Back to court

[Voice]

Back to court
Prime Minister Hun Sen and Cambodia have taken the Preah Vihear issue back to the World Court.
Abhisit says government ready for ICJ petition defence. I really hope that we will send the best legal team that money can buy so we could have our day in court. I have been waiting for this opportunity since 1962. Back then we didn’t even have enough money to send our representative to defence our right. It left with our children lunch money to make up the different to send our representative there. It could give us another chance to take something that rightly belongs to us.

But if we lose this time I hope our Prime minister would explain to us why we lost.

I also hope that the French will be kept out of court this time.

[drake]

Back to court
Prime Minister Hun Sen and Cambodia have taken the Preah Vihear issue back to the World Court.
Abhisit says government ready for ICJ petition defence. I really hope that we will send the best legal team that money can buy so we could have our day in court. I have been waiting for this opportunity since 1962. Back then we didn’t even have enough money to send our representative to defence our right. It left with our children lunch money to make up the different to send our representative there. It could give us another chance to take something that rightly belongs to us.

But if we lose this time I hope our Prime minister would explain to us why we lost.

I also hope that the French will be kept out of court this time.

Bro, you are a real optimist.
ICJ is a rigged Kangkaroo court.
The last time Thailand lost was because
a) France represented Cambodia and any judgement against Cambodia is a judgement against France.
b) Thai defense was based on error on French map, that is also an insult against France.
c) Cambodia was swinging Communist and they were given The Temple as a token of good will to keep them West.

ICJ62 still don't address the issue with the rest of the border demarcation.
What then ?
How far do you want to dial back the clock ?
http://ecaimaps.berkeley.edu/animations ... mation.swf

At the end, you can only keep what you can defend !

[Voice]

Sorry drake you may call patriotism on my part but when it comes to this particular issue of who own the temple. I was very upset back then and I still upset about it. The more this issue is talk about it’s always remind me how much I don’t like the French. Bloody French stolen from us twice in my opinion. First time when they took Cambodia and the second time it was the temple. I don’t like the way they were then and still don’t like the way they are now.

Drake if it still belong to us then we don’t have to try to defence it. When we went to world court was something that we never anticipated. Lack of money, lack of language, and lack of international law we lost it badly. And I also don’t like the idea that Western judges with Western policy of invaded another country sat the judgement on us of what belong to us or what can belong to us when they has invaded so many countries.

[drake]

Sorry drake you may call patriotism on my part but when it comes to this particular issue of who own the temple. I was very upset back then and I still upset about it. The more this issue is talk about it’s always remind me how much I don’t like the French. Bloody French stolen from us twice in my opinion. First time when they took Cambodia and the second time it was the temple. I don’t like the way they were then and still don’t like the way they are now.

Drake if it still belong to us then we don’t have to try to defence it. When we went to world court was something that we never anticipated. Lack of money, lack of language, and lack of international law we lost it badly. And I also don’t like the idea that Western judges with Western policy of invaded another country sat the judgement on us of what belong to us or what can belong to us when they has invaded so many countries.

Man, you are hilarious but I think you got the point though.

BTW, the French stole it FOUR times, not twice.
First, when they invaded East IndoChina and took Laos and West Cambodia from Siam.
Second, when they nullified the 1941Tokyo treaty at the end of WW2.
Third, at the ICJ
Fourth, by coercing Thailand to forego the redress in favour of an admission to the UN.

I was at that Temple back in the 70s before they shot it up. It was a pretty place.

At the end, you can only keep what you can defend by force otherwise you can just give it all up to robbers with pens like the rest of the 'civilized' cattles and sheep.

[Absara]

Have we all gone mad over the PV? Can we afford to let patriotism cloud our judgment and hold the country hostage? There are so many pressing and more important issues that need to be addressed, yet the “powerful” chose to engage in something that does more harm than good to the country.

Whether we think we’re right or wrong about the PV is irrelevant. What matter the most is how other countries think of us. So far, it seems like we have an uphill battle to win over the international opinion, and if that trend continues Thailand will have a tough time in the (ICJ) courtroom. A second defeat would be a devastating blow to the country image and reputation.

Let’s hope or pray the “powerful” know exactly what they’re getting the country into.

[Voice]

Hello Absara I am really sorry that it have upset you but this issue was much closed to my heart since we lost it 1962. It was the situation that I felt very strongly and I felt that we shouldn’t have lost if the French hasn’t interfered with what should have been ours. I don’t what us to go to war with the Cambodia. But if the willing to take it back to the court I think we should argue our case properly this time round. Absara if our country reputation has gone bad in world opinion, losing this won’t make much different anyway. As I had said before I never agree on how we had been judge and judge by those who has tried countless time to conquer our lives. Win or lose I would like to have our day in court again.

[Voice]

Drake my friend I am glad that I can you laugh. I might be many things for many people but when it comes to justice I want to hear sound judgement that fair and not bias. Because I believe that the judgement made was very bias due to the French influence rather judgement made because fact and sound proves, you probably never hear me saying anything.

[mutley]

Absara, In my opinion you are absolutely correct in what you say. I have no love for the French (I'm from UK) but geography was one of their strong points even if they were bad colonizers. The ICJ looks at historical events and I think you will find that when a Thai \\\ //// visited the temple some years ago, he was met by the Cambodian French resident. This, diplomatically speaking, was an admission by Thailand that the temple was on Cambodian soil. Thailand may or may not have understood the implications of this at the time but I'm sure the French did and so did the ICJ at the last courtroom battle.

[Absara]

Hello Absara I am really sorry that it have upset you but this issue was much closed to my heart since we lost it 1962. It was the situation that I felt very strongly and I felt that we shouldn’t have lost if the French hasn’t interfered with what should have been ours. I don’t what us to go to war with the Cambodia. But if the willing to take it back to the court I think we should argue our case properly this time round. Absara if our country reputation has gone bad in world opinion, losing this won’t make much different anyway. As I had said before I never agree on how we had been judge and judge by those who has tried countless time to conquer our lives. Win or lose I would like to have our day in court again.

Dear Voice,

I would never get upset with your comments. On the contrary, I read them with respect and appreciation. The PV issue is very closed to all of us, and I completely share your sentiment. Having said that, I would like to share some thought with you.


The Khmers claimed most of Thailand used to belong to their empire, and we counter-claimed that some of their today Western provinces were ours. History is such a complicated or convoluted matter. In most cases, it would be best to let history be history so that we can focus on the present and move on.

U.S. and Japan were bitter foes during the second World War, but only to become trusted allies after the War ended in order to face common threat from communism. There is a third country that stands to gain much from the ongoing conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. Can we learn from the U.S.-Japan postwar alliance?

[Absara]

Absara, In my opinion you are absolutely correct in what you say. I have no love for the French (I'm from UK) but geography was one of their strong points even if they were bad colonizers. The ICJ looks at historical events and I think you will find that when a Thai \\\ //// visited the temple some years ago, he was met by the Cambodian French resident. This, diplomatically speaking, was an admission by Thailand that the temple was on Cambodian soil. Thailand may or may not have understood the implications of this at the time but I'm sure the French did and so did the ICJ at the last courtroom battle.

As often the case in other Asian countries, Thai history textbooks don’t always tell the whole story and intentionally omit some key events. Sadly, such omissions have led to misunderstanding and perpetuated conflicts among neighbors.

One could only hope that the vast information readily available and accessible online will help to reveal what have been hidden from the public since the stone age.