2012-04-05
Source: Xinhua
Source: Xinhua
The situation of Cambodian and Thai border dispute at the
area next to the 11th century Preah Vihear temple has been much
improving even though there has been no presence of
Indonesian observers to monitor a ceasefire so far, Surin Pitsuwan,
secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),
said Thursday.
According to their observation, “there is no more violence on
Cambodian and Thai border,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the
International Conference on Political Public Relations in the
ASEAN-context.
He said the two sides have been working through their bilateral
mechanisms towards the deployment of Indonesian observers and he hopes
that everything is under control.
“From the perspective of ASEAN, any problem or difficulty with and
among any member would not be desirable,” he said, adding “it would give
an impression of insecurity and instability and would affect our
profile in the world.”
Cambodia and Thailand has border conflict just a week after the
UNESCO approved Cambodia’s bid to have the Preah Vihear temple named a
World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008 and witnessed fierce clashes in
February and April 2011 during Thailand’s Democrat Party rule.
Thailand claims the ownership of 4.6 square kilometers of scrub next to the temple.
However, the military tension has eased since the former Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai Party won a landslide victory in
the general elections in last July.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on July 18, 2011 ordered
Cambodia and Thailand to immediately withdraw their military personnel
from the Provisional Demilitarized Zone of about 17 kilometers on the
disputed border near Preah Vihear temple and allow ASEAN observers
(Indonesians) to access to the PDZ to monitor ceasefire.
So far, neither Cambodia nor Thailand has withdrawn its troops from the area.
Surin said he did not know when the observers would be deployed.
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