGOs (non-governmental organizations) as money hungry fabricators of non-existent corruption.
"Some NGOs accuse the government of being corrupt without thinking about its achievements," he explained to the local press after the parody. "You can say that the government is corrupt if nothing had developed in our country, but the government is working and everything is developing." Although Cambodia is officially one of the world's least-developed countries, the comedian claimed: "Now we have everything. Some families have two SUVs, some have three."
The Koy performance was followed - again on CPP-controlled TV - on June 13 by the Krem comedy troupe, which portrayed NGOs and journalists as conspiring to stage fake forced evictions - another bete noir of the Cambodian government. The well-documented and sometimes violent evictions of impoverished communities, according to Krem's sketch, are merely an invented tool to enable greedy foreigners to indulge their appetites for luxury hotels and local women.
With official denials and social satire fending off criticism on one front, another battle was playing out in a very different sphere: home decoration.
In what many viewed as one of the most peculiar assaults on free speech so far this year, Soung Sophorn, a 22-year-old law student, was fined $1,250 after being convicted of defamation. Oddly, the medium for the defamation was graffiti, and the slogans "Against dictatorial policy", "People suffer because the government bows down to the company", and "Stop Evictions" in English, had been sprayed on June 1 on the side of Soung Sophorn's own home.
Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Touch Naruth told local media that Soung Sophorn, a member of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and a vocal critic of evictions, was convicted because, "He can insult any individual or company but not the government." Prior to the three-day arrest and conviction process, Soung Sophorn had been summoned to the headquarters of local developer Shukaku Inc, the company responsible for the looming eviction of Soung Sophorn's community, for his opinionated house painting.
Private developer Shukaku's 99-year, $79 million lease to develop 133 hectares of state land where 4,000 mainly poor families live, including the area adjacent to the Boeung Kak backpacker ghetto, has provoked a steady stream of censure from foreign diplomats and rights organizations. According to local reports, the company and its owner, CPP Senator Lao Meng Kim, have steadfastly refused to engage with civil society or the media.
Disorienting defamation
Meanwhile, an ongoing dispute between opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) parliamentarian Mu Sochua and Hun Sen typifies a flurry of tit-for-tat lawsuits that also represents a clear threat to democratic debate. For years, the CPP has used out-dated defamation laws to muzzle critics, among then union leaders, journalists and opposition leaders.
According a lawsuit filed by Mu Sochua on April 27, the premier allegedly made defamatory comments in an April 4 speech; the only compensation sought was an apology. The lawsuit claims that Hun Sen defamed Mu Sochua by referring to a female parliamentarian from Kampot province who embraced a general and then later complained that the buttons of her shirt had come undone. Mu Sochua, the only female MP from Kampot province, had complained of voter irregularities and physical intimidation from CPP officials during the run-up to the 2008 national assembly elections .
Mu Sochua's case was dismissed on June 10, but the premier struck back with a counter defamation case against Mu Sochua that is ongoing. Kong Sam Onn, the lawyer representing Mu Sochua, is also being sued for having held a press conference where he had allegedly defamed the prime minister by claiming that the prime minister had defamed his client. The Cambodian Bar Association has begun an investigation into this alleged ethical misconduct of speaking publicly about a case.
The National Assembly voted on June 22 to lift Mu Sochua's parliamentary immunity, leaving her open to criminal prosecution. Hun Sen noted on June 17 that the two-thirds parliamentary majority required to strip immunity would also be needed to reinstate it. He also used the opportunity to threaten further lawsuits against interfering NGOs.
Even nationalists cannot safely criticize, as Moeung Sonn, a local tour operator and president of the Khmer Civilization Foundation, found out. Moeung Sonn was slapped with a $2,400 lawsuit by the government after he claimed at a press conference that the installation of new lights at Angkor Wat might have damaged the legendary temple. Moeung Sonn, a vocal supporter of the government on cultural and territorial issues, and a significant donor to Cambodian soldiers stationed around disputed zones near Preah Vihear, has fled to France to avoid arrest.
While later information suggests that the light installation has done no damage to the ancient structure, draconian reactions to well-meaning comments suggest that dissenting voices will no longer be allowed.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, SRP parliamentarian Ho Vann (also stripped of his parliamentary immunity) and Hang Chakra, editor-in-chief of Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, are also facing defamation suits.
Cambodia doth protest too much
The increasing trend toward intolerance has not gone unnoticed. A June 15 statement from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia cautioned, "Pursuing the current complaints may reverse the course of the still fragile democratic development process in Cambodia."
"This recent surge in the use of criminal defamation and disinformation lawsuits filed mostly against politicians, journalists and other persons expressing their views in a peaceful manner on matters of public interest threatens to inhibit what should be a free debate and exchange of ideas and views on these matters," the UNOHCHR wrote.
The group also warned that stifling freedom of expression through such means "is a serious threat to democratic development which may undermine the efforts of the past 16 years to rebuild a tolerant and pluralistic environment in Cambodia". The same day, US rights advocacy Human Rights Watch appealed for the CPP to halt "threats, harassment and spurious legal action against members of parliament and lawyers defending free expression".
The crackdown on political opposition is all the more perplexing, given that the CPP, with 90 of 123 seats, is in firm control of the National Assembly. A showing of 58% in the generally free and fair 2008 parliamentary elections, the biggest margin ever for a National Assembly election, shows widespread support for the CPP.
Some analysts believe that by persecuting a mostly fractured and generally powerless opposition, the government risks making martyrs of otherwise unremarkable politicians. Perhaps more significantly, Hun Sen risks further alienating the Western donor nations and the foreign business community that in recent years have contributed largely to Cambodia’s economic progress.
The US, a major donor and significant provider of aid and technical assistance, not to mention one of the kingdom's biggest export markets, has been critical of the recent turn of events.
"It appears that the courts are being used to silence critics of the government," US Embassy spokesman John Johnson told Asia Times Online. "Free speech and freedom of the press are fundamental rights in democracies throughout the world, and public figures and politicians should be prepared to receive both praise and criticism from the people they govern as part of the democratic process."
It's a democratic reality Hun Sen's government seems reluctant to face.
Sam Campbell is a reporter and editor based in Cambodia.
(Copyright 2009 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Jun 26, 2009
Asia Times
Reality off the rails in Phnom Penh
By Sam Campbell
PHNOM PENH - Science fiction author Philip K Dick once explained reality as "that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away". As sensible as this may sound, it is a definition unlikely to take hold in Cambodia, where recent events have shown the government's tendency to obstinately dismiss anything but the most convenient information.
The denials have come from the highest ranks of government to the lowest rungs of social entertainment and conscripted the judicial system to fend off criticism. Experts and economists say the government backlash risks driving away the vital foreign investment and international aid the country now desperately needs to keep the economy afloat.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have both predicted a 0.5% contraction in Cambodia's 2009 gross domestic product (GDP), while the independent Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) estimated an even sharper 3% drop. The government sees things differently and announced last month a beaming 6% GDP growth projection, down only slightly from its 7% projection in April.
That optimistic spin, economists and experts say, is totally out of whack with Cambodia's on-the-ground economic realities, as well as regional and global trends. The crucial garment industry, usually the country's main export engine, saw exports plummet 25% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2009. The foreign revenue-generating tourism sector is equally troubled, with air arrivals in the first four months of 2009 down 16% over the same period last year.
The kingdom's rapid economic growth - GDP increases were measured in double digits for several years - seems to have made officials reluctant to concede that the downturn is having serious effects in Cambodia.
Indeed, Prime Minister Hun Sen's economic lieutenants have been slow to acknowledge the impact of the global crisis on Cambodia's until recently rising fortunes, opting instead to discredit or clamp down on critical news and assessments.
Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon said in early June that a US$6.6 million training program and a $1 million micro-loans program would be adequate to mitigate the 60,000 garment factory workers who recently lost their jobs - a claim greeted with skepticism from economic analysts. Keat Chhon did not respond to an Asia Times Online request for an interview about the programs.
Hun Sen has responded to downcast projections with a characteristic sharp tongue. When the EIU this year rated Cambodia among global countries at high risk of political instability due to the economic crisis, the strongman leader questioned the report's "political orientation" and said the experts that compiled it wore "glasses with prescriptions too strong for their eyes".
In an April 6 speech, the premier went further, claiming that the report was "a political attempt to stop the flow of investments". Meanwhile, Cambodia's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hor Nambora, dismissed the report as based on "sketchy and unconvincing" evidence. In a letter to the EIU, he called the report "perverse" and "insulting".
"Your scare-mongering allegations are highly dangerous, as they could be construed as actively inciting unrest," wrote Hor Nambora, son of Cambodia's veteran Foreign Minister Hor Namhong. "They also happen to be a gross distortion and misrepresentation of Cambodia's true position, and there can be no justification for these claims."
He also upbraided the EIU for having "arrogantly dismissed" Hun Sen's vow that Cambodia would maintain its economic growth this year: "You seem to have ignored this reassurance from the highest possible level, preferring to rely on your own evidence."
Comedic criticism
The government's protestations peaked in early June following a May 30 concert organized by rights organizations to bring attention to the thorny issue of corruption.
At the so-called "Clean Hands Concert", newly appointed United States ambassador Carol Rodley called corruption one of the main obstacles to socio-economic development in the country, claiming the scourge "costs Cambodia up to $500 million per year in terms of forgone state revenue that could otherwise be spent on public services in education and health care and jobs for Cambodian youth".
She claimed that the sum was "equivalent to the cost of constructing 20,000 six-room school buildings or the ability to pay every civil servant in Cambodia an additional US$260 per month". Her arithmetic, however, was not well received by the government.
"The Royal Government of Cambodia absolutely refutes the politically motivated and unsubstantiated allegation made by the United States diplomat in contradiction of the good relations between Cambodia and the United States Government," read a stern letter the Cambodian Foreign Ministry sent to the US Embassy.
Cambodia's UK ambassador Hor Nambora again entered the fray, saying Rodley seemed to have allied herself "with the discredited views of the international pressure group Global Witness which continually engages in virulent and malicious campaigns against the Royal Government of Cambodia". Global Witness has long been an irritating antagonist to Hun Sen's administration, once labeling its leaders as a "kleptocratic elite".
Pointing to a conspiracy to undermine the government is becoming a common theme when responding to critics of the government. The eventual aims of this unnamed group of conspirators - which encompasses such diverse organizations as environmental watchdogs like Global Witness, economic think-tanks such as the EIU and human-rights groups - is unclear.
One conspiracy theory was put forth publicly by Chy Koy, a performer with the popular Koy comedy troupe. Although Koy had performed at the Clean Hands anti-graft concert, he appeared on June 6 on a Cambodian People's Party-owned television station to ridicule anti-corruption NGOs (non-governmental organizations) as money hungry fabricators of non-existent corruption.
"Some NGOs accuse the government of being corrupt without thinking about its achievements," he explained to the local press after the parody. "You can say that the government is corrupt if nothing had developed in our country, but the government is working and everything is developing." Although Cambodia is officially one of the world's least-developed countries, the comedian claimed: "Now we have everything. Some families have two SUVs, some have three."
The Koy performance was followed - again on CPP-controlled TV - on June 13 by the Krem comedy troupe, which portrayed NGOs and journalists as conspiring to stage fake forced evictions - another bete noir of the Cambodian government. The well-documented and sometimes violent evictions of impoverished communities, according to Krem's sketch, are merely an invented tool to enable greedy foreigners to indulge their appetites for luxury hotels and local women.
With official denials and social satire fending off criticism on one front, another battle was playing out in a very different sphere: home decoration.
In what many viewed as one of the most peculiar assaults on free speech so far this year, Soung Sophorn, a 22-year-old law student, was fined $1,250 after being convicted of defamation. Oddly, the medium for the defamation was graffiti, and the slogans "Against dictatorial policy", "People suffer because the government bows down to the company", and "Stop Evictions" in English, had been sprayed on June 1 on the side of Soung Sophorn's own home.
Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Touch Naruth told local media that Soung Sophorn, a member of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and a vocal critic of evictions, was convicted because, "He can insult any individual or company but not the government." Prior to the three-day arrest and conviction process, Soung Sophorn had been summoned to the headquarters of local developer Shukaku Inc, the company responsible for the looming eviction of Soung Sophorn's community, for his opinionated house painting.
Private developer Shukaku's 99-year, $79 million lease to develop 133 hectares of state land where 4,000 mainly poor families live, including the area adjacent to the Boeung Kak backpacker ghetto, has provoked a steady stream of censure from foreign diplomats and rights organizations. According to local reports, the company and its owner, CPP Senator Lao Meng Kim, have steadfastly refused to engage with civil society or the media.
Disorienting defamation
Meanwhile, an ongoing dispute between opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) parliamentarian Mu Sochua and Hun Sen typifies a flurry of tit-for-tat lawsuits that also represents a clear threat to democratic debate. For years, the CPP has used out-dated defamation laws to muzzle critics, among then union leaders, journalists and opposition leaders.
According a lawsuit filed by Mu Sochua on April 27, the premier allegedly made defamatory comments in an April 4 speech; the only compensation sought was an apology. The lawsuit claims that Hun Sen defamed Mu Sochua by referring to a female parliamentarian from Kampot province who embraced a general and then later complained that the buttons of her shirt had come undone. Mu Sochua, the only female MP from Kampot province, had complained of voter irregularities and physical intimidation from CPP officials during the run-up to the 2008 national assembly elections .
Mu Sochua's case was dismissed on June 10, but the premier struck back with a counter defamation case against Mu Sochua that is ongoing. Kong Sam Onn, the lawyer representing Mu Sochua, is also being sued for having held a press conference where he had allegedly defamed the prime minister by claiming that the prime minister had defamed his client. The Cambodian Bar Association has begun an investigation into this alleged ethical misconduct of speaking publicly about a case.
The National Assembly voted on June 22 to lift Mu Sochua's parliamentary immunity, leaving her open to criminal prosecution. Hun Sen noted on June 17 that the two-thirds parliamentary majority required to strip immunity would also be needed to reinstate it. He also used the opportunity to threaten further lawsuits against interfering NGOs.
Even nationalists cannot safely criticize, as Moeung Sonn, a local tour operator and president of the Khmer Civilization Foundation, found out. Moeung Sonn was slapped with a $2,400 lawsuit by the government after he claimed at a press conference that the installation of new lights at Angkor Wat might have damaged the legendary temple. Moeung Sonn, a vocal supporter of the government on cultural and territorial issues, and a significant donor to Cambodian soldiers stationed around disputed zones near Preah Vihear, has fled to France to avoid arrest.
While later information suggests that the light installation has done no damage to the ancient structure, draconian reactions to well-meaning comments suggest that dissenting voices will no longer be allowed.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, SRP parliamentarian Ho Vann (also stripped of his parliamentary immunity) and Hang Chakra, editor-in-chief of Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, are also facing defamation suits.
Cambodia doth protest too much
The increasing trend toward intolerance has not gone unnoticed. A June 15 statement from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia cautioned, "Pursuing the current complaints may reverse the course of the still fragile democratic development process in Cambodia."
"This recent surge in the use of criminal defamation and disinformation lawsuits filed mostly against politicians, journalists and other persons expressing their views in a peaceful manner on matters of public interest threatens to inhibit what should be a free debate and exchange of ideas and views on these matters," the UNOHCHR wrote.
The group also warned that stifling freedom of expression through such means "is a serious threat to democratic development which may undermine the efforts of the past 16 years to rebuild a tolerant and pluralistic environment in Cambodia". The same day, US rights advocacy Human Rights Watch appealed for the CPP to halt "threats, harassment and spurious legal action against members of parliament and lawyers defending free expression".
The crackdown on political opposition is all the more perplexing, given that the CPP, with 90 of 123 seats, is in firm control of the National Assembly. A showing of 58% in the generally free and fair 2008 parliamentary elections, the biggest margin ever for a National Assembly election, shows widespread support for the CPP.
Some analysts believe that by persecuting a mostly fractured and generally powerless opposition, the government risks making martyrs of otherwise unremarkable politicians. Perhaps more significantly, Hun Sen risks further alienating the Western donor nations and the foreign business community that in recent years have contributed largely to Cambodia’s economic progress.
The US, a major donor and significant provider of aid and technical assistance, not to mention one of the kingdom's biggest export markets, has been critical of the recent turn of events.
"It appears that the courts are being used to silence critics of the government," US Embassy spokesman John Johnson told Asia Times Online. "Free speech and freedom of the press are fundamental rights in democracies throughout the world, and public figures and politicians should be prepared to receive both praise and criticism from the people they govern as part of the democratic process."
It's a democratic reality Hun Sen's government seems reluctant to face.
Sam Campbell is a reporter and editor based in Cambodia.
(Copyright 2009 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
‘Garment industry is priority sector for Govt’ – Chief, GMAC
‘Garment industry is priority sector for Govt’ – Chief, GMAC
June 25, 2009 (Cambodia)
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparel-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=74212
After the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Cambodia in 1993, the first foreign investors to venture into this country were the garment manufacturers. There has been no looking back since then. With the granting of MFN/GSP trade privileges to Cambodia in 1996 by both the USA and EU, the garment industry has maintained its pre-eminent position in the industrial landscape of Cambodia.
The Cambodian garment export sector also has been a victim of the recessionary trends prevailing across the globe. It is also facing the pangs of a slowdown, along with which the exporters also have to contend with demanding labour unions. But for every bad news there is also good news. The sector has received new investment and many new factories have started operations in 2009. Around 90 percent of factories have been set up with foreign direct investment.
Exports from the clothing sector have also seen a resounding fall in the first quarter of the current year when compared with the same period of the previous year in falling by 26.41 percent from US $726 million in the first quarter of 2008 to $534 million in the same period of 2009. Exports to its key markets of the US fell by a thundering 34.17 percent and that to the European Union dipped by 13.98 percent though it grew by a flattering 91.5 percent in shipments to Japan.
To get a detailed eye view of the current condition of the sector, Fibre2fashion spoke to Mr Van Sou Ieng, Chairman of the Garment Manufacturers' Association in Cambodia (GMAC). The GMAC has around 131 active members. The GMAC has been very active and in the forefront in lobbying for policy making changes along with also trying to get its members to adopt better labour management practices, which had been a matter of concern for major global apparel buyers.
We began the interview by asking Mr Van to spell out the reasons for attracting the new foreign investments in these difficult times in the garment sector, to which he said, “Setting up of new garment factories in these depressing times is a very good omen for Cambodia and the factors which have brought about this change are that the industry is still the government's prioritized sector with the voices of the industry always being heard and considered”.
He added by saying, “It is a long term perspective that Cambodia will still be a viable place for the industry in ASEAN region, since Thailand and Malaysia are no longer in the picture and Vietnam has quite a lot of big industries and is now moving up the value chain not to mention in the current period, it is still strong. Laos is landlocked and Burma has a political problem, which restricts trades.
He concluded by saying, “Cambodia's labour cost is still somehow cheap, though it needs to be offset with productivity, compared to countries in the region. Labour is seen to be in abundance with nearly 300,000 people entering the labour force every year and Cambodia does not yet have any other big industries that can absorb these hugh numbers and now it will get impetus with possibility of USA considering among 15 LDC countries”.
Next we asked him as to what according to him are the stumbling blocks in holistic development of the sector in Cambodia, to which he replied by saying, “Supplies of raw materials, especially fabrics, which almost all need to be imported due to which huge inventories need to be maintained and which in turn is also aggravated by logistic problems which leads to long lead time”
To conclude the interview we asked him, what kind of cooperation the industry receives from the government, since it is the biggest export earner for the country, to which he enthusiastically replied by saying, “In measures pertaining to trade facilitation and fiscal policies”.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
June 25, 2009 (Cambodia)
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparel-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=74212
After the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Cambodia in 1993, the first foreign investors to venture into this country were the garment manufacturers. There has been no looking back since then. With the granting of MFN/GSP trade privileges to Cambodia in 1996 by both the USA and EU, the garment industry has maintained its pre-eminent position in the industrial landscape of Cambodia.
The Cambodian garment export sector also has been a victim of the recessionary trends prevailing across the globe. It is also facing the pangs of a slowdown, along with which the exporters also have to contend with demanding labour unions. But for every bad news there is also good news. The sector has received new investment and many new factories have started operations in 2009. Around 90 percent of factories have been set up with foreign direct investment.
Exports from the clothing sector have also seen a resounding fall in the first quarter of the current year when compared with the same period of the previous year in falling by 26.41 percent from US $726 million in the first quarter of 2008 to $534 million in the same period of 2009. Exports to its key markets of the US fell by a thundering 34.17 percent and that to the European Union dipped by 13.98 percent though it grew by a flattering 91.5 percent in shipments to Japan.
To get a detailed eye view of the current condition of the sector, Fibre2fashion spoke to Mr Van Sou Ieng, Chairman of the Garment Manufacturers' Association in Cambodia (GMAC). The GMAC has around 131 active members. The GMAC has been very active and in the forefront in lobbying for policy making changes along with also trying to get its members to adopt better labour management practices, which had been a matter of concern for major global apparel buyers.
We began the interview by asking Mr Van to spell out the reasons for attracting the new foreign investments in these difficult times in the garment sector, to which he said, “Setting up of new garment factories in these depressing times is a very good omen for Cambodia and the factors which have brought about this change are that the industry is still the government's prioritized sector with the voices of the industry always being heard and considered”.
He added by saying, “It is a long term perspective that Cambodia will still be a viable place for the industry in ASEAN region, since Thailand and Malaysia are no longer in the picture and Vietnam has quite a lot of big industries and is now moving up the value chain not to mention in the current period, it is still strong. Laos is landlocked and Burma has a political problem, which restricts trades.
He concluded by saying, “Cambodia's labour cost is still somehow cheap, though it needs to be offset with productivity, compared to countries in the region. Labour is seen to be in abundance with nearly 300,000 people entering the labour force every year and Cambodia does not yet have any other big industries that can absorb these hugh numbers and now it will get impetus with possibility of USA considering among 15 LDC countries”.
Next we asked him as to what according to him are the stumbling blocks in holistic development of the sector in Cambodia, to which he replied by saying, “Supplies of raw materials, especially fabrics, which almost all need to be imported due to which huge inventories need to be maintained and which in turn is also aggravated by logistic problems which leads to long lead time”
To conclude the interview we asked him, what kind of cooperation the industry receives from the government, since it is the biggest export earner for the country, to which he enthusiastically replied by saying, “In measures pertaining to trade facilitation and fiscal policies”.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
25 June, 2009
No progress in solving the border dispute with Cambodia
Involuntary Martyrs
Strategy Page
June 25, 2009: The government is sending $43 million to the three Moslem provinces in the south, to pay families who lost someone to the Islamic terrorism, and to raise the salaries of government employees (especially teachers) who are often the targets of the terrorist. The government is increasing economic investment in the south, seeing that as the best way to retain the loyalty of the Moslems, and halt the Islamic terrorism.
In the last few weeks, nearly 5,000 refugees from Myanmar have fled across the border, joining over 100,000 already there. Nearly all are from Karen tribes, which have been losing their 60 year old rebellion since the 1990s, when many Karen tribes surrendered to the government.
The Islamic terrorists in the south are using the June 8th mosque attack as a rallying call. But it's still unclear who attacked the mosque. No one took credit for it, and the government insists it was not responsible. The Islamic rebels have been losing in the past year or so, and they may well have staged the mosque attack as a way to make the security forces more unpopular, and less likely to recruit informants within the Moslem community. Islamic radicals justify killing fellow Moslems either by declaring the victims to not be "true Moslems" (because they disagree with the radicals) or are "involuntary martyrs" for the cause.
It's been a bloody month down south, with over 150 casualties so far. In the last five years, the southern strife have left 3,700 dead. The terrorist target government officials, especially those who are Buddhist, and Moslems who inform on the terrorists, or work for the government. About three percent of the dead are school teachers, who have been frequently targeted by the Islamic terrorists, because Islamic religious schools are where most of the terrorists have been recruited. The terrorists want to shut down the state schools, and force all children to attend the religious schools (not all of them are influenced by radicals, but enough are to provide more terrorist recruits.)
No progress in solving the border dispute with Cambodia, and troops still patrol the disputed region around an ancient temple.
June 8, 2009: In the south, six men shot up a mosque, killing eleven and wounding twelve. The men appeared to be soldiers, but the army and the government denied this. It would help the Islamic rebels if the attackers were soldiers, angry over recent attacks on Buddhists in the area. The Islamic rebels have carried out attacks dressed as soldiers before. But Moslems also believe the attackers may have been Buddhists militia (armed civilians used to protect non-Moslem villages.)
June 7, 2009: On the Myanmar border, over 3,000 refugees have fled to Thailand, because the Myanmar army is making the largest attack, on Karen tribes, since the late 1990s. The Karen have been rebelling for decades.
June 6, 2009: In the south, a bomb and gunfire left two dead and 19 wounded.
Strategy Page
June 25, 2009: The government is sending $43 million to the three Moslem provinces in the south, to pay families who lost someone to the Islamic terrorism, and to raise the salaries of government employees (especially teachers) who are often the targets of the terrorist. The government is increasing economic investment in the south, seeing that as the best way to retain the loyalty of the Moslems, and halt the Islamic terrorism.
In the last few weeks, nearly 5,000 refugees from Myanmar have fled across the border, joining over 100,000 already there. Nearly all are from Karen tribes, which have been losing their 60 year old rebellion since the 1990s, when many Karen tribes surrendered to the government.
The Islamic terrorists in the south are using the June 8th mosque attack as a rallying call. But it's still unclear who attacked the mosque. No one took credit for it, and the government insists it was not responsible. The Islamic rebels have been losing in the past year or so, and they may well have staged the mosque attack as a way to make the security forces more unpopular, and less likely to recruit informants within the Moslem community. Islamic radicals justify killing fellow Moslems either by declaring the victims to not be "true Moslems" (because they disagree with the radicals) or are "involuntary martyrs" for the cause.
It's been a bloody month down south, with over 150 casualties so far. In the last five years, the southern strife have left 3,700 dead. The terrorist target government officials, especially those who are Buddhist, and Moslems who inform on the terrorists, or work for the government. About three percent of the dead are school teachers, who have been frequently targeted by the Islamic terrorists, because Islamic religious schools are where most of the terrorists have been recruited. The terrorists want to shut down the state schools, and force all children to attend the religious schools (not all of them are influenced by radicals, but enough are to provide more terrorist recruits.)
No progress in solving the border dispute with Cambodia, and troops still patrol the disputed region around an ancient temple.
June 8, 2009: In the south, six men shot up a mosque, killing eleven and wounding twelve. The men appeared to be soldiers, but the army and the government denied this. It would help the Islamic rebels if the attackers were soldiers, angry over recent attacks on Buddhists in the area. The Islamic rebels have carried out attacks dressed as soldiers before. But Moslems also believe the attackers may have been Buddhists militia (armed civilians used to protect non-Moslem villages.)
June 7, 2009: On the Myanmar border, over 3,000 refugees have fled to Thailand, because the Myanmar army is making the largest attack, on Karen tribes, since the late 1990s. The Karen have been rebelling for decades.
June 6, 2009: In the south, a bomb and gunfire left two dead and 19 wounded.
Opposition and civil society appeal to the govt not to negotiate with Thailand on Preah Vihear issue
Opposition and civil society appeal to the govt not to negotiate with Thailand on Preah Vihear issue
24 June 2009
By Phan Sophat
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer
Officials from the opposition party and from civil society in Cambodia appealed to Cambodian government leaders not to accept negotiations to Thailand’s plan to review for a joint listing of Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
The appeal was made immediately after Thai PM declared that his government will ask the UNESCO World Heritage committee to review the decision to list Preah Vihear temple.
Thailand’s TNA news agency quoted Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailand PM, claiming that Suthep Thaugsuban, Thailand’s deputy PM, will travel to Cambodia to explain about Thailand’s stance. Abhisit said also that he is confident that border issues between the two countries will be resolved peacefully.
Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodian Confederation of Union (CCU), said: “Bilateral negotiations should end because we have seen for umpteenth times that we couldn’t win, and the results are naught. Thailand’s actions never respect any of their promises, they kept on moving their troops [to the border] continuously.”
Lawyer Sok Sam Oeun, Executive Director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, also said: “The government should tell its Thai counterpart that for other issues, we can talk to each others, but for this kind of issues, there is no need to negotiate.”
About the idea of negotiation with Thailand, SRP MP Yim Sovann said: “We should review the [1991] Paris Peace Agreements in which a number of signatory countries raised about the defense of our national integrity.”
Up until the evening of Wednesday 24 June, Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs, told RFA that there was no official letter from Thailand to negotiate the Preah Vihear issue, unlike what was reported in the news which indicates that [negotiations] will take place on Saturday.
Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of ministers, said that he does not know if Hun Sen will accept to meet to negotiate with the Thai officials or not, however, he spoke about Thailand’s goals: “There’s nothing important to explain to Samdach Dek Cho [Hun Sen], they should apply the agreement made by the joint Cambodian-Thai border committee instead.”
According to Cambodian military source, the military situation at the Preah Vihear temple is still confrontational between the two countries, and this situation started when Thailand sent in several hundreds of Thai black-clad troops to the Wat Keo Sekha Kiri Svarak Pagoda on 15 July 2008, right after UNESCO listed Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
24 June 2009
By Phan Sophat
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer
Officials from the opposition party and from civil society in Cambodia appealed to Cambodian government leaders not to accept negotiations to Thailand’s plan to review for a joint listing of Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
The appeal was made immediately after Thai PM declared that his government will ask the UNESCO World Heritage committee to review the decision to list Preah Vihear temple.
Thailand’s TNA news agency quoted Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailand PM, claiming that Suthep Thaugsuban, Thailand’s deputy PM, will travel to Cambodia to explain about Thailand’s stance. Abhisit said also that he is confident that border issues between the two countries will be resolved peacefully.
Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodian Confederation of Union (CCU), said: “Bilateral negotiations should end because we have seen for umpteenth times that we couldn’t win, and the results are naught. Thailand’s actions never respect any of their promises, they kept on moving their troops [to the border] continuously.”
Lawyer Sok Sam Oeun, Executive Director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, also said: “The government should tell its Thai counterpart that for other issues, we can talk to each others, but for this kind of issues, there is no need to negotiate.”
About the idea of negotiation with Thailand, SRP MP Yim Sovann said: “We should review the [1991] Paris Peace Agreements in which a number of signatory countries raised about the defense of our national integrity.”
Up until the evening of Wednesday 24 June, Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs, told RFA that there was no official letter from Thailand to negotiate the Preah Vihear issue, unlike what was reported in the news which indicates that [negotiations] will take place on Saturday.
Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of ministers, said that he does not know if Hun Sen will accept to meet to negotiate with the Thai officials or not, however, he spoke about Thailand’s goals: “There’s nothing important to explain to Samdach Dek Cho [Hun Sen], they should apply the agreement made by the joint Cambodian-Thai border committee instead.”
According to Cambodian military source, the military situation at the Preah Vihear temple is still confrontational between the two countries, and this situation started when Thailand sent in several hundreds of Thai black-clad troops to the Wat Keo Sekha Kiri Svarak Pagoda on 15 July 2008, right after UNESCO listed Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
Cambodian PM refuses to talk with Thai DPM on Preah Vihear temple
PHNOM PENH, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Thursday that he has no plans to talk about the issue of the listing of Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site with visiting Thailand's deputy prime minister.
"I will not listen to him on the case of clarification of jointly development and jointly registering of Preah Vihear temple, but if he talks about withdrawal of Thai troops from our soil, we can talk and welcome him," Hun Sen said at a graduation ceremony of a University in Phnom Penh.
The premier announced that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva "is sending Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Taugsuban to meet me on Saturday in unofficial visit to clarify about the stance of Thailand on 11 century Preah Vihear temple."
"This is my message for him before he decides to visit Cambodia," Hun Sen said, adding that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia according to verdict of Hague Court (international court) in 1962. Thailand is not co-ownership of that property.
He also stressed that Preah Vihear temple is humanitarian heritage now. "We need the situation at areas near Preah Vihear temple return to prior to July 15, 2008."
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban told Thai media on Tuesday that he will visit Cambodia Saturday on a mission to clarify Thailand's objection to the listing of Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site.
Thai deputy premier will be accompanied by Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan and other members of the Thai government.
The temple was listed in July 2008 as the World Heritage site, promoting an escalation of tensions between Cambodia and Thailand and a troop buildup along the border. Thailand has long sought the joint listing of the site.
According to Thai media report, Prime Minister Abhisit would request that UNESCO's World Heritage Committee review last year's decision to register Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site when the body convenes its annual meeting at the meeting in Spain, and he would request that the temple be registered jointly as a World Heritage Site by Thailand and Cambodia.
Local newspaper on Thursday quoted Cambodian officials as saying that UNESCO has refused to hear a complaint by Thailand over Preah Vihear temple's listing as a World Heritage Site at the annual meeting of its World Heritage Committee in Seville, Spain.
"I will not listen to him on the case of clarification of jointly development and jointly registering of Preah Vihear temple, but if he talks about withdrawal of Thai troops from our soil, we can talk and welcome him," Hun Sen said at a graduation ceremony of a University in Phnom Penh.
The premier announced that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva "is sending Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Taugsuban to meet me on Saturday in unofficial visit to clarify about the stance of Thailand on 11 century Preah Vihear temple."
"This is my message for him before he decides to visit Cambodia," Hun Sen said, adding that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia according to verdict of Hague Court (international court) in 1962. Thailand is not co-ownership of that property.
He also stressed that Preah Vihear temple is humanitarian heritage now. "We need the situation at areas near Preah Vihear temple return to prior to July 15, 2008."
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban told Thai media on Tuesday that he will visit Cambodia Saturday on a mission to clarify Thailand's objection to the listing of Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site.
Thai deputy premier will be accompanied by Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan and other members of the Thai government.
The temple was listed in July 2008 as the World Heritage site, promoting an escalation of tensions between Cambodia and Thailand and a troop buildup along the border. Thailand has long sought the joint listing of the site.
According to Thai media report, Prime Minister Abhisit would request that UNESCO's World Heritage Committee review last year's decision to register Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site when the body convenes its annual meeting at the meeting in Spain, and he would request that the temple be registered jointly as a World Heritage Site by Thailand and Cambodia.
Local newspaper on Thursday quoted Cambodian officials as saying that UNESCO has refused to hear a complaint by Thailand over Preah Vihear temple's listing as a World Heritage Site at the annual meeting of its World Heritage Committee in Seville, Spain.
Saber rattling at Preah Vihear
Saber rattling at Preah Vihear
By: BangkokPost.com
Published: 25/06/2009 at 12:24 PM
Thai soldiers have been put on full alert along the disputed border with Cambodia and beeen warned that an armed clash is possible, Second Region Army commander Viboonsak Neepal said on Thursday.
Lt-Gen Viboonsak said the Cambodian army had begun deploying more troops and artillery, including 10 large cannons and six tanks, near Preah Vihear temple.
The new Cambodian troops were dressed in new uniforms and armed with new rifles. They had set up camp about two kilometres across the border from Chong Sa Ngam in Si Sa Ket.
Thai troops stationed along the border now had units on alert around the clock, he said.
"If there are bullets coming from the other side, the Thai army is ready to retaliate by any means necessary.
"I have ordered all troops to show patience but be alert, and reminded them not to underestimate the situation," he said.
Meanwhile, Cambodian villagers continued to buy goods at the Thai market as usual.
By: BangkokPost.com
Published: 25/06/2009 at 12:24 PM
Thai soldiers have been put on full alert along the disputed border with Cambodia and beeen warned that an armed clash is possible, Second Region Army commander Viboonsak Neepal said on Thursday.
Lt-Gen Viboonsak said the Cambodian army had begun deploying more troops and artillery, including 10 large cannons and six tanks, near Preah Vihear temple.
The new Cambodian troops were dressed in new uniforms and armed with new rifles. They had set up camp about two kilometres across the border from Chong Sa Ngam in Si Sa Ket.
Thai troops stationed along the border now had units on alert around the clock, he said.
"If there are bullets coming from the other side, the Thai army is ready to retaliate by any means necessary.
"I have ordered all troops to show patience but be alert, and reminded them not to underestimate the situation," he said.
Meanwhile, Cambodian villagers continued to buy goods at the Thai market as usual.
DHL to support Vietnam's ever-growing fashion export industry
DHL to support Vietnam's ever-growing fashion export industry
June 24, 2009 (Asia)
www.fibre2fashion.com
DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, announced that it will invest US$10 million over the next five years in its new joint venture in Vietnam. The company signed this agreement with its local Vietnam partners including Oriental Logistic to form a new entity, DHL Global Forwarding (Vietnam) Corporation.
The investments will go towards the expansion of facilities, employee training, upgrading of information systems and introducing an enhanced range of services for businesses in Vietnam. “The newly-launched DHL Global Forwarding (Vietnam) Corporation will offer customers the full range of logistics and supply chain services available anywhere in the world to local customers,” said Amadou Diallo, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding South Asia Pacific.
As part of this investment, by end 2009, DHL will also launch the “DHL Fashion and Apparel Center for Excellence” in Vietnam, its first in Southeast Asia. The center will comprise of a core team of industry experts and be responsible for developing tailored solutions and provide consultancy services to customers in DHL's biggest fashion and apparel logistics market in South East Asia.
“The fashion and apparel industry is one of the core focus areas for DHL Global Forwarding in Asia Pacific. This industry contributed nearly US$2.6 billion to Vietnam in the first four months of 2009 alone, with US$9.5 billion in exports projected for 2009. Despite the economic slowdown, the sector is predicted to grow at 5% for the year which demonstrates some degree of resilience compared to other sectors ,” added Amadou Diallo.
Mr. Sam Ang, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding South East Asia, said, “We are very optimistic about Vietnam’s growth potential. The country has recorded impressive export growth in the past decade, and even in the prevailing economic climate today, continues to grow its export volumes in various key industries – notably fashion.”
As the global leader in air and ocean freight, DHL estimates the Fashion and Apparel Logistics industry to be worth US$3.9 billion per annum in South Asia and South East Asia. Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia alone are estimated to account for well over US$2.5 billion in this fast-growing industry. DHL's services cover the entire logistics value chain of the fashion industry.
DHL Global Forwarding (Vietnam) Corporation is a strategic investment by DHL in preparation for the anticipated future growth while concentrating on opportunities from the highly critical textile and apparel, footwear and furniture industries, which are very well established in Vietnam. The business is also ideally positioned to assist I.T. and telecommunications industries with their logistical needs as the country grows its manufacturing base in those fields. Customers will stand to benefit from a stepped up level of service capabilities and access to a global range of market leading logistics solutions.
“The US$10 million investment reinforces our commitment to Vietnam significantly,” said DHL Global Forwarding Vietnam Managing Director Mr Michel Khaou. “Vietnam is continually seeking to improve its export economy and its integration with world markets, and certainly DHL Global Forwarding (Vietnam) Corporation, with our increase in service offering in the coming months is ideally positioned to facilitate this.”
In addition to the standard portfolio of services, greater cost savings benefits for customers due to its buying power and setting up of regular consolidations to major gateways, DHL Global Forwarding (Vietnam) Corporation will provide services that include:
1. International & domestic cargo freight forwarding services by road, rail, waterways, oceans, air and multimode transport contracts
2. Freight transportation (marine and airline) agency services
3. Logistic services (labeling and packaging services, other supporting and auxiliary transportation services)
4. Storage and warehouse services
5. Customs clearance services
6. Container station and depot services
7. Domestic cargo transport services by road, railway, sea, inland waterway and airlines (using services of licensed cargo transport providers, no direct involvement in cargo transport).
DHL
June 24, 2009 (Asia)
www.fibre2fashion.com
DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, announced that it will invest US$10 million over the next five years in its new joint venture in Vietnam. The company signed this agreement with its local Vietnam partners including Oriental Logistic to form a new entity, DHL Global Forwarding (Vietnam) Corporation.
The investments will go towards the expansion of facilities, employee training, upgrading of information systems and introducing an enhanced range of services for businesses in Vietnam. “The newly-launched DHL Global Forwarding (Vietnam) Corporation will offer customers the full range of logistics and supply chain services available anywhere in the world to local customers,” said Amadou Diallo, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding South Asia Pacific.
As part of this investment, by end 2009, DHL will also launch the “DHL Fashion and Apparel Center for Excellence” in Vietnam, its first in Southeast Asia. The center will comprise of a core team of industry experts and be responsible for developing tailored solutions and provide consultancy services to customers in DHL's biggest fashion and apparel logistics market in South East Asia.
“The fashion and apparel industry is one of the core focus areas for DHL Global Forwarding in Asia Pacific. This industry contributed nearly US$2.6 billion to Vietnam in the first four months of 2009 alone, with US$9.5 billion in exports projected for 2009. Despite the economic slowdown, the sector is predicted to grow at 5% for the year which demonstrates some degree of resilience compared to other sectors ,” added Amadou Diallo.
Mr. Sam Ang, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding South East Asia, said, “We are very optimistic about Vietnam’s growth potential. The country has recorded impressive export growth in the past decade, and even in the prevailing economic climate today, continues to grow its export volumes in various key industries – notably fashion.”
As the global leader in air and ocean freight, DHL estimates the Fashion and Apparel Logistics industry to be worth US$3.9 billion per annum in South Asia and South East Asia. Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia alone are estimated to account for well over US$2.5 billion in this fast-growing industry. DHL's services cover the entire logistics value chain of the fashion industry.
DHL Global Forwarding (Vietnam) Corporation is a strategic investment by DHL in preparation for the anticipated future growth while concentrating on opportunities from the highly critical textile and apparel, footwear and furniture industries, which are very well established in Vietnam. The business is also ideally positioned to assist I.T. and telecommunications industries with their logistical needs as the country grows its manufacturing base in those fields. Customers will stand to benefit from a stepped up level of service capabilities and access to a global range of market leading logistics solutions.
“The US$10 million investment reinforces our commitment to Vietnam significantly,” said DHL Global Forwarding Vietnam Managing Director Mr Michel Khaou. “Vietnam is continually seeking to improve its export economy and its integration with world markets, and certainly DHL Global Forwarding (Vietnam) Corporation, with our increase in service offering in the coming months is ideally positioned to facilitate this.”
In addition to the standard portfolio of services, greater cost savings benefits for customers due to its buying power and setting up of regular consolidations to major gateways, DHL Global Forwarding (Vietnam) Corporation will provide services that include:
1. International & domestic cargo freight forwarding services by road, rail, waterways, oceans, air and multimode transport contracts
2. Freight transportation (marine and airline) agency services
3. Logistic services (labeling and packaging services, other supporting and auxiliary transportation services)
4. Storage and warehouse services
5. Customs clearance services
6. Container station and depot services
7. Domestic cargo transport services by road, railway, sea, inland waterway and airlines (using services of licensed cargo transport providers, no direct involvement in cargo transport).
DHL
Preah Vihear move is about border rights, PM says
Preah Vihear move is about border rights, PM says
June 25, 2009
The Nation
"Prime Minister Abhisit might be confused over the boundary. The Unesco won't deal with the boundary issue but will help to protect the site in Cambodia" - Somchai Phetprasert, Thailand chairman of House committee on military affairs
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday he wanted to keep the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and international involvement away from Preah Vihear temple.
Cabinet's move to maintain its objection to World Heritage listing for the site, which it achieved last year, was just reserving Thailand's right to handle boundary demarcation with Cambodia, he said.
Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Cambodia in 2000 not to make any change in regard to "overlapping" areas claimed by both countries before the completion of demarcation, he said.
"As the temple is listed as World Heritage, there will be more hands involved, which is contrary to the MoU," Abhisit told reporters before leaving for China.
The historic cliff-top temple has been a point of conflict between Thailand and Cambodia for years.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia but Thailand argues that the court ruling did not cover adjacent land. Both countries claimed an area of 4.6 square kilometres near the temple.
Thailand's objection to the World Heritage listing stirred anger from Phnom Penh as the move delays its plan to develop the site.
Cambodia has yet to convene an international coordination committee to develop Preah Vihear, as Thailand has not decided whether to join the panel to run the site with seven other parties.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban will visit Phnom Penh on Saturday to explain its stance to Hun Sen, the Cambodian premier.
Abhisit hoped Suthep would be able to calm Hun Sen down and reduce tension at the site.
Disputes over Preah Vihear led to fighting near the border temple in October last year and in April, which saw several soldiers killed on both sides.
Cambodia had boosted its forces in the conflict area since the latest moves, Second Army Region Commander Wiboonsak Neeparn said. "We have to adjust our troops to get ready but as I talk to my Cambodian counterpart, we don't use force to solve the problem," he said yesterday.
Chulalongkorn University academic Chaiwat Khamchoo said the government's objection to Cambodia's plan would not benefit Thailand but only created conflict with its neighbour.
Somchai Phetprasert, chairman of House committee on military affairs, accused the government of pushing the country nearer to war. Prime Minister Abhisit should talk with Cambodia about a joint nomination for the temple, Somchai said.
"Prime Minister Abhisit might be confused over the boundary. The Unesco won't deal with the boundary issue but will help to protect the site in Cambodia," he said.
June 25, 2009
The Nation
"Prime Minister Abhisit might be confused over the boundary. The Unesco won't deal with the boundary issue but will help to protect the site in Cambodia" - Somchai Phetprasert, Thailand chairman of House committee on military affairs
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday he wanted to keep the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and international involvement away from Preah Vihear temple.
Cabinet's move to maintain its objection to World Heritage listing for the site, which it achieved last year, was just reserving Thailand's right to handle boundary demarcation with Cambodia, he said.
Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Cambodia in 2000 not to make any change in regard to "overlapping" areas claimed by both countries before the completion of demarcation, he said.
"As the temple is listed as World Heritage, there will be more hands involved, which is contrary to the MoU," Abhisit told reporters before leaving for China.
The historic cliff-top temple has been a point of conflict between Thailand and Cambodia for years.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia but Thailand argues that the court ruling did not cover adjacent land. Both countries claimed an area of 4.6 square kilometres near the temple.
Thailand's objection to the World Heritage listing stirred anger from Phnom Penh as the move delays its plan to develop the site.
Cambodia has yet to convene an international coordination committee to develop Preah Vihear, as Thailand has not decided whether to join the panel to run the site with seven other parties.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban will visit Phnom Penh on Saturday to explain its stance to Hun Sen, the Cambodian premier.
Abhisit hoped Suthep would be able to calm Hun Sen down and reduce tension at the site.
Disputes over Preah Vihear led to fighting near the border temple in October last year and in April, which saw several soldiers killed on both sides.
Cambodia had boosted its forces in the conflict area since the latest moves, Second Army Region Commander Wiboonsak Neeparn said. "We have to adjust our troops to get ready but as I talk to my Cambodian counterpart, we don't use force to solve the problem," he said yesterday.
Chulalongkorn University academic Chaiwat Khamchoo said the government's objection to Cambodia's plan would not benefit Thailand but only created conflict with its neighbour.
Somchai Phetprasert, chairman of House committee on military affairs, accused the government of pushing the country nearer to war. Prime Minister Abhisit should talk with Cambodia about a joint nomination for the temple, Somchai said.
"Prime Minister Abhisit might be confused over the boundary. The Unesco won't deal with the boundary issue but will help to protect the site in Cambodia," he said.
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