Activists rally against Thai troop withdrawal from border

SI SA KET, February 21 (TNA) - A group of civic activists from Thailand's lower northeastern and eastern provinces rallied in Kantaralak District of Si Sa Ket Province bordering Cambodia on Tuesday to show their opposition to the government's recent decision on a troop realignment along the Thai-Cambodian border near the ancient Preah Vihear Temple. The 150 Thai activists, representing the Palang Phandin network, gathered at Kantaralak City Shrine to echo their common stance that Thai troops should be maintained in the area until border issues between Thailand and Cambodia are settled. The civic demonstrators have also opposed sending Indonesian observers to the unsettled area along the Thai-Cambodia border. Thai and Cambodian authorities recently reached a deal on realigning both countries' troops stationed in the contentious border area, as ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), pending the Hague-based World Court's decision on a petition earlier filed by Phnom Penh, seeking an interpretation of its verdict on the ownership of the 11th-century Preah Vihear Temple in 1962. (TNA)