Preah Vihear: The Khmer side

[buksida]

Matichon newspaper summed up what the Cambodian press has said about the ongoing conflict at Preah Vihear.

Bear in mind the following has been translated twice, so it might differ slightly from the original articles. Nonetheless, it's interesting to hear what our neighbours think about the way Thailand is dealing with the issue.

Koh Santepheap Daily said that there were Thais protesting at the site and using inappropriate words to scold Cambodians at Preah Vihear Temple. The paper said the Thai protest started after they found out about Cambodia's bid to list Preah Vihear as a world heritage site. Koh Santepheap Daily said that the protest caused hardship among Cambodians who had to commute between Thailand and Cambodia because Cambodians are allowed to carry no more than five kilograms of rice and one bottle of drinking water.

The paper also quoted a Cambodian officer at a checkpoint in Preah Vihear who said the Cambodian officers didn't make any effort to retaliate against protesting Thais. But he said, "They [the Thais] are so low. They dare to scold us. They want to violate our sovereignty without shame."

Rasmei Kampuchea Daily urged the Cambodian people to remain peaceful and not resort to violence. The paper quoted a senior official who thanked the Cambodian people for protesting against Thailand's refusal to accept the ruling by the World Court. But he urged the public to conduct their protests in a peaceful manner.

Other Cambodian sources interviewed by the paper also were of the view that Thais have failed to respect the World Court and said they would monitor the situation closely.

The paper quoted another Cambodian MP who urged the Cambodian government to retaliate against Thailand for violating Cambodian sovereignty in proposing to list the temple as a world heritage site and evading the area near Preah Vihear. The MP also urged the government to enter into negotiations with the Thai government to sort out the conflicts within the presence of international organisations such as the United Nations.

The Voice of Khmer Youth said Thailand's greed would end with shame. In spite of Thailand's resistance to block the bid to list Preah Vihear as a world heritage site, the international community would consider the World Court's ruling as the final one. Therefore, Cambodian people condemn Thais who don't know their history. It said that the Cambodian people want to see Thais respect the international court's decision. But Thais just want to reap profits from tourism and thus they don't want to list Preah Vihear as a world heritage site.

The Voice of Khmer Youth said Cambodians are polite and honest. And they have thought of not intervening in areas that the country has lost, out of consideration for their friendship with Thailand. But protesting Thais don't think this way. They seek only their own benefit; the Thai side wants to violate Cambodia's territorial integrity. Nonetheless, it said that if Thais don't give up, the number of protesting Cambodians may increase to 10,000 because Cambodians won't let Thais do whatever they wish.

Kampuchea Thmey Daily quoted a Cambodian spokesman who said Cambodia's proposal to list Preah Vihear had nothing to do with sovereignty. He also noted that the ruling by the Administrative Court in Thailand would not have any influence on Unesco's promise to list Preah Vihear as a world heritage site. It said that the letter from the Thai court caused a strong reaction from Cambodians.

As a result, we see that Preah Vihear is not only a hot issue in Thailand but also in Cambodia as well.

Source: The Nation

Thought: That's pretty much how I see it also. Remember in 2003 when it all kicked off following the claims of a Thai actress that Angkor Wat was part of Thailand?

[sandman67]

I mentioned this in another thread but its worth mentioning again:

A salient point I would be considering is that Thailand recently allowed, or government elements orchestrated, the widespread and serious vandalism of another Khymer temple in the NE. The vandals smashed statues, defaced wall carvings, and desecrated a Hindu shrine dedicated to Shiva.

At the time this happened the guards that were supposed to be looking after the place were in fact in town getting drunk.

Local authorities, including the police, comprehensively failed to investigate the incident, instead blaming it on "ethnic Khymer or Burmese black magicians".

The temple guards have had no disciplinary action, but have been stopped from talking to the papers after one admitted to the press that it was highly unusual for all of them to take the night off at the same time, and that a local govt official had paid for their drunken spree.

Most evidence and logic however points to this being a politically motivated incident linked to a local militant PPP faction and vested local business interests.

The strange thing is that since the VP argument kicked off, both the Nation and Post have taken the stories on this incident down off their website news archives. The BBC had some stories on its archive site.

This is another example of the Thai "not one inch" childishness .....