DPM:Thai-Cambodian relations will remain intact after ICJ's ruling

BANGKOK, October 21 (TNA) - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul has guaranteed that Thai-Cambodian relations will remain intact no matter how the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rules on November 11 on their territorial dispute related to the Preah Vihear Temple along the common border. Surapong assured on Monday that the Thai government has already prepared solutions to maintain good relations with neighbouring Cambodia, no matter how The Hague-based ICJ rules on the case, in which Cambodia has sought the World Court's verdict on the ownership of a plot of land surrounding the ancient Preah Vihear Temple, located along the Thai-Cambodian border. Surapong told journalists that Thai Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is scheduled to chair a meeting with him and Royal Thai Armed Forces chiefs later in the day to discuss the solutions, after which they will then be forwarded to the National Security Council (NSC) and the Thai Cabinet for approval and will also be discussed with Phnom Penh. According to the deputy Thai premier, he has talked with his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong and both sides agreed that Bangkok and Phnom Penh will maintain their good relations after the forthcoming ICJ’s ruling. The deputy Thai premier acknowledged that the Thai and Cambodian prime ministers have also shared the idea of harmonious co-existence. The Thai deputy prime minister insisted that both Thai and Cambodian people can be happy, as there will not be any violence along the common border after the World Court's verdict, unlike that in the past, noting that Cambodian ambassador to Thailand You Ay also told him at an earlier meeting that Cambodia shares the same stance with Thailand. Reports indicated, meanwhile, that the Thai government plans joint Thai-Cambodian mechanisms to comply with the ICJ’s ruling, including the setting up of a joint committee. (TNA)