UN offers to help resolve Thai-Cambodian border row

via Khmer NZ

Published: 21/08/2010

UN chief Ban Ki-moon is ready to help Cambodia and Thailand resolve their deadly border dispute, a UN spokesman said Friday.

Cambodian soldiers are seen close to the Cambodia-Thailand border near the contested Preah Vihear temple. UN chief Ban Ki-moon is ready to help Cambodia and Thailand resolve their deadly border dispute, a UN spokesman said Friday.

"The Secretary-General hopes that Cambodia and Thailand will resolve the dispute along their border amicably through dialogue," Farhan Haq told a press briefing. "He stands ready to help the parties."

The neighboring southeast Asian nations have been locked in a troop standoff at their border since July 2008, when the ancient Preah Vihear temple was granted UNESCO World Heritage status.

The row turned deadly in October of that year when two people reportedly died during an exchange of fire between Thai and Cambodian forces near the site.

The World Court ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, although its main entrance lies in Thailand.

The exact boundary through the surrounding grounds remains in dispute, and occasional gunfights between troops of the two nations have claimed lives.

The Thai-Cambodia border has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.