Thailand Correspondent
via Khmer NZ
July 27, 2010 Tuesday
Nirmal Ghosh dropped by Tuesday's protest on Bangkok's Sukhumvit road.
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IN BANGKOK
THE veteran soldier, politician, activist and Buddhist ascetic general Chamlong Srimuang, co-leader of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), has brought up the issue of the Pra Vihan temple again.
I just got back from the Unesco office on Sukhumvit near the mouth of Soi Ekkamai. Over 1,000 Santi Asoke and PAD members had occupied half of the road outside. Many were sitting on mats, and some looked prepared to stay at least a night — as general Chamlong had hinted.
There were dozens of cars and vans, and a small truck with a sound system, and two sets of musicians and singers belting out songs — one from the truck and one on the street. The protest site covered about 60 metres of the length of the road; traffic was being diverted into a single lane.
I saw many Santi Asoke members in their trademark indigo denims. Others wore ordinary clothes but I saw a few yellow shirts.
I asked one man sitting by himself on the road, why he was there. He said: "Because I am protecting the motherland."
He said he did not consider himself guilty of violating the state of emergency in Bangkok — which technically prohibits gatherings of more than 5 people. He said he did not consider it a violation of any law because he was protecting the land.
I did not see general Chamlong, but he could have been there; I did not linger very long.
He was quoted as having said earlier: "Thai patriots and I will rally because we are not certain that the government will succeed in opposing the temple administrative plan."
He also submitted a petition to Unesco, whose meeting in Brazil starting this Sunday, has triggered the protest.
On July 25 Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he was sending minister of natural resources and environment Suwit Khunkitti to Brazil to object to a management plan reportedly to be submitted by Camobodia, for the temple and surrounds.
Thais call the temple Pra Vihan. Khmers call it Preah Vihear. Legally, it belongs to Cambodia, which has in the past featured it on its flag and on currency notes.
The stunning pre-Angkor temple to Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and rebirth, has ironically been a problem for the two Buddhist countries for years.
Most recently, the issue was revived in 2008 by the PAD to discredit the Thaksin Shinawatra-loyalist government at the time. Foreign minister Noppadon Pattama was forced into resigning over a legal flaw in procedure. PAD leaders said Thaksin’s government had sold out to Cambodia.
The temple issue led to a buildup of forces and some skirmishes between Thai and Cambodian troops at the temple, with some people killed, until mutual talks calmed the border.
But in September 2009, a right wing faction of the PAD sparked off a riot when several dozen members of the group marched to the temple to demand Cambodian troops withdraw from disputed land — and clashed with Thai locals who do not want to see a fight endangering their livelihoods.
Dr Suwit will lead the Thai delegation to the 34th meeting of the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural (Unesco). The PAD demands that the government block Cambodia's plan.
The Preah Vihear temple issue is a fascinating legacy of post-colonial boundaries. As people fight over it, Shiva could well be dancing in witness.
I am keeping this blog short because one could write a long essay on the temple issue alone; but there are plenty of resources available online.
It is significant that General Chamlong has decided to mobilize on this issue because it places the government under pressure.
It was the PAD backed by the Santi Asoke and other groups under its umbrella, that raised the Preah Vihear issue in 2008. Around the time, PAD co-leader Sondhi Limthongkul had said a new government run by the Democrat Party "would be a start".
Later the PAD extended conditional support to the Democrats when Abhisit Vejjajiva was voted into the premiership in Parliament.
But of late the PAD has been critical of the prime minister. And now this. It is a space worth keeping an eye on.
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