The Ko Kut district chief officer has appealed to all parties, including the media, not to over-sensationalise the overlapping claim area in the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand and Cambodia, in a way which may threaten tourism on the Island, off the eastern province of Trat.
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In a statement issued on Saturday, district chief Pairat Soisaeng also expressed his opposition to a plan by some activists to hold rallies on the island, to ‘protect’ its territorial sovereignty.
The overlapping claim area covers about 26,000 square kilometres in the Gulf, including the Kut Island, half of which was claimed by Cambodia when it unilaterally drew the maritime border line. Cambodia and Thailand, during the administration of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra two decades ago, signed a memorandum, known as MOU44, as a framework for joint development of oil and gas in the overlapping claim area.

