Hun Sen Meets Thai Defense Minister on Border Issues

By Soy Sophea

The Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has expressed his opinions regarding the border settlement. He looks forward to a resolution of the issue as soon as possible and believes that the next generation of leaders will have no need to return to the matter.

The Premier delivered these remarks to reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, following the one-day visit of Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan on February 6.

The Prime Minister considers the visit of the Thai Defense Minister, Prawit Wongsuwan to be highly significant as Wongsuwan is the most senior representative of the Thai armed forces. The Thai Defense Minister was also accompanied by other senior military officials.

“I told the Thai Defense Minister that we should solve the problem today so that nothing pollutes the relationship between the next generation of Cambodians and Thais. Neither side wants to prolong this dispute,” he said. “I advised both sides of the Cambodian-Thai Joint Commission to work together and avoid armed conflict,” he added.

The Premier said that the disputed border area will become a much more welcoming venue once the agreement in principle becomes a reality. The only military presence will be joint patrols, working together to clear landmines.

“There is no more armed confrontation but a number of unarmed observers remain. This is in joyful contrast to the armed confrontation of last year,” said the Prime Minister. And the area will become a safe and enjoyable place for all people to visit,” he added.

The Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh said that the two defense ministers have agreed to find a peaceful resolution and find compromise over the few remaining points.

“We will continue to use the existing mechanisms to resolve this matter,” said the Minister. However, the Defense Minister Tea Banh refused to say when any redeployment of forces will happen.

Importantly, the meeting of the Joint Commission on Demarcation of Land Boundaries (JCB), held on February 4, failed to reach agreement on border demarcation issues and neither could it decide the official name of the ancient temple.The two sides announced at a JBC press conference that they could not sign an MOU concerning these two points which were initially discussed at the meeting organized in Bangkok.

"We tried hard to find a compromise in the interests of both countries. But, we don't agree on some points which need to be discussed and clarified," said Var Kim Hong, Cambodia’s Senior Minister in charge of Border Affairs.

The Senior Minister said that the two sides could not agree on the name of the ancient temple, known as Preah Vihear by Cambodia, while Thailand calls it Phra Viharn.Thailand has proposed to use both names, said co-chair of the Thai side Vasin Teeravechyan.Also, the meeting failed to generate a mutually acceptable title for the joint patrols around the ancient temple.

Thailand has proposed to call them "Military Monitoring Groups" while Cambodia has suggested the title "Temporary Coordinating Team."Vasin said the next JBC meeting will be held during the second week of April this year in Cambodia. Previous rounds of meetings have failed to find common ground on the border issue to break the stand-off. The two countries have a 790-km-long border line, delineated by 73 border posts.