Shots and artillery fire on Cambodia border

[cookmanchef]

Apparently there are some serious developments occurring in the disputed region, Thais are being evacuated from the region, artillery shells are reported as having landed on Thai soil.

[PeteC]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews ... -on-border

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/02 ... 47945.html

[Spitfire]

Elections are upcoming, handbags at dawn and the like, plays well with the silly nationalists on both sides, bash the bad guys etc.

PAD doing a good job at being fairly belligerent at the moment though.

As has been mentioned before, if that temple wasn't there, no-one would be bothered about it in that area.

[PeteC]

At the end of day 1:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2 ... odia-clash

At the beginning of day 2:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews ... fire-again

[Spitfire]

Looks like one Thai soldier dead and 4 more injured by shrapnel in an exchange today......

PAD going to do large demo outside Cambodian embassy in BBK by the looks of it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12372121

There does seem to be a simmering problem between these two that won't just go away and runs a lot deeper than just a temple and some disputed land, sometimes seems to be just an excuse to bash the other for no other reason than good old fashioned contempt for one another.

[STEVE G]

The Cambodian version of the situation:

PHNOM PENH, Feb 5 (Bernama) -- Cambodia has sent a letter on Saturday to the United Nations Security Council informing that Thailand had entered Cambodia and attacked Cambodian troops, reports China's Xinhua news agency.

In a letter dated Feb 5, was sent to Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, president of the UNSC, Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong, saying that on Friday, between 3 to 5 pm, about 300 Thai troops entered Cambodian territory and attacked Cambodian troops at three locations.

"This aggression by Thai armed forces was also followed by firing of many 130 mm and 155 mm artillery shells which reached as far as about 20 km inside Cambodian territory. The attack caused many serious damages to the Temple of Preah Vihear, a world heritage, as well as death and injury of more than ten Cambodian troops and villagers," the letter said.

And facing this flagrant aggression, Cambodian troops had no option, but to retaliate in self-defense and in order to safeguard Cambodia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the letter added.

Hor Namhong said in the letter that the repeated acts of aggression against Cambodia by Thailand violate the Judgment of International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 15 June, 1962; article 2.3, 2.4, and 94.1 of the United Nations' Charter; the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia, Article 2 in which Cambodia and Thailand are parties; and Article 2.2.c, 2.2.d, of the Paris Peace Accord in 1991.

Hor Namhong asked president of the UNSC to circulate this letter to all members of the United Nations Security Council as an official document.

As of Saturday, two rounds of fighting were erupted near Preah Vihear Temple, and the number of casualties remained conflicting between the two sides.

Kasit Piromya, Thai foreign minister said Friday evening that Thailand will also inform other parties including UNESCO on the border incident.

While situation remained tense at the border by Saturday lunch time, military commanders are holding meeting to defuse the tension.

Both sides have been blaming the other of launching the fire first.

The relations between Thailand and Cambodia had been strained recently over the territorial dispute as Cambodia refused to remove its national flag from the front of Wat Keo Sikha Kiri Svarak pagoda, which is located in the contentious areas of 4.6 square kilometers (1.8 square miles) around the Preah Vihear temple.

The border between Thailand and Cambodia has never been completely demarcated and the issue of ancient temple has been an age-old dispute. Although the International Court of Justice in 1962 awarded the temple itself to Cambodia, the row over land plot of 4.6 square kilometers surrounding the temple have never been solved.

-- BERNAMA

[cookmanchef]

Thing is this was Siam land until the French came along and grabbed this little piece because it had a nice temple, look at the map and it's quite clear. If this was English land and the French had grabbed it 100 years ago we would just smash them out of there and not give a damn about the UN or anyone else. Go on Thailand, take it back.

[Lung Per]

Forget the small skirmish battles. Get it over with big, once and for all.....
Incidentally, the same goes for Afghanistan, Phakistan, other -stans, etc. etc. etc.
Behave, or else!!!!

[cookmanchef]

LP, I agree, men have to fight sometimes, it's natural. Smash Cambodia out of this Siam land and to hell with the international response, once it's back in Thai hands it would never be lost again.
I loved the Falklands war because the people there are British and want to stay that way, if we ever gave that up then I would cease to be a British citizen

[barrys]

Thing is this was Siam land until the French came along and grabbed this little piece because it had a nice temple, look at the map and it's quite clear. If this was English land and the French had grabbed it 100 years ago we would just smash them out of there and not give a damn about the UN or anyone else. Go on Thailand, take it back.

LP, I agree, men have to fight sometimes, it's natural. Smash Cambodia out of this Siam land and to hell with the international response, once it's back in Thai hands it would never be lost again.
I loved the Falklands war because the people there are British and want to stay that way, if we ever gave that up then I would cease to be a British citizen

Strange bit of imperialist somersaulting there - seems to me that the Falkland Islands are even further from England than Cambodia is from France

[STEVE G]

Have you noticed how these skirmishes coincide with Yellow-shirt protests in Bangkok?
The last major one was in October 2008 whilst they were occupying government house.

[charlesh]

How come its got a rather old Khymer style temple on it then CMC?? Maybe LOS should claim most of Malaysia ?

[cozza]

cookmanchef,

The Khmer Empire was there before Thailand was even a country...the Empire covered modern day Bangkok or Khrungthep right up into China.

So it is in fact more Cambodian than Thai...but, I do not think that is the REAL problem here.

IMO, its that there is no real official border and the dispute is being used by the PAD and its political affiliations to gather Nationalistic support, because they really have nothing else...

[PeteC]

Another sad part of all this is that I don't know who to believe. The Thai government wants to get PAD off its back therefore anything is possible. Hun Sen is a loose cannon and a bit nuts IMO. It's like listening to snake oil salesmen when trying to figure out who started it.

The two PAD politicians who were convicted of entering Cambodia and now sit in jail I believe was a pure set up. They were invited on a border trip by the Thai government, walked 50 meters into Cambodia and whammo. One is a repeat offender so no surprise the Cambodian court showed little mercy and also charged him with spying. That's one way to get someone out of your hair. Pete

[hhfarang]

I read in one article that there is no official border there because that area is strewn with minefields left over from the previous Khmer regime Cambodian war so surveyors are afraid to mark it. Sounds like a fun area to live in. I wonder what the locals think. Are they Thai or Cambodian nationality? Which country do they think they belong to? As usual, that is probably not taken into consideration by government officials miles away ordering the action.