Thursday, 29 July 2010

Thai cabinet opposes Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple management plan

http://www.mcot.net/

via Khmer NZ

BANGKOK, July 28 - The Thai Cabinet on Wednesday resolved to oppose Cambodia's management plan for the Preah Vihear temple set to be proposed to the World Heritage Committee meeting, instructing the Thai delegation to boycott the move by walking out of the meeting and not cooperating with the WHC once it endorses the plan.

Speaking to journalists after an hour-long cabinet meeting at Government House, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the cabinet adopted a resolution assigning Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, now leading the Thai delegation in Brasilia, to make it clear that Thailand opposes the Cambodian effort to bring up the plan for heritage committee consideration.

The Thai delegation will walk out of the meeting without voting, and will not cooperate with the WHC if it endorses the plan -- which Thailand says will affect its sovereignty, he said, citing the cabinet resolution.

The cabinet also assigned Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya to clarify the Thai government's stance to the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)'s WHC in Brasilia, Mr Abhisit said.

He said the cabinet resolution reaffirmed Thailand's stance that any action on the management plan is not possible pending demarcation of the Thai-Cambodian border as stated in the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Thai and Cambodian governments.

The Thai prime minister remained adamant, saying the matter should not be discussed unless the two neighbours resolve their dispute over the overlapping zone of 4.6 square kilometres.

"Any management plan which affects Thailand's sovereignty must seek permission from Thailand," Mr Abhisit said. "Without Thai cooperation, the problem will remain unsettled and Thailand will review its membership in the World Heritage Committee.

"We disagree with the way the WHC is handling the issue. If it agrees on the plan as proposed by Cambodia, it is not only contradictory to the agency's intention to promote cultural heritage preservation, but also leads to a conflict and there is a possibility that will lead to violence." Mr Abhisit said.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the temple and the land it occupies to Cambodia.

The site of the historic structure, which lies along the disputed Thai-Cambodian border, has long been a point of contention between the two Asian neighbours.

On July 7, 2008, Preah Vihear was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Under the terms of the listing, Cambodia is required to submit a management plan for WHC approval.

Hundreds of demonstrators on Tuesday rallied outside the UNESCO regional office on Bangkok's busy Sukhumvit Road, opposing the temple listing as a World Heritage site and urged the Thai government to pull out all stops to thwart the Cambodian temple management plan at the WHC meeting. (MCOT online news)

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