By REUTERSPublished: October 18, 2008
KANTHARALAK, Thailand (Reuters) — Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of Thailand said Saturday that he would seek face-to-face talks with Cambodia’s leader, Hun Sen, to try to ease a growing border conflict over a 900-year-old mountaintop temple.
“I am looking for the right time to talk with him,” Mr. Somchai told reporters after visiting Thai troops facing Cambodian forces along the border. “We should have an opportunity to talk.”
The Thai leader echoed Mr. Hun Sen’s comments on Friday that outside mediation was not needed to resolve the dispute. “This is an issue between Thailand and Cambodia,” Mr. Somchai said.
Both sides have sought to ease tensions since three Cambodian soldiers were killed in a firefight on Wednesday, the worst of several attacks at the site in recent months. Two Cambodians and seven Thais were wounded.
Both leaders were expected to attend a Southeast Asian meeting in Beijing this week to discuss the global financial crisis, but it was not clear whether they would meet on the sidelines.
“At this moment, there is no change in schedule,” a Thai government spokesman, Nattawut Saikuar, said Saturday. “After talking to him late yesterday, the prime minister will go to Beijing as planned.”
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