The Bangkok Post Published: 30/07/2010 at 12:12 PM, among others, exuberated the fact the WHC had postponed discussion on Cambodia’s management plan for the Preah Vihear temple to its meeting next year in Bahrain.
It went on to quote Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, who is leading the Thai delegation, said from Brazil that the postponement is a satisfactory result.
"This will allow Thailand more time for to discuss the issue and to find solutions," he said.
Mr Suwit thanked his team, the government and the Thai people for their support and for voicing their opposition to Cambodia managing the site.
Mr Suwit thanked his team, the government and the Thai people for their support and for voicing their opposition to Cambodia managing the site.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva earlier said that any approval of the plan proposed by Phnom Penh could lead to Thailand withdrawing its WHC membership. He insisted that Thailand would not discuss the management plan before the border's demarcation is complete.
In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear temple and the land it occupies to Cambodia.
The site of the historical structure, which is directly on the Thai‐Cambodian border, has long been a point of contention between the two countries.
Looking at excerpts of the report as above, it is with great lack of sensitivity that Thailand is lauding this WHC decision.
Who are the Thai’s to oppose Cambodian’s management plan for the Preah Vihear temple World Heritage Site? Is the temple located on its territory? Definitely not as pointed out by the same report as above.
The management of a historic world heritage site on sovereign Cambodian territory is the right of the country on which the site is located. The last time and as recent as today as the time above specifies, all acknowledge that the temple is on Cambodian territory.
The Preah Vihear Temple has unfortunately become a bone of contention with successive recalcitrant Thai regimes who had and have used the temple site as a provocative flash point to stroke ultra‐nationalism amongst the ignorant Thai citizens.
If Thailand wants to withdraw from the WHC, let it be. It is their unilateral decision. At different times in history, the Thais’ have claimed Cambodia’s world heritage and historical sites. Claiming Angkor Wat as an extension of Thai territory, Preah Vihear Temple, many provinces of Thailand were once sovereign Cambodian soil and the list goes on.Cambodians have long memories. They recall that Cambodia was once a mighty empire, sprawling from what is now north eastern Thailand through to southern Vietnam. Some of Thailand’s most striking temples, such as Prasat Hin Phimai, Meuang Singh, and Phanom Rung and Prasat Meuang Tam were built when the area was ruled by Cambodia.
Towards the end of the 18th century Siam (as Thailand was then called) under King Rama I, invaded Cambodia and seized Battambang and Siem Reap (home of Angkor Wat and historical capital of the Khmer empire). At about the same time the Vietnamese took the Mekong delta in what is now southern Vietnam. The French decided to “protect” Cambodia, preventing further loss of territory, and in the early 19th century the French were able to negotiate the return of Battambang and Siem Reap to Cambodia.
When World War II broke out, Thailand sided with Japan and invaded Cambodia (again), seizing both Battambang and Siem Reap (again), though not the area around Angkor Wat, which remained under the French.
At the end of the war Thailand was required to return the land it had seized to Cambodia. As soon as Cambodia gained independence from the French in 1953, Thailand reoccupied the land around Preah Vihear.
At the same time Thailand’s Prime Minister/Dictator, Marshal Sarit Thanarat, did much to destabilise the regime of Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The American CIA was also involved in the plot since it feared that Cambodia would fall under Chinese communist influence. In response, in 1961 Cambodia severed diplomatic relations with Thailand.
In 1962 Cambodia appealed to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, who ruled that Preah Vihear belonged to Cambodia, not Thailand. The Thai army was keen to go to war to maintain sovereignty over the land, but His Majesty The King intervened and told them to respect the court’s decision.
The Thai army never forgot the humiliation, and covertly supported various opposition groups in Cambodia until Prince Sihanouk’s regime was ousted in 1970.
In 1979 Vietnam went into Cambodia to put a halt to the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge. The leadership of the Khmer Rouge fled to Thailand en masse.
Cambodians have not forgotten this. Neither have they forgotten the irresponsible remark made by the Thai actress claiming Angkor Wat as Thai property.
This irresponsible actions has to stop is Thailand wishes to have long term peace and harmony with Cambodia. It should stop using Preah Vihear for its own domestic politics in terms of ‘Real Politik”. Does Thailand have the political or the diplomatic will to really contest the Preah Vihear Temple in the United Nations and the ICJ again?
Cambodia is no more a colonial state. Its a sovereign country with stability, something which Thailand fails or cannot accept. Thailand may become a failed state because of its domestic politics. If it wants touse Cambodia and the Preah Vihear temple as national issues to domesticate their internal pressure, they should think again.
Cambodia may be poor, may be weak in Thailand’s eyes. When the passion of nationalism runs deep, a deep fire emerges and it is this fire which Thailand should beware of. It should not forget the lessons of the border tussles it had with Lao PDR.
Its provocative stance on Preah Vihear Temple is not merely that. It is also about the Over Lapping Claims Area for hydro carbons. Its the fear of Bangkok losing its position as a transit point to Cambodia. Its about Thailand becoming irrelevant in ASEAN and international politics. Its about Thailand being fearful of being labeled as a terrorist state because of the strife in Southern Thailand.
M.H. Tee
Long time resident of Cambodia & Analyst