6/08/2010
Bangkok Post
EDITORIAL
The bottom line is that Thailand has only one year to figure out what stance would be in the country's best interests insofar as the dispute over the inscription of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site is concerned. If we fritter away our time bickering among ourselves - which is exactly what we are doing now - we will not have to wait until the World Heritage Committee reconvenes in Bahrain next year, to taste the bile of bitter loss.
If, that is, the Thai people cannot set aside vested political and personal agendas, and put our collective heads together so that we can come up with a sensible, coherent and internationally acceptable stance that would help all sides to settle the issue peacefully.
There may be times when protests and passionate use of nationalism can be useful, such as when one has to show the world the strong emotions people in our country have on the issue. Sentiments, however, have no place at a negotiating table. Only facts, well-substantiated by documents, treaties, memoranda and agreements, can be accepted. No matter how the Thai people feel about the issues surrounding the temple of Khao Phra Viharn and the International Court of Justice's verdict in 1962 awarding its ownership to Cambodia, they have to set their feelings aside and, from now on, focus on the facts of the matter and work from there.
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