23/11/2009
Bangkok Post
The government's move to revoke memorandums of understanding with Cambodia could put Thailand at a disadvantage, leading academics say.
The government should not let a mounting sense of patriotism influence its decision to nullify any MoU with Cambodia, said Puangthong Pawakapan, an international relations lecturer at Chulalongkorn University. She said taking such action could do more harm than good to the nation.
Two agreements have been much discussed, she said, adding one was signed during the Chuan Leekpai administration and the other during the Thaksin Shinawatra government.
The first MoU deals with survey and demarcation of land boundaries, and the second with the overlapping continental shelf area. If the first MoU is torn up, Mrs Puangthong said, any agreement on the survey and demarcation of land boundaries - which both sides have tried to negotiate for many years - would be scrapped.
The revocation of this MoU would inevitably result in a domino effect on another MoU Thailand has reached with Laos, she said. And if the second MoU is also revoked, Thailand could lose current territorial rights over Koh Kut island because Cambodia's acknowledgement of the Thai rights is part of this MoU, she said.
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