via Khmer NZ
BANGKOK, Aug 17 - Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban on Tuesday denied that Thailand had anything to do with dispatching Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to talk with Cambodia on the Preah Vihear dispute, saying the border row should not be raised in regional level.
Mr Suthep said Thailand has made it clear that its position on the issue is to resolve the problem at the bilateral level and that it will not be raised in ASEAN.
He made his remarks a day after the Agence France Presse (AFP) news agency reported the ASEAN chief said on Monday after meeting Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Numhong in Phnom Penh that he must wait for a decision by ASEAN foreign ministers before responding to Cambodia's request for regional help in resolving the row.
Cambodia earlier had written to the Vietnamese foreign minister, in his capacity as ASEAN chair this year, seeking the bloc's intervention to help solve the border dispute, as well as seeking a United Nations' role in the matter to avoid possible "bloodshed" caused by the dispute.
Meanwhile, activists of the Thailand Patriot Network led by Chaiwat Sinsuwong on Tuesday rallied at Parliament during the current joint parliamentary session, asking that it not consider any documents concerning the border agreements reached by the Thai-Cambodia Joint Border Committee (JBC) on its agenda.
Mr Chaiwat said his group demanded that Thailand revoke the Memorandum of Understanding made with Cambodia in 2000 and to remove all agenda items concerning Thailand-Cambodia border dispute from the parliamentary session.
The activist said the protest will end only if the issue is withdrawn from the agenda of the joint parliamentary session.
Mr Suthep reaffirmed that the negotiation framework in demarcating the land boundary under JBC will not be discussed on Tuesday session, but he refused to explain the reason.
House Speaker Chai Chidchob added no new agenda on JBC has been proposed for discussion today, except the pending case since 2008 in which the House committee has already completed its consideration.
The International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled that the 11th century temple belongs to Cambodia. UNESCO accorded its status as a World Heritage site in 2008 after Cambodia applied for the privilege while the dispute on the contested 4.6 sq km area of land near the cliff-top temple by Thailand and Cambodia remains unsolved.
Tension flared up when Bangkok objected to Phnom Penh submitting a management plan for the temple which required map of the area late last month to UNESCO's World Heritage Commission (WHC). The agency decided on July 29 to defer the decision until it meets next year. (MCOT online News)
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