Cambodia must use its own maps too

The most recent map of the Preah Vihear temple area, from the Joint Communique of June 18, 2008, which is publicly available at:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/pdf/jointcommunique.pdf

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Norbert Klein
Tuesday, 25 November 2008

Dear Editor,

In a Letter to the Editor, printed in The Phnom Penh Post on Friday, November 14, 2008, Chan Veasna, of Cabramatta, NSW, Australia, requested that "Thailand must use Cambodian maps". But the letter references only maps of 1904 and 1907, and denounces that maps used by the Thai side "have no legal basis under international laws".

Surprisingly, there is no reference at all to the newest map, produced under the signature of Var Kim Hong, senior minister in charge of border affairs of the Cambodian Council of Ministers and attached to the Joint Communique of June 18, 2008, which was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and countersigned by Francoise Riviere, assistant director general for culture of Unesco and the then-Thai minister of foreign affairs.

During the meeting both sides agreed as follows:

"The Kingdom of Thailand supports the inscription ... of the Temple of Preah Vihear on the World Heritage List proposed by the Kingdom of Cambodia, the perimeter of which is identified as N. 1 in the map prepared by the Cambodian authorities and herewith attached... "...the Kingdom of Cambodia accepts that the Temple of Preah Vihear be nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List without at this stage a buffer zone on the northern and western areas of the temple.

"The map mentioned in paragraph 1 above shall supersede the [other] maps."

The Cambodian nomination file referenced the 1904 and 1907 maps, so the Cambodian side clearly has agreed that these have been superseded and replaced by the map of June 18, 2008. If Thais should use "Cambodian maps", so should Cambodians - that is: the newest, official map of June 18, 2008, submitted to Unesco under the signature of the Cambodian deputy prime minister.

Norbert Klein
Phnom Penh

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