Thursday, August 5, 2010

OPINION: IF NOPPADON PATTAMA IS BEING ACCUSED OF HIGH TREASON, WHAT WOULD MINISTER SUWIT KHUNKITTI BE ACCUSED OF?

5 August 2010

It is known to Thailand from its government down to the public that Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, on behalf of the Abhisit Vijjajeva Government, has signed a World Heritage Committee’s official document known as Decision 34 COM.7B.66, committing Thailand to fully abide by the terms described therein. Consequently, 

1. Thailand can no longer claim not to know the content, the meaning, and the significance of the World Heritage Committee’s official report known as document WHC-10/34.COM/7B.Add.3, in which the report concludes that “with regard to the Management Plan, the World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS consider that it provides a good vision for the conservation of the World Heritage’s property as well as a solid basis on which the National Authority for the Protection and Development of the Preah Vihear Natural and Cultural Site (ANPV) can develop policies and operational procedures,… that many of the very important recommendations made in the Management Plan are yet to be implemented, and encourage the State Party to make every effort to this end, in cooperation with the international community.”

Document WHC-10/34.COM/7B.Add.3, in effect, shuts the door in the face of Thailand in its malicious efforts to derail the Management plan, and as the consequence, any future efforts will prove to be futile.

2. Thailand can no longer deny its full knowledge of the WHC Decision 31 COM 8B. 24 (2007), Decision 32 COM 8B. 102 (2008), and Decision 33 COM 7B.65. The most important of all, is Decision 32 COM 8B. 102, under which the Temple of Preah Vihear is  inscribed on the World Heritage List under criterion (i). With Minister Suwit  Khunkitti’s signature, Thailand’s longstanding malicious scheme to force theWorld Heritage Committee to delist the Temple of Preah Vihear as well as Thailand’s longstanding accusation that the listing of the Temple of Preah Vihear causes tension and violence go up in smoke. 

3. Thailand can no longer make up story out of the blue and falsely accuse Cambodia of failing to submit the Management Plan to the World Heritage Centre for submission to the 34th Session of the World Heritage Committee, in Brasilia, Brasil. In fact Cambodia's Management Plan of the Temple of Preah Vihear had been submitted to the World Heritage Centre before 01 February 2010, as required. Theacknowledgement by Thailand that “the World Heritage Centre has the document submitted by the State Party”, for such acknowledgement is validated by the signature of Minister Suwit Khunkitti, once again, has the effect of shutting the door in the face of  Thailand on this issue. Furthermore, by saying that“Cambodia should have handed in its management proposal six months ahead of the meeting, but it made its submission less than 24 hours before the meeting began,” as reported by the Bangkok Post On Line News on 30 July 2010, Minister Suwit Khunkitti has  lied to the Thai people and the World with his wildsuggestion and off-based speculation. Not only that, his tendentious assertion, tantamount to false accusation that taints the image and the reputation of Thailand and the Thai nation as a whole for a long time, by saying that “the committee instead dropped the topic, saying Cambodia had not followed proper procedure in submitting the plan,” as reported by the Bangkok Post Online News, the same date.

4. Thailand can no longer ignore the fact that the “World Heritage Committee welcomes the steps taken by the State Party towards the establishment of an  International Coordinating Committee for the sustainable conservation of the Temple of Preah Vihear.” In so doing, the World Heritage Committee affirmed strongly that Cambodia is implementing the World Heritage Committee’s requirement under  paragraph 14 of Decision 32 COM 28B. 102, when the World Heritage Committee unanimously inscribed the Temple of Preah Vihear on the World Heritage List, and the validation of Thailand’s acknowledgement of this fact with the signature of Minister Suwit Khunkitti renders great justice to Cambodia where justice is due, and absolutely not because Minister Suwit Khunkitti’s kind heart. To make the point showing the Thai Government’s arrogance, and its rude behavior to project and assert Thai Government’s villain image, there is no need to go too far to recall that it was the Thai Government that obstructs many times during the last three months prior to the WHC 34th
Session in Brasilia,  the establishment of an International Coordination Committee for the sustainable conservation of Preah Vihear temple, by using every trick, every unusual and unprecedented maneuvering never ever seen in the history of the World Heritage Convention against the core values of the Convention that respect the sovereignty of States Parties and harmonizes the conservation and development of the  inscribed properties with mutual understandings andcompromises among States Parties involved.      

5. Thailand should be ashamed of itself for claiming victory, when in fact Minister Suwit Khunkitti signs away everything that Thailand has taken pains to hold back, even with bully-boy tactics and using innuendo, tendentious suggestions and off-base speculation. When “the World Heritage Committee decides to consider the documents submitted by the State Party at its 35th Session in 2011,” there is absolutely no reason for the Abhisit Vijjajeva Government to jump up and down and claim victory, and shout out loud that this is a “postponement,” unless all the people in the Abhisit Vijjajeva are just green-horns and they fail miserably to understand what does it mean, which is the Thai Government’s own problem. In this matter, with the validation of the acknowledgement by the signature of Minister Suwit Khunkitti, the Thai Government cannot invoke the “plea of error,” that Thailand had invoked in the past during the Proceedings of the “Case concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand). To that effect the Court said: “It is an established rule of law that the plea of error cannot be allowed as an element vitiating consent if the party advancing it contributed by its own conduct to the error, or could have avoided, or if the circumstances were such as  to put that party on notice of a possible error.” P.26, par.2  It must be known that in relation to the decision of the WHC, the terminology is technical and specific: (1)  to postpone means to drop the “Document” in its entirety and only new document could be submitted again following the procedure and timetable set forth in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage (1972) Convention (OGIWHC); (2)  to defer means that the “Document” is accepted for consideration at a later date in conformity with OGIWHC, and the State Party which submitted the “Document” needs to fulfill certain requirements that the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies of the Heritage Convention found to be necessary during their evaluation of the “document”; (3)  to consider means that the “document” has been found  to be in order by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, and only because of some internal, technical and practical steps needed to be taken by the World Heritage Committee that the “document” will be “formally” consider at a set date, which is during the WHC 35th session in 2011, normally with the wordings, such as: “The World Heritage Committee notes with satisfaction that……..” In fact, Cambodia’s Management Plan and Progress Report for the Implementation of Decision 33 COM. 7B 65 have been evaluated by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, and found  to be in order, and they are officially known as Document WHC-10/34.COM/7B.Add.3 under the section:  Reports on the State of Conservation of Properties Inscribed on the World Heritage List.  It must be stressed again, that the World Heritage Committee, during its annual session, does not have the job to approve or to disapprove documents.

Speaking about Cambodia, the Cambodian people have all the reasons in the world to claim victory, and to be filled with the sense of national achievement and pride, thanks to the wise leadership of Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister  of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and to the dedication and efforts of H.E. Dr. Sok An Deputy Prime Minister and  Head of the delegation to the WHC 34th  Session in Brasilia, Brasil.    3Speaking about Thailand, without any intention under any shape and form to interfere in the internal affairs of Thailand, questions have been raised with respect to former Thai Foreign Minister Nappadon Pattama and Minister Suwit Khunkitti as is if former Foreign Minister Nappadon Pattama has been accused of high treason for having signed a Joint Communique with H.E. Dr. Sok An on 18 June 2008 (a Joint Communique under the condition that it must be approved by Thai Cabinet), what would Minister Suwit Khunkitti be accused of when he gave away all what Thailand is holding for. Only the Thai people and Puae Thai Party can provide the best answer. For now, it is not much too soon to guess that Minister Suwit Khunkitti and the Abhisit Government as a whole would be ten times or a hundred times more culpable than former Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama.