On 15 October 2008, 18.30 hrs, following the clash between Thai and Cambodian soldiers inside Thai territory that afternoon, Mr. Virasakdi Futrakul, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs summoned Mr. Ouk Sophoin, Cambodian Charg? d’Affaires to Thailand to protest Cambodia’s violation of Thailand’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and its act of aggression.
The Permanent Secretary informed the Charg? d’Affaires that Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat, upon his return to Thailand following his official visit to Cambodia on 13 October 2008, was surprised to learn that the Prime Minister of Cambodia had issued an ultimatum to Thailand to withdraw its troops from the area adjacent to the Temple of Phra Viharn, otherwise Cambodia may resort to the use of force. However, as the said Thai troops were on Thai territory, this was something the Thai side could not comply. As the deadlines of the said ultimatum and other ultimatums that followed had passed, the Royal Thai Government was optimistic that the situation would pass without any incident.
Thailand was therefore deeply saddened and shocked when Cambodian soldiers started firing at Thai soldiers without cause. This was clearly a violation of Thailand’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as an act of aggression by Cambodia. To strongly protest the above-mentioned act on the part of the Cambodian soldiers, the Permanent Secretary handed over an Aide-Memoire to the Charg? d’Affaires, the gist of which can be summarized as follows:
1. On 15 October 2008 around 14.30 hrs, Thai soldiers, while peacefully patrolling the area along the Thai-Cambodian border inside Thai territory near Phu Ma Khua, were shot at by Cambodian soldiers using RPG and sub-machine guns, which resulted in the injuries of 5 Thai soldiers. The Thai soldiers then returned fire in exercising their inherent right of self-defence as provided for under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations.
2. The Royal Thai Government considers the above-mentioned intrusion of the Cambodian soldiers into Thailand’s territory as well as the shooting at the Thai soldiers a serious violation of Thailand’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the commission of an act of aggression in blatant violation of international law.
3. Thailand reaffirms its commitment to closely cooperate with Cambodia within the existing framework of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) and has reiterated on many occasions that the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand is best resolved peacefully by bilateral means. However, the decision of the Royal Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia to resort to the use of force, in contrary to the commitment made by the Foreign Ministers of the two countries in Siem Reap and Cha-am to exercise utmost restraint, is deplorable.
4. The Royal Thai Government therefore strongly protests against the above-mentioned acts on the part of the Cambodian soldiers. The Royal Thai Government also demands that the Royal Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia immediately withdraw its troops from Thailand’s territory and ensure that incidents of the similar nature will not happen again in the future.
In this connection, the Permanent Secretary asked the Charg? d’Affaires to convey the above-mentioned Aide-Memoire to his capital. The Permanent Secretary also expressed hope that the special meeting of the Regional Border Committee (RBC), to be held on 21 October 2008, and at the working level, rescheduled for 16 October 2008, would afford the local military commanders of both sides with an opportunity to ascertain what had transpired resulting in the clash as well as to find ways of preventing similar events -- which could undermine efforts to achieve a peaceful solution to the problem through bilateral negotiations -- from recurring in the future.
Prime Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Press Division, Department of Information Tel.(02) 643-5170
Fax. (02) 643-5169 E-mail : div0704@mfa.go.th End.