Border conflict poses more questions than answers
- Published: 21/02/2011 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
The ceasefire agreement struck between Thailand and Cambodia poses the interesting question of whether it signifies the beginning of the end or the other way around. The ceasefire has been reached "pending" negotiations that many hope will bring a permanent solution to the border conflict.
In other words, the truce agreed to by the two sides with immediate effect on Saturday at the Chong Sa-ngam Pass border crossing in Si Sa Ket province is only a vehicle to achieving something permanent. Opinion may be split as some might wonder if the ceasefire marks the beginning of the end of the longstanding border hostility or whether it is the end of the beginning of the rough negotiations over the bitter border dispute with peaceful resolution from further rounds of talk far from guaranteed.
The fine print in the ceasefire agreement comes across as supporting the latter theory.
This article is older than 60 days, which we reserve for our premium members only.You can subscribe to our premium member subscription, here.
