Monday, August 3, 2009

Thailand opposed oil concessionaires awarded to Total off the coast of Sihanoukville

The yellow areas are the areas awarded to Total which are described as "Thailand-Cambodia Claim Area Blocks".

Source: Koh Santepheap newspaper
Reported in English by Khmerization

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong has led a delegation to the 6th border talks with Thailand in Bangkok from 4-6 August. According to official sources, the talks will be centred on the delimitation and demarcation of the general borders between the two countries.
But unofficial sources said that the agenda of the meeting will be focused more on the oil concessionaires recently awarded to the French company, Total, which was said to be opposed by the Thai government.
The Koh Santepheap newspaper reported that a Thai website has reported that a group of Thai "yellow shirt" activists had lodged a letter of complaint against the oil concessionaires awarded to Total by saying that the areas awarded to Total are located in the Thai territorial waters. The letter stated that the concessionaires awarded to Total by the Cambodian government is illegal which will eventually cause diplomatic frictions between Thailand and France, including the impact on trades and businesses between the two countries.
Ms. Vimol Kitchob, spokeswoman for the Thai Foreign Ministry, was quoted by the website as saying that the areas awarded to Total by the Cambodian government used to called "overlapping areas", but the two governments later agreed to stop using the words "overlapping areas" because she said there is no part of the areas that was "overlapped". The website quoted the Thai spokeswoman as saying that the areas are "undelimited areas"- meaning that the areas have not been decided to which countries they belong.

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