Source: M&G, 26 June 2011
URL:http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1647637.php/Thailand-withdraws-from-UN-World-Heritage-Convention-in-protest
Bangkok - Thailand has withdrawn from the United Nations World Heritage Convention to protest a decision to consider a management plan for a disputed ancient temple, reports said Sunday.
A committee on Saturday agreed to consider Cambodia's plan for the Preah Vihear temple despite Thai objections. Thailand claims that an adjacent 4.6-square-kilometre plot of land is still part of a border demarcation dispute.
'I talked to the delegation and we agreed to withdraw as a member of the World Heritage Convention,' said Suwit Khunkitti, head of the delegation negotiating with the World Heritage Committee of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, The Nation online news service reported.
But a senior Thai government source in Bangkok said the resignation was not effective immediately.
'There is a process that has to be gone through and it takes time,' a Thai foreign ministry official said. 'Most likely it will need to be decided by the incoming government,' said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.
Thailand is gearing up for a general election on July 3.
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee was discussing new sites in Paris last week and management plans for existing ones.
Cambodia pressed it to proceed with its management plan for the 11th-century Hindu temple, which was named a Heritage site in 2008 over Thai objections.
Since the listing of Preah Vihear, Thai and Cambodian troops have clashed on several occasions along the border, most recently in April when 16 people died.
The temple ruins on a cliff that defines the Thai-Cambodian border has been a bone of contention between the two countries for six decades.
In 1962, the International Court of Justice ruled that the temple was on Cambodia soil, but it stopped short of ruling on where the border lies in the disputed area.
While Thailand has accepted the 1962 ruling, it claims a 4.6-square-kilometre area adjacent to the temple, which is also claimed by Cambodia.
URL:http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1647637.php/Thailand-withdraws-from-UN-World-Heritage-Convention-in-protest
Bangkok - Thailand has withdrawn from the United Nations World Heritage Convention to protest a decision to consider a management plan for a disputed ancient temple, reports said Sunday.
A committee on Saturday agreed to consider Cambodia's plan for the Preah Vihear temple despite Thai objections. Thailand claims that an adjacent 4.6-square-kilometre plot of land is still part of a border demarcation dispute.
'I talked to the delegation and we agreed to withdraw as a member of the World Heritage Convention,' said Suwit Khunkitti, head of the delegation negotiating with the World Heritage Committee of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, The Nation online news service reported.
But a senior Thai government source in Bangkok said the resignation was not effective immediately.
'There is a process that has to be gone through and it takes time,' a Thai foreign ministry official said. 'Most likely it will need to be decided by the incoming government,' said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.
Thailand is gearing up for a general election on July 3.
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee was discussing new sites in Paris last week and management plans for existing ones.
Cambodia pressed it to proceed with its management plan for the 11th-century Hindu temple, which was named a Heritage site in 2008 over Thai objections.
Since the listing of Preah Vihear, Thai and Cambodian troops have clashed on several occasions along the border, most recently in April when 16 people died.
The temple ruins on a cliff that defines the Thai-Cambodian border has been a bone of contention between the two countries for six decades.
In 1962, the International Court of Justice ruled that the temple was on Cambodia soil, but it stopped short of ruling on where the border lies in the disputed area.
While Thailand has accepted the 1962 ruling, it claims a 4.6-square-kilometre area adjacent to the temple, which is also claimed by Cambodia.
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