PREAH VIHEAR
Senate panel visits area near temple
MONGKOL BANGPRAPA & WASSANA NANUAM
Song Lot, a 27-year-old Cambodian garment vendor, waits for customers in vain as the Preah Vihear temple row has discouraged tourists from visiting Rong Klua market in Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo province. |
SI SA KET : Residents of several border villages along the border with Cambodia in Si Sa Ket province have begun weapons training for self-defence because of the tense situation over the Preah Vihear temple row.
Members of the Senate committee on foreign affairs, led by their deputy chairman M.R. Priyanandana Rangsit, were briefed on the villagers' self-defence training by Si Sa Ket governor Sanee Jittakasem before inspecting the border areas near the Preah Vihear temple ruins yesterday.
Mr Sanee told the committee members that local villagers and their Cambodian neighbours had continued to enjoy good relations since the conflict over the ruins erupted.
However, Thais in the border areas have asked to be trained to use weapons for self-defence.
Last month, Cambodia closed the Preah Vihear ruins following protests by groups of Thais over its listing of the temple as a World Heritage site.
The Si Sa Ket governor said he was seeking talks with his Cambodian counterpart in Preah Vihear province to reopen the checkpoint near the temple.
But Cambodian authorities turned down the gesture, saying any such talks would not be possible until the end of the year.
Mr Sanee insisted three Thai people detained by Cambodian soldiers after crossing into the overlapping zone had not intruded on Cambodian soil as the area they entered belonged to Thailand under a 1962 cabinet resolution.
The Thais, including a Buddhist monk, were later freed
He suggested they file a complaint with local police against the Cambodian troops.
He said there was some misunderstanding that the 4.6 sq km of land was the overlapping zone. Some demarcation posts were missing.
The Senate panel yesterday went to the border area in Kantharalak district and received a briefing from the 23rd Infantry Regiment.
They initially wanted to visit soldiers guarding the overlapping zone, but were allowed to travel only as far as the adjacent Pha Mor E-daeng cliff .
M.R. Priyanandana said a Senate committee should be set up to study the Preah Vihear temple row and the overlapping area.
In the past, Thailand had let Cambodia occupy the 4.6 sq km area for a long time leading Cambodia to believe it owned the land.
Now Thailand had lost 162 stairs at the temple entrance, she said.
Bangkok Senator Rosana Tositrakul said Thai troops must stay in the area to protect the country's sovereignty. Historian Srisak Walliphodom, who accompanied the Senate panel to the area, said Thailand should not send its representative to sit on the seven-nation committee to manage Preah Vihear as proposed by the World Heritage Committee. A role on the panel would put Thailand at a disadvantage.
Second Army commander Lt-Gen Sujit Sithiprapa said his troops would remain in the area until there were talks on demarcating the border.
He insisted Thai troops have not intruded on to Cambodian soil.
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