Thailand to protest UNESCO over Preah Vihear inspection
BANGKOK, May 20 (TNA) – Thailand will submit a protest letter to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Thursday after the UN agency’s staff inspected the overlapping zone adjacent to Preah Vihear temple without prior notification to Thailand.
Virachai Plasai, Director-General of the Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will invite a UNESCO representative to receive the protest letter Thursday morning at the ministry.
He added that Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya had earlier instructed the ministry to convey this concern over the issue to UNESCO headquarters in Paris, and its offices in Bangkok and Phnom Penh.
The disputed area, adjacent to the ancient temple, has long been a source of tension between Thailand and Cambodia.
An international court awarded Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia in 1962, but a 4.6-square km (1.9-square mile) parcel of land surrounding it remains the subject of territorial claims by the two neighbouring countries. (TNA)
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