On 22 April 2011, at 13.00 hrs., Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, gave a press conference regarding issues related to Thai-Cambodian relations, especially the recent armed clashes along the Thai-Cambodian border in Phanom Dong Rak District, Surin Province. Gist as follows:
1. During a routine patrol by a Thai military unit around the area near the Temple of Ta Kwai, the Thai soldiers discovered the presence of armed Cambodian troops in the Temple area, which constituted a violation of the understanding between the two sides that no armed forces should be in the Temple, and that the military units of both sides should be deployed approximately 100 meters away from each other. The Thai side informed the Cambodian side to withdraw from the area but was fired upon. The clashes lasted from 06.30-09.35 hrs of 22 April 2011.
2. The actions which the Thai side had taken were to defend Thailand’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as to protect Thai civilians in the area. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had tasked Mr. Ong-art Klampaiboon, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, to oversee the evacuation and well-being of Thai civilians in the affected area.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would issue a protest note to Cambodia, through Madame You Ay, Cambodian Ambassador to Thailand, who would be summoned to the Ministry. The Ministry would also issue a statement to put on record the facts regarding the incident, in order to inform the international community of what had transpired and prevent Cambodia from further violating Thailand’s sovereignty.
The Thai side would also call for the convening of bilateral meetings under the General Border Committee (GBC) and the Regional Border Committee (RBC). The Foreign Minister had already discussed this issue with the Defence Minister (in his capacity as the GBC Co-Chair), and was informed that the Defence Minister had instructed the Thai military to convene the GBC and RBC meetings at the earliest opportunity so as to ensure the security and safety along the border. Since both countries have expressed their desire to maintain peace along the border, it is therefore possible to use existing bilateral mechanisms to resolve issues without having to seek recourse to any intervention from ASEAN or the United Nations.
3. The area of the current clashes near the Temple of Ta Kwai is located in Sector 5 between boundary pillars 1 and 23, approximately 140 kilometres away from the area near the Temple of Phra Viharn if measured by the straight line, or approximately 190 kilometres if measured along the watershed. Earlier, the meeting of the Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) on 7-8 April 2011 in Bogor, Indonesia, had discussed preparations for the dispatch of Thai-Cambodian joint technical teams to conduct field survey work in Sector 5. This would have to proceed once the situation returns to normalcy.
4. Progress has recently been made in many aspects concerning boundary negotiations. For instance, on 19 April 2011, Parliament approved recommendations by the Joint Parliamentary Commission assigned to study the three agreed minutes of the JBC meetings, which concerns boundary issues and Thailand’s position thereon. In addition, following the Constitutional Court’s decision to dispose of the request from a group of parliamentarians for the Court to rule whether these agreed minutes were treaties in accordance with paragraph 2 of Section 190 of the Constitution, the Foreign Minister was assigned by the Government to withdraw the three agreed minutes from the Parliament’s consideration process. This decision by the Constitutional Court indicated that the negotiation process conducted by the Government is still on-going, and there is thus no need for the Parliament to consider the matter at this juncture. Furthermore, at the JBC meeting on 7-8 April 2011 in Bogor, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia discussed preparatory work for the dispatch of Thai-Cambodian joint technical teams to conduct field survey work in Sector 5 and the qualifications of a company to produce Orthophoto maps. All this serves to confirm that bilateral mechanisms are working and making progress.
5. Foreign Minister Kasit had spoken with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, as the current Chair of ASEAN, to clarify the situation, stressing that the situation would not affect on-going endeavours being undertaken within the ASEAN framework as the clashes happened far from the Phra Viharn Temple. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would issue a note to inform the Indonesian Foreign Minister and send its copies to all the other ASEAN Foreign Ministers as well.
6. With regard to the meeting of the World Heritage Committee, Foreign Minister Kasit said that from his consultation with Deputy Prime Minister Trairong Suwankiri and Mr. Suwit Kunkitti, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, it was agreed that Minister Suwit would continue as head of the Thai delegation to attend the meeting of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) in Paris in June 2011, and that Ambassador Asda Jayanama, Special Representative of the Prime Minister and Thai Co-Chair of the JBC, would be part of the Thai delegation. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had proposed to the Thai National Committee on World Heritage that a study be conducted on the listing of world heritage sites on a transboundary or serial nomination basis. The said proposal was unrelated to the country’s negotiating position with Cambodia and would not only be about the Temple of Phra Viharn area. Rather, its aim would be to learn more about such nominations from similar cases involving other countries given the fact that there are various other historical sites and national parks in Thailand along its borders with other neighbouring countries.
Regarding the proposal made during the visit by Mr. Koijiro Matsumura, Special Representative of the Director-General of UNESCO, that Thailand and Cambodia meet in May prior to the WHC meeting in Paris, the Foreign Minister stated that, as had been conveyed to UNESCO, Thailand would only accept the said proposal on the condition that the issue of the management plan of the area adjacent to the Phra Viharn Temple would not be discussed at the upcoming WHC meeting because negotiations on the boundary in the area have not yet been finalized.
7. Foreign Minister Kasit reaffirmed to the Thai public that Thailand had never accepted the Dongrak sector of the 1:200,000 map series and had always used watersheds as its position in the negotiations. Noting that the Royal Thai Government is willing to listen to any proposition that would be beneficial to the public, the Foreign Minister stated that he would update periodically the public of the progress made regarding the Thai-Cambodian border.
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