PREAH VIHEAR TEMPLE
PIYAPORN WONGRUANG & APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
Academics and experts called on the government to oppose the resolution of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) on Preah Vihear temple since the temple perimeter still overlaps the disputed area between Thailand and Cambodia.
Professor Emeritus Sompong Sucharitkul, who helped Thailand's foreign minister with legal issues during the temple row in 1962, said it is located in a disputed area which has still not yet been settled. So Cambodia should not be granted sole right to list the temple as a World Heritage site, he said.
A line designated by the Thai government in 1962 to mark the temple's perimeter to comply with the International Court of Justice's ruling that the temple was under Cambodia's sovereignty is considered as only an "operating line" to help determine the temple's perimeter, not the boundary line, he said.
Still, he added, Thai officials involved in the matter have now reportedly called it a boundary line, and they have confirmed to the public that the temple and immediate surroundings were already not part of Thai territory on the basis of the 1962 "operating line".
In addition, Thailand and Cambodia used this line to justify Cambodia's proposal to nominate the temple as a World Heritage site, saying it would not affect Thai territory, he said.
"The area [located by the temple] still contains some points if dispute, and we reserve every right to claim on matters regarding the issue," said Prof Sompong, adding that the resolution has become impractical now since the Thai people will not cooperate.
The temple alone has failed to match the criteria of being a World Heritage site set out by the WHC, and the agency should not set a precedent with such an exception, he added.
Professor Surachai Sirikrai, Thammasat University's international law expert, called on the government to suspend any further cooperation over the issue with the WHC. He was concerned Thailand could be further deprived of its sovereignty over the unsettled territory.
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