Army Rejects Thai Digging Rumors

Friday, 27 November 2009 03:59 DAP-NEWS

(Posted by CAAI News Media)

A senior Cambodian army officer at Preah Vihear on Thursday rejected claims and reports that Thai soldiers at the border were digging many holes.

The rejection made following some reports and rumors from Thailand that Thai soldiers stationed at the border dug 350 holes.

Chea Dara, Cambodian Preah Vihear army chief, said that the situation is still normal and that the two sides’ soldiers very often meet one another and play games of football or volleyball to reduce tension.

“The report raised that Thai solders dug holes was not true as this event took place since 6 or 7 months,” Chea Dara told DAP News Cambodia on Thursday.

However, Chea Dara confirmed that all soldiers are ready to ensure security as directed by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has vowed not to lose even one millimeter of land.

“All citizens in Thai provinces bordering Cambodia support the premier Hun Sen´s policy as they confirmed that the Premier Hun Sen does not want to encroach illegally upon Thailand sovereignty at all,” he said.

These citizens are apparently furious with the Bangkok government led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva who caused the problems between the two countries, Chea Dara stated.

According to the army chief, this season has been so cold so that some soldiers station there have become afflicted with diseases such as malaria. However, Chea Dara confirmed that the premier and his wife, Bun Rany Hun Sen, had provided a lot of donations and sent health officials to cure the soldiers.

Trade between Thailand and Cam-bodia will fall at least 20 percent short of last year’s US$2.13 billion due to their the ongoing political conflict, a new study shows, according to the Nation on Thursday. “Trade will decline 20 percent … if the two countries respond to each other only by diplomatic means,” Anusorn Tamajai, dean of Rangsit University’s Faculty of Economics, as quoted by the Nation.

“But if the situation grows more intense until they end up closing the border, the trade loss will rise to 50 percent. In the most serious scenario, in which the two countries go to war with each other, 90 percent of the trade will disappear.”