Thailand’s ambassador, who had to flee rioters at his embassy in January, will reportedly resume his full duties in Phnom Penh today, arriving on the heels of a relation-mending meeting between Cambodian and Thai officials held in Bangkok.
Ambassador Chatchavet Chartsuwan is scheduled to arrive today, and Cambodia’s ambassador, Ung Sean, has returned to Thailand, the Bangkok Post reported Wednesday.
The ambassador exchange follows a meeting between Thai officials and a Cambodian delegation including Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, Defense Minister Tea Banh and National Police Director Hok Lundy, who met with Thai counterparts and agreed upon five points they said would restore relations between the two countries in the tense aftermath of Phnom Penh’s Jan 29 anti-Thai riots.
A statement issued Monday by the Interior Ministry, which listed the five points, first recommended that Cambodian and Thai citizens and authorities living along the border resolve problems and resentment through debate at a local level, “unless it is a complicated problem that should be solved at the central level.”
Secondly, the statement said the two governments should “continue to have close and effective cooperation in order to combat trans-national crimes through the exchange of information, especially to combat drug trafficking.”
During last week’s meeting the Thai officials also agreed to provide special anti-narcotics training to Cambodian policemen.
The third measure listed in the statement, and probably the trickiest, is the establishment of committees—one from each nation—that will debate the histories of the two neighboring countries in relation to one another. If a single history is agreed upon, it will be taught to children in Cambodian and Thai classrooms.
Council of Ministers spokesman Prum Nhien Vichet said Wednesday that Cabinet Chief Sok An would be returning from Bangkok that night, having gone there under a mandate to hammer out details surrounding negotiations between the two countries’ cultural committees. He said the two committees already have been established.
Finally, the statement said, “The two sides will try their best to demonstrate to their publics the friendly relationship of the neighboring countries.”
