Cambodia - Thailand conflict not in their agenda

2009/11/13

SINGAPORE: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong did not discuss the conflict between Cambodia and Thailand in their bilateral meeting in Singapore Thursday night, Indonesia's Antara news agency reported. This was disclosed by Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal to the press at Marina Mandarin Hotel here after accompanying the President in his meeting with Lee Hsien Loong.

"Nothing on the matter had been discussed, but the Indonesian government was very concerned about what had happened, the tension between Cambodia and Thailand," he said.

He also disclosed that Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa had contacted his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya. "We hope the tension can be resolved satisfactorily," he said.

The Singapore government last week had expressed concern about the deteriorating diplomatic conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, and said "it was not good" for Asean.

The conflict between Cambodia and Thailand centered on the 4.6 square meters of bushes near a 900 years old anciant temple Preah Vihear in a steep slope forest separating the two countries.

The two countries had actually been engaged in the conflict for the past centuries when the Thai Kingdom and the Khmer were at war for land and power.

In 1962, an international court decided that the temple belonged to Cambodia, but the land surrounding it was still being fought by both sides.

A UN decison which included Preah Vihear as a UNESCO world heritage had triggered a resumption of the conflict on the matter.

The conflict increased early in July 2008 when Cambodian forces held three Thai demonstrators for entering the archeological site illegally, which was followed by the assignment of military forces of the two countries near the temple.

While the two parties had conducted serious negotiations on the matter, still no agreement had been reached.

In 2003, the Thai ambassador in Phnom Penh was burnt by rioters because of their increased anger triggered by a comment allegedly made by a Thai artist that the temple complex had to be returned to Thailand.

Last week the tension between the two countries escalated in which each country recalled their ambassadors, because of a decision of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to appoint former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as its economic advisor.

Cambodia refused a Thai request to extradite Thaksin, which further worsened the conflict.

Thaksin and Hun Sen had been close fiends for several years, and they even played golf together. On the sidelines of the APEC summit November 14-15, 2009, Asean will hold the first summit with the United States, but Hun Sen had long before stated his refusal to discuss Thaksin's role in the summit.

-- BERNAMA