On 16 October 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a briefing for members of the diplomatic corps about recent Thailand-Cambodia border incidents. Panelists included Mr. Virachai Plasai, Director-General of the Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs, Mr. Chakarin Chayabongse, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Organizations, Lieutenant General Tumrongsak Deemongkol, Director of the Thailand Mine Action Center (TMAC), and Mr. Amornchai Sirisai, Project Manager of the Mekong Organization for Mankind (MOM). Representatives from 64 countries attended the event. The gist of the briefing can be summarized as follows:
1. On 3 October 2008, the Second Army Region of the Royal Thai Army reported that Thai paramilitary rangers from Suranaree Task Force, while on patrol along the Thai-Cambodian border near Phu Ma Khua, encountered Cambodian soldiers within Thai territory. The unarmed rangers informed the Cambodian soldiers that they had intruded into Thai territory and asked them to leave. The Cambodian soldiers started firing into the air. Realizing the sensitivity of the situation, the Thai paramilitary rangers decided to pull back. At this point, the Cambodian soldiers opened fire at the unarmed Thai rangers, causing Thai military units in the area to respond in self-defense. After a brief exchange of gunfire, there were injuries on both sides.
2. On 6 October 2008, while on routine patrol deep inside Thai territory to the north of Phu Ma Khua in an area near the Temple of Phra Viharn, two Thai paramilitary rangers stepped on landmines and lost their legs. The route taken by the Thai soldiers was known to have been cleared of landmines. The Thai Mine Action Center (TMAC) therefore sent a team of officials to investigate and clear the area. The team found a number of planted anti-personnel mines in an area nearby. Upon further inspection, they found recently planted PMN2-type landmines manufactured in Russia - a type of mine that has never been used or possessed by the Royal Thai Armed Forces. As Thai rangers had never found this type of landmine while patrolling this route prior to 3 October 2008, the Royal Thai Government believes that the PMN 2 landmines were planted after the incident.
3. Thailand views this development with alarm, as it indicates a serious violation of the Convention on the Prohibition on the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction of 1997 (also known as the Ottawa or Mine Ban Convention) to which both Cambodia and Thailand are State parties. According to this Convention, a State party undertakes, inter alia, “never under any circumstance: a) to use anti-personnel mines; b) to develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, anti-personnel mines”. Thailand has consistently abided by its obligations under this treaty. It is our sincere hope that the Royal Cambodian Government has not been stepping up its rhetoric over the boundary dispute in an effort to overwhelm any attention being given to this serious breach of international law.
4. Boundary matters, Thailand has always believed, should be settled in accordance with international law. In the Case concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) reached the judgment that the Temple is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia. It also noted, however, that it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the question of the boundary between the two countries. Therefore, no party can claim a boundary on the basis of the judgment of the ICJ. It is rather the French-Siamese Convention of 1904 that is the legal basis of the boundary in this area, which is yet to be jointly demarcated by the two countries. In any case, a dispute over the boundary should be settled by the two countries by reference to international law, rather than through dangerous rhetoric.
5. The two countries have bilateral mechanisms for this task, particularly the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) set up in 2000. Our Foreign Ministers have met twice, first in Siem Reap, Cambodia on 28 July 2008 and second in Cha-am, Petchaburi on 18 — 19 August 2008. As a result of the meetings, both sides agreed to recommend to their respective Governments to enter into a provisional arrangement to maintain peaceful border conditions pending demarcation of the boundary by the JBC. As a confidence building measure, both sides have undertaken the first-phase redeployment of their respective troops from the area and prepared the groundwork for additional redeployment. Additionally, both sides agreed to recommend to their respective Governments that the JBC be convened, after which another round of Ministerial talks will take place.
6. Thailand sincerely hopes that Cambodia will honor the understanding achieved at the ministerial meetings and exercise the necessary patience and restraint while each country’s internal processes take their course.
7. Thailand has taken great pains to impress upon Cambodia that any decisions or actions by Thailand with a view to concluding a border or boundary treaty must comply with the Thai Constitution and domestic legal requirements, which require prior approval of the Parliament. This indeed includes any arrangement to redeploy troops in the Phra Viharn border areas. Although this process necessarily takes time, the Royal Thai Government has been working to expedite matters as much as possible.
8. Thailand is therefore perplexed as to why, culminating the above-noted series of breaches of international law, the Cambodian Prime Minister hastily issued, on 13 October 2008, an ultimatum demanding that Thai troops be withdrawn from an area within Thai territory before 15:00 hrs. of 14 October 2008. Such an ultimatum stands in stark contradiction to the Cambodian Government’s earlier position that the issue should be settled bilaterally through peaceful means. Furthermore, it appears to reflect a blatant and utter disregard for Thailand’s constitutional democratic processes, which may be different from Cambodia’s but equally deserving of respect.
9. Thailand was further appalled that on 15 October 2008 Cambodia chose to put into effect its ultimatum by firing on Thai soldiers patrolling the area along the Thai-Cambodian border inside Thai territory near Phu Ma Khua, and in the vicinity of the Thai base at Pha Mor I Dang, also within Thai territory. These unprovoked attacks resulted in the injury of seven Thai soldiers, and compelled Thai soldiers to return fire in self-defence in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter. 10. Thailand deplores this decision to resort to illegal use of force, which compounds the already serious violation of the Ottawa Convention found earlier and risks further damage to the friendship and cooperation between our two countries. Thailand reaffirms its commitment to settling disputes through peaceful means in accordance with international law, and calls on Cambodia to do the same.
Landmines: Sequence of Events
6-13 October 2008
- On 6 October 2008, ten Thai soldiers were patrolling along a route near the Temple of Phra Viharn deep within Thai territory. The route had been routinely used by Thai soldiers without interruption and was known to have been cleared of landmines.
- At approximately 10:30 hrs., one of the soldiers (the ninth of ten soldiers in the patrol) stepped on a landmine which exploded. He was severely injured and lost his leg upon impact.
- After the explosion, one of the team members turned back to attend to his injured comrade. On his way, he stepped on another landmine and was also severely injured.
- The team then abandoned the patrol and transported the injured back to the camp. The injured were transported to a local hospital for emergency medical treatment.
- Later in the afternoon, the Thailand Mine Action Center (TMAC) and MOM, an independent NGO specialising in demining, inspected the area of the incident. They found another anti-personnel mine nearby (the one on display today). After careful inspection, it was found to be a PMN2 — a type not used by the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
- On 11 October 2008, the same demining team returned to the area for further investigation. Two more landmines were found. The team marked and fenced off the landmines without defusing them with a view to further investigation.
- Over the weekend of 11-12 October 2008, the two marked landmines mysteriously disappeared.
- On 12 October 2008, another landmine was found by Thai soldiers patrolling the area. The soldiers then kept watch on the landmine pending arrival of Thai experts at the scene, which was due on 14 October 2008. It was observed that Cambodian troops also kept watch of the site.
- On 14 October 2008, a group of Thai experts inspected the area where the landmines were found and took away the mine for inspection in Bangkok.
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.