Preah Vihear
20th August 2008
The announcement of a top-level meeting between Thai and Cambodian officials has raised hopes of an end to the long-running battle over access to an ancient temple, which is both a place of pilgrimage and has recently become a UNESCO listed tourist attraction.
While the dispute over the Preah Vihear has recently resurfaced, it has in fact been the source of ongoing contention for the past century.
Original maps drawn by French cartographers in 1907 to establish boundary settlements between Thailand and Cambodia placed Preah Vihear just within the border, on Cambodian soil. Thailand failed to object to this decision at the time, however, following Cambodian Independence in 1950, Thais occupied the temple and re-ignited boundary conflict between the two nations.
Cambodia appealed to the International Courts of Justice, which RULED in favour of the former French colony in 1962. But the ruling failed to put an end to the dispute, with Thailand's source of contention shifting from the temple itself to the surrounding 4.6sq km of land over which there remain rival territorial claims.
The recent spat is thought to have arisen primarily as a result of Preah Vihear’s listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 7. The following week saw the detention by Cambodian troops of three Thai protesters who illegally entered the temple, precipitating a military standoff between the two countries, both of which moved to deploy significant numbers of troops to the area in following months.
With the situation invoking memories of a 2003 attack on the Thai embassy over Angkor Wat, talks were held to prevent the situation from deteriorating further. The Cambodian foreign minister appealed for third party mediation from the ASEAN when these talks failed to reach an agreement, and mid July saw Vietnam step in to call for co-operation between the two countries.
Analysts have suggested that the dispute has been primarily fuelled by domestic politics, and Menas’ August issue of Vietnam Focus highlights the role of instability within the Thai government in exacerbating the conflict through polarising opinion.
UNESCO's decision is thought to have resulted in political UNEASE within Thailand, and anti-government groups exploited the controversy to gain support and bolster their ongoing campaign against Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Patama was forced to step down on July 10th, following a ruling by the Constitutional Court earlier in the week that his decision to support Cambodia's application for World Heritage Status had "violated the constitution".
In Cambodia too, the temple dispute became the focus of political campaigns, and is thought to have contributed to Hun Sen’s general election victory, July 27.
However, the past week has seen an easing of tension, with both sides withdrawing their troops from the area over the weekend of August 16 and 17 of August, both sides leaving just 10 soldiers from each country at the site.
This week will see the meeting of Tej Bunnag and Hor Namhong, the Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers, in Hua Hin to discuss the issues of the border and temple dispute, in the hope of reaching a final lasting solution.
The announcement of a top-level meeting between Thai and Cambodian officials has raised hopes of an end to the long-running battle over access to an ancient temple, which is both a place of pilgrimage and has recently become a UNESCO listed tourist attraction.
While the dispute over the Preah Vihear has recently resurfaced, it has in fact been the source of ongoing contention for the past century.
Original maps drawn by French cartographers in 1907 to establish boundary settlements between Thailand and Cambodia placed Preah Vihear just within the border, on Cambodian soil. Thailand failed to object to this decision at the time, however, following Cambodian Independence in 1950, Thais occupied the temple and re-ignited boundary conflict between the two nations.
Cambodia appealed to the International Courts of Justice, which RULED in favour of the former French colony in 1962. But the ruling failed to put an end to the dispute, with Thailand's source of contention shifting from the temple itself to the surrounding 4.6sq km of land over which there remain rival territorial claims.
The recent spat is thought to have arisen primarily as a result of Preah Vihear’s listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 7. The following week saw the detention by Cambodian troops of three Thai protesters who illegally entered the temple, precipitating a military standoff between the two countries, both of which moved to deploy significant numbers of troops to the area in following months.
With the situation invoking memories of a 2003 attack on the Thai embassy over Angkor Wat, talks were held to prevent the situation from deteriorating further. The Cambodian foreign minister appealed for third party mediation from the ASEAN when these talks failed to reach an agreement, and mid July saw Vietnam step in to call for co-operation between the two countries.
Analysts have suggested that the dispute has been primarily fuelled by domestic politics, and Menas’ August issue of Vietnam Focus highlights the role of instability within the Thai government in exacerbating the conflict through polarising opinion.
UNESCO's decision is thought to have resulted in political UNEASE within Thailand, and anti-government groups exploited the controversy to gain support and bolster their ongoing campaign against Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Patama was forced to step down on July 10th, following a ruling by the Constitutional Court earlier in the week that his decision to support Cambodia's application for World Heritage Status had "violated the constitution".
In Cambodia too, the temple dispute became the focus of political campaigns, and is thought to have contributed to Hun Sen’s general election victory, July 27.
However, the past week has seen an easing of tension, with both sides withdrawing their troops from the area over the weekend of August 16 and 17 of August, both sides leaving just 10 soldiers from each country at the site.
This week will see the meeting of Tej Bunnag and Hor Namhong, the Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers, in Hua Hin to discuss the issues of the border and temple dispute, in the hope of reaching a final lasting solution.