PM pressured over Preah Vihear issue

Noppadon to Abhisit: Get temple back

PM pressured over Preah Vihear issue

Bangkok Post

Published: 27/12/2008 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: News

Former foreign minister Noppadon Pattama has urged Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to keep his promise to get the ancient Hindu ruins of Preah Vihear back from Cambodia.

Mr Noppadon said he was concerned about the prime minister's stance on the issue. He raised the Preah Vihear issue before the Democrat-led government is due to deliver its policy statement to parliament, where it is expected to face a tough grilling by opposition MPs led by the Puea Thai party on Monday and Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya will be one of the targets of the grilling.

Mr Noppadon said he had supplied information about the issue to opposition MP Chalerm Yubamrung to debate in parliament.

He said when he was foreign minister he made it clear that the Preah Vihear case was closed.

But Mr Abhisit, who was then opposition leader, insisted he would reserve the right to press for the return of the border temple to Thailand.

Mr Noppadon said Mr Abhisit said in a House debate that Thailand only acceded to Cambodia's demands for the temple, but the land where the temple is located is still owned by Thailand, although the Foreign Ministry disagreed with Mr Abhisit on the issue.

If Mr Abhisit can prove his claim, his government must talk with Cambodia and demand the return of the land surrounding the temple or demand Cambodia pay rent for the land.

Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6-square-kilometre overlapping area surrounding the temple.

If the government fails to proceed with the matter, this will show that what the Democrats said during the debate was meaningless.

"Mr Abhisit and his government should be given the chance to work. But be warned that the efforts to encourage reconciliation will never materialise if the prime minister is something of a hypocrite," Mr Noppadon said.

Mr Noppadon resigned as foreign minister under duress over debates surrounding the Preah Vihear temple joint communique which was found to be unconstitutional by the Constitution Court.

The court ruled that the Thai-Cambodian joint communique backing Cambodia's unilateral bid to list the temple as a World Heritage Site, signed by Mr Noppadon and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, was a treaty and required parliamentary scrutiny and endorsement.

Mr Noppadon said he was unhappy about Mr Kasit's remarks about Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

He claimed Mr Kasit made offensive remarks against Mr Hun Sen that could affect relations between Thailand and Cambodia.