The Nation
EDITORIAL
Candidates in the upcoming election should make clear how they propose to settle the ongoing Preah Vihear boundary conflict with Cambodia
Political parties in the race for the July election need to make clear their policy on Cambodia, as the case of the disputed Preah Vihear Temple at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will be a ticking time-bomb for the new government after the poll.
The Cambodian government has requested that the ICJ clarify the scope and meaning of the 1962 judgement on the case in order to exercise its sovereignty over the temple and its vicinity.
The court ruled that the temple is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia, and ordered Thailand to withdraw troops and personnel from the temple and its surrounding areas deemed as Cambodian territory. Thailand complied with the court’s ruling, but Cambodia considers that what Thailand has done is not enough, and wants the court to make clear what “the territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia” is.
There are many potential options in dealing with this case. Over the nearly five decades since the ICJ ruling, Thailand’s governments have tried to deal with Cambodia outside the courtroom by exercising good relations to interpret the 1962 judgement jointly and define the boundary line in the areas around Preah Vihear. The two countries have a memorandum of understanding on land-boundary demarcation, signed in 2000, and have also set up a Joint Boundary Commission to survey and demarcate the boundary.
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