On 9 April 2011, Mr. Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, gave a phone-in interview on the results of the meeting of the Joint Commission on the Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) held on 7-8 April 2011 in Bogor, Indonesia. He noted that overall, the meeting — which was co-chaired by Ambassador Asda Jayanama on the Thai side and Senior Minister Var Kimhong on the Cambodian side — was concluded with satisfactory outcomes.
Elaborating on what had transpired, Mr. Chavanond said that the Thai side had informed the Cambodian side of the internal legal process towards approval by the Thai Parliament of the three agreed minutes of the previous meetings of the JBC. The latter now showed a better understanding that there was no intention on Thailand’s part of stalling the said process, and expressed hope that the three agreed minutes would be considered by the Thai Parliament as soon as possible. The Thai side reaffirmed that it would make best efforts to expedite the process.
Furthermore, the two delegations discussed preparations for the work which would be undertaken once the three agreed minutes are approved by the Thai Parliament. The first main issue was the dispatch of the Thai-Cambodian joint technical teams to conduct field survey work in Sector 5 between boundary pillars 1-23, whereby both sides would make preparations for their respective teams.
The second issue was the qualifications of a company to produce Orthophoto maps, which in principle should be from a third country and have no affiliation with either side. The Thai side also suggested that both countries explore new technologies for the production of the maps, so that this — together with consideration of a suitable, impartial company — could be discussed at the next meeting of the JBC.
The third and final issue was the opening of the new international point of entry at Nong Ian Village, Tha Kham Sub-district, Aranyaprathet District, Sa Kaeo Province of Thailand, regarding which the 7th Meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia had instructed the JBC to meet to undertake relevant preparations. In this connection, both sides tasked their respective joint technical team to conduct a detailed survey of the afore-mentioned new international point of entry and report their findings to the next JBC meeting for its consideration.
Regarding the role of Indonesia and format of the JBC meeting, the Secretary to the Thai Foreign Minister said that the Indonesian Foreign Minister had helped facilitate the discussion between Thailand and Cambodia on the draft agenda of the meeting, the final version of which was along the lines of the first draft proposed by Thailand. He noted that during the whole process, Indonesia did not interfere in either the substance or agenda of the meeting. The meeting was therefore a truly bilateral meeting, held in a third country. Since the bilateral process had now been able to move forward, the normal procedure should be followed for the next JBC meeting.
In response to media enquiries about the dispatch of Indonesian observers to the area along the Thai-Cambodian border, Mr. Chavanond said that Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, who arrived in Jakarta on 9 April 2011, would discuss the matter with his Indonesian counterpart and perhaps with the Cambodian Foreign Minister. In this regard, he noted that the Thai side would reiterate its position, which the Thai Foreign Minister had stated earlier, that the Indonesian observers must be unarmed and be considered as members of the Indonesian diplomatic mission. In addition, they must not be positioned in the 4.6 square-kilometre “disputed area”, would have to follow strictly recommendations of the Thai side, and must not undertake any action which would be contrary to the Thai Constitution or violate Thai sovereignty. These conditions would be proposed to the Cambodian side for its consideration.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th