By Chivita
7th November, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
Related article on Preah Vihear Court Case.
The debates about the 1962 verdict of the International Court of Justice on the Preah Vihear issue and trades between the neighbouring countries among participants of a seminar organised by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs have produced two opposing views.
Some Thai academics have told the seminar that the International Court of Justice has judged to give ownership of Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia, so Thailand must respect the court’s verdict. But some old participants of the seminar expressed their dissatisfaction with the 1962 court’s verdict.
One old man, Mr. Tepmontri Nithapayom, said that there were five complaints against Thailand to the International Court of Justice but two of the complaints, which related to ownership of the lands surrounding Preah Vihear temple, have not been judged by the court as belonging to Cambodia. So the demarcations that were done after the court case by using the old maps were illegal.
Mr. Tepmontri Nithapayom said: “But in the first and second complaints lodged with the court, the court has not judged in favour of Cambodia. These two complaints were in relation to the legality of the maps and the ownership of the lands surrounding the Preah Vihear temple. So if the court agreed with the Franco-Siamese Border Demarcation Commission who produced the 1908 maps, then the court would have agreed with the Preah Vihear maps and maps of the areas surrounding the Preah Vihear temple.”
However, other participants of the seminar, which was organised by Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, who believe that neighbouring countries can peacefully co-exist with one another and can conduct trades smoothly with each other have reminded the seminar that the Thai people should not use Thai nationalism to overshadow peace-building and peace-maintaining with their neighbours.
Deputy Chairwoman of Chamber of Commerce of Trat province, Mrs. Duangchai Chanthorn, said that the people of the neighbouring countries want to conduct trades rather than make wars with each other.
According to Mrs. Duangchai, Thailand’s annual exports to Cambodia is worth 50 billion baht ($US1.25 billion), including border trades because the Cambodian people like the taste of the Thai products.
Both Cambodia and Thailand planned to hold talks about border disputes in Siem Reap next week.
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The 1962 Preah Vihear Case:
Cambodia’s complaints against Thailand: Cambodia asked the court:
1. "To adjudge and declare that the map of the Dangrek sector (Annex I to the Memorial of Cambodia) was drawn up and published in the name and on behalf of the Mixed Delimitation Commission set up by the Treaty of 13 February 1904, that it sets forth the decisions taken by the said Commission and that, by reason of that fact and also of the subsequent agreements and conduct of the Parties, it presents a treaty character;"
2. "To adjudge and declare that the frontier line between Cambodia and Thailand, in the disputed region in the neighborhood of the Temple of Preah Vihear, is that which is marked on the map of the Commission of Delimitation between Indo-China and Siam (Annex I to the Memorial of Cambodia);"
3. "To adjudge and declare that the Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Cambodia";
4. "To adjudge and declare that the Kingdom of Thailand is under an obligation to withdraw the detachments of armed forces it has stationed, since 1954, in Cambodian territory, in the ruins of the Temple of Preah Vihear";
5. "To adjudge and declare that the sculptures, stelae, fragments of monuments, sandstone model and ancient pottery which have been removed from the Temple by the Thai authorities since 1954 are to be returned to the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia by the Government of Thailand.": ICJ Reports 1962,
The 1962 court judgement:
On 15th June, 1962 the court judged that:
1. "the Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia;"[Cambodia's Submission 3]
2. "Thailand is under an obligation to withdraw any military or police forces, or other guards or keepers, stationed by her at the Temple, or in its vicinity on Cambodian territory"; [Cambodia's Submission 4]
3. "Thailand is under an obligation to restore to Cambodia any objects of the kind specified in Cambodia's fifth Submission which may, since the date of the occupation of the Temple by Thailand in 1954, have been removed from the Temple or the Temple area by the Thai authorities.": ICJ Reports 1962, p. 36, 37. [Cambodia's Submission 5].
Some Thai academics have told the seminar that the International Court of Justice has judged to give ownership of Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia, so Thailand must respect the court’s verdict. But some old participants of the seminar expressed their dissatisfaction with the 1962 court’s verdict.
One old man, Mr. Tepmontri Nithapayom, said that there were five complaints against Thailand to the International Court of Justice but two of the complaints, which related to ownership of the lands surrounding Preah Vihear temple, have not been judged by the court as belonging to Cambodia. So the demarcations that were done after the court case by using the old maps were illegal.
Mr. Tepmontri Nithapayom said: “But in the first and second complaints lodged with the court, the court has not judged in favour of Cambodia. These two complaints were in relation to the legality of the maps and the ownership of the lands surrounding the Preah Vihear temple. So if the court agreed with the Franco-Siamese Border Demarcation Commission who produced the 1908 maps, then the court would have agreed with the Preah Vihear maps and maps of the areas surrounding the Preah Vihear temple.”
However, other participants of the seminar, which was organised by Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, who believe that neighbouring countries can peacefully co-exist with one another and can conduct trades smoothly with each other have reminded the seminar that the Thai people should not use Thai nationalism to overshadow peace-building and peace-maintaining with their neighbours.
Deputy Chairwoman of Chamber of Commerce of Trat province, Mrs. Duangchai Chanthorn, said that the people of the neighbouring countries want to conduct trades rather than make wars with each other.
According to Mrs. Duangchai, Thailand’s annual exports to Cambodia is worth 50 billion baht ($US1.25 billion), including border trades because the Cambodian people like the taste of the Thai products.
Both Cambodia and Thailand planned to hold talks about border disputes in Siem Reap next week.
-----------------------------------------------------
The 1962 Preah Vihear Case:
Cambodia’s complaints against Thailand: Cambodia asked the court:
1. "To adjudge and declare that the map of the Dangrek sector (Annex I to the Memorial of Cambodia) was drawn up and published in the name and on behalf of the Mixed Delimitation Commission set up by the Treaty of 13 February 1904, that it sets forth the decisions taken by the said Commission and that, by reason of that fact and also of the subsequent agreements and conduct of the Parties, it presents a treaty character;"
2. "To adjudge and declare that the frontier line between Cambodia and Thailand, in the disputed region in the neighborhood of the Temple of Preah Vihear, is that which is marked on the map of the Commission of Delimitation between Indo-China and Siam (Annex I to the Memorial of Cambodia);"
3. "To adjudge and declare that the Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Cambodia";
4. "To adjudge and declare that the Kingdom of Thailand is under an obligation to withdraw the detachments of armed forces it has stationed, since 1954, in Cambodian territory, in the ruins of the Temple of Preah Vihear";
5. "To adjudge and declare that the sculptures, stelae, fragments of monuments, sandstone model and ancient pottery which have been removed from the Temple by the Thai authorities since 1954 are to be returned to the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia by the Government of Thailand.": ICJ Reports 1962,
The 1962 court judgement:
On 15th June, 1962 the court judged that:
1. "the Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia;"[Cambodia's Submission 3]
2. "Thailand is under an obligation to withdraw any military or police forces, or other guards or keepers, stationed by her at the Temple, or in its vicinity on Cambodian territory"; [Cambodia's Submission 4]
3. "Thailand is under an obligation to restore to Cambodia any objects of the kind specified in Cambodia's fifth Submission which may, since the date of the occupation of the Temple by Thailand in 1954, have been removed from the Temple or the Temple area by the Thai authorities.": ICJ Reports 1962, p. 36, 37. [Cambodia's Submission 5].
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