A public forum will be organised late this month to garner opinions on the 2001 memorandum of understanding (MoU) on maritime claims in the Gulf of Thailand, which is at the centre of a long-running maritime territorial dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, according to the government.
Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa made the revelation during an interpellation by Piyarat Chongthep, a People's Party (PP) MP for Bangkok, in a House session on Thursday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will jointly organise the forum with a number of House standing committees, said Mr Maris.
Former yellow-shirt protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul, who led a movement demanding the termination of the controversial MoU, has been calling on the government to stage a public forum, but the idea was previously rejected by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
She only promised the government would take into consideration opinions from all sides before making any further decisions on the MoU.
The government has not yet done anything regarding this agreement, which stipulates that Thailand and Cambodia conduct negotiations on the likelihood of their jointly making use of natural resources in the overlapping claims area in the Gulf of Thailand, said Mr Maris.
The committee has yet to be formed, he said.
Mr Sondhi said the MoU had created an overlapping claims area (OCA) covering 26,000 square kilometres, mainly benefiting Cambodia. The OCA is believed to be rich in fossil energy resources.
Signed with Cambodia during the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, the MoU allowed Cambodia to draw the boundary of its territorial waters as being within Thai maritime territory as declared by King Rama IX, based on international law, in 1973, Mr Sondhi said. Critics worry a loss of sovereignty will result.
At a gathering outside Government House late last month, a group of activists led by Mr Sondhi threatened to scale up their protests if the government continued to ignore their demand to scrap the MoU.
Mr Piyarat asked during the House meeting if the government is standing firm on its plan to negotiate with Cambodia about the benefits of jointly developing natural resources in the disputed area.
He asked how the government would protect Thailand's sovereignty over the overlapping claims area if it pursued this plan.