Civil society representatives from Thailand and Cambodia are chiming in on the border dispute near Preah Vihear temple, some with harsh words for those on the other side of the border.
In statements and public forums, several local organizations have sided with the Cambodian government in blaming Thailand for the four-month-long military standoff.
“Thailand has used negotiations as a screen behind which it can send more troops into Cambodian territory,” wrote Kin Phea, senior researcher at the International Relation Institute of Cambodia, in a recent statement. In it, Kin Phea accused Thailand of showing duplicity in negotiations, deceiving the international community and taking Cambodia hostage because of its own political turmoil.
At a forum organized by the Club of Cambodian Journalists on Tuesday in Phnom Penh, Ros Chantrabot, deputy director of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, accused Thailand of having invaded Cambodia when the standoff started July 15.
“Thailand has broken the verdict and did not respect international law,” he said, referring to the International Court of Justice decision in 1962 granting Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia.
But in a joint statement released Monday using softer rhetoric, six prominent Cambodian non-governmental organizations called for both sides to stand down at the border.
“We prefer to use softer words on this issue because we don’t like to escalate this conflict more; especially we would like to avoid the war, the violence,” said Adhoc President Thun Saray, one of the statement’s signatories. He added, however, that there was no doubt the conflict resulted from Thai aggression.
The six organizations asked that Asean and the UN be involved in the negotiations between the two countries, particularly at the Asean Summit to be held Dec 13 to Dec 18 in Thailand.
But Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said at the CCJ forum Tuesday that involving international organizations would be kept as a last resort and that the government would not lodge a complaint at the Asean summit.
In Thailand, civil society organizations are also airing their views on the standoff.
Thailand’s National Economic and Social Advisory Council urged the Thai government to take a tougher stance with Cambodia and demand that the Cambodian government evict its citizens living around the temple, according to The Bangkok Post newspaper.
Suwanchai Sangsukiam, secretary of NESAC’s working group on Preah Vihear, told The Bangkok Post that Thailand should maintain its troops near the temple, and he also complained that international organizations had been unfair in granting the temple World Heritage status under Cambodia’s name only.
Suwanchai could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
