A government official on Wednesday criticized a reported statement by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva saying that he would request that Unesco’s World Heritage Committee review last year’s decision to register Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site when the body convenes its annual meeting later this month in Spain.
Thai newspaper The Bangkok Post reported Wednesday that Mr Abhisit would request that the temple be registered jointly as a World Heritage site by Thailand and Cambodia.
“I want to see the temple a peaceful area so that the people of the two countries can jointly benefit from this site of high historical importance,” Mr Abhisit is quoted as saying.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said the proposal is a pipe dream.
“We have already dismissed what the Thais expect, especially bilateral managing of Preah Vihear,” he said. “If [the Thais] want peace, they should keep the situation surrounding Preah Vihear temple as before July 2008,” Mr Siphan said referring to July 8, 2008, when the WHC unanimously approved the inscription of the Khmer temple on the World Heritage list.
Shortly after the inscription, Thailand moved its troops into the area, which sparked the current conflict, he added.
The Bangkok Post also reported that Virachai Plasai, head of the Foreign Ministry’s treaties and legal affairs department, had told Unesco’s chief of information and knowledge management unit, Clive Wing, that UN officials and experts wishing to visit the Preah Vihear temple would now have to ask permission from Thai authorities in Bangkok.
In response, Mr Siphan said by telephone that UN officials and tourists could choose for themselves how and when to visit the Cambodian temple and are not required to seek any permission from a foreign country. “[Thailand] should not keep Preah Vihear temple as a hostage. Entering or returning of the tourists…is a Cambodian obligation,” he said.
Officials from the Thai Embassy could not be reached for comment, and the Thai Foreign Ministry in Bangkok did not respond to e-mailed questions.
(Additional reporting by Cajsa Collin)
