BANGKOK // In a move to ease tensions along their disputed border, senior military officials from Thailand and Cambodia met yesterday and agreed to conduct joint patrols, after violence broke out this week leaving at least two soldiers dead and several wounded.
The countries seemed to be on the verge of war after an argument between their soldiers escalated into gunfire on Wednesday, in a contested area of land surrounding Preah Vihear, an 11th century Hindu temple. "We will introduce the joint patrol to avoid this kind of incident happening again," said Lt Gen Wiboonsak Neeparn, Thailand's north-eastern army commander, after the five-hour meeting. Tea Banh, Cambodia's defence minister, called the outcome "a good result".
"We understood each other," he said. "We cannot patrol individually because it could lead to a misunderstanding." Officials from both countries said there was little headway on the deeper issues of ending the stand-off and withdrawing troops or heavy weaponry from several disputed border areas near the temple. "The meeting has not made much progress, but the two sides agreed to stay where they are," Lt Gen Wiboonsak told reporters.
There have been frequent attempts to negotiate a settlement in the past three months, since hostilities over the temple flared up. But while both sides seem to realise their nationalistic rhetoric could easily lead to an unwanted war - both countries have much to lose, economically and politically - neither government can be seen to be backing down. This has also led to suggestions that both governments have exploited the tensions to provide a distraction from political crisis within their countries.
Nevertheless, the governments in the region and Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary general, have called on Bangkok and Phnom Penh to resolve the dispute peacefully. "The real crisis is over, and both sides are now serious about returning to the table to talk the issue through," said Kavi Chongkittavorn, senior political editor of the English-language daily The Nation. For its part, Cambodia is keen to internationalise the issue, and is preparing to raise what it claims was a Thai incursion at the United Nations in New York, according to Cambodian government officials.
Since the current dispute erupted three months ago, Phnom Penh has sought the mediation of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the 10-member regional grouping that both countries belong to. It has also threatened to bring the dispute to the UN Security Council. Thailand has consistently rejected these moves, insisting that the issue can only be resolved bilaterally. Both Thailand and Cambodia have claimed the Preah Vihear temple and the surrounding areas as their own for decades, though legally the shrine belongs to Cambodia as per an International Court of Justice ruling in 1962.
The dispute has dogged relations between the two countries for centuries but was exacerbated by colonial meddling, according to Sumet Jumsai na Ayudhaya, a Thai historian and architectural expert. "The ownership of the temple is based on a French map drawn in 1904, which inexplicably excluded the archaeological site from the Thai side," he said, referring to the French rule in Cambodia at the time. It was this map that provided the basis for the International Court of Justice's judgement. Thailand never accepted the court's verdict and has continued to challenge the map's validity.
The current hostilities between the two countries turned into violence in July as the UN's cultural agency, Unesco, was considering Phnom Penh's application to make Preah Vihear a World Heritage site. Initially, the besieged Thai government, then led by Samak Sundaravej, endorsed the application, but later withdrew its support after widespread opposition. Anti-government protesters occupying the Government House, and the parliamentary opposition party, the Democrats, accused the ruling Peoples Power Party of selling out Thai interests and territory in return for business concessions in the area surrounding the temple to Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister and a leading figure behind the PPP.
"It's this nationalistic fervour on the part of the protesters that means the government cannot appear to be weak," said Mr Kavi of The Nation. "It's a classic case of international affairs becoming a domestic issue. If mishandled, it's a certain recipe for disaster." Thousands of celebrating Cambodians poured on to the streets of Phnom Penh in July when Unesco declared the temple a World Heritage site - egged on by the Cambodian government and Hun Sen, the prime minister, who described the decision as "a new source of pride for the people of Cambodia".
Previously, Thailand had successfully blocked Cambodia's efforts to list Preah Vihear on the grounds that a 4.6 sq km stretch of land around the temple compound is still disputed. It is this piece of land, not covered by the recent ruling, where the two countries' forces were fighting. This week, the Cambodian prime minister surprisingly upped the ante when he issued an ultimatum to Thailand to withdraw 80 of its soldiers stationed on a portion of the temple area by noon on Wednesday.
Yesterday he said: "We will not allow Thai troops to invade this area, whatever the cost. I would like to be clear about this. It is a life or death battle zone." Mr Kavi said Hun Sen was "flexing his muscles". He is one of the longer serving leaders in Asean, and wants to assert his authority as the senior statesman in the region. Both countries are economically dependent on each other and the dispute is beginning to take a toll. Thai exports to Cambodia have dipped dramatically since the dispute re-ignited three months ago. It may be that economic matters in the end may encourage cooler heads.
"Common sense is likely to prevail, as both countries know they have more to lose economically than they can gain politically if the conflict escalates further," said a Thai diplomat, requesting anonymity. @Email:ljagan@thenational.ae * With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
