Thai-Lao JBC approves more demarcation poles

BANGKOK, August 16 (TNA) - The Thai-Lao Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) held a meeting in Bangkok on Friday, during which it approved the installation of more demarcation poles and agreed to finish marking the border of both neighboring countries on land and in water within 2017. Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, who jointly chaired the 9th Thai-Lao JBC Meeting with Lao Foreign Minister Thoungloun Sisoulith, told a joint press conference, after the meeting, that the Thai-Lao JBC had been suspended for six years and Friday's meeting showed that Thailand and Laos have very good relations and can discuss all issues at all levels. Surapong acknowledged that bilateral border surveys between Thailand and Laos started on May 6, 2007 and, since then, both countries have installed 204 demarcation poles at a distance of 676 kilometers, accounting for 96 per cent of their border on land. According to the Thai deputy premier, he views the latest meeting successful and much progress and considers mechanisms of the Thai-Lao JBC are functioning well in compliance with international laws and for the sake of the maximal benefits of Thai and Lao people. The Thai deputy premier said that both Thailand and Laos plan to finish their border demarcation on land by 2015 and in water by 2017, and that the 9th Thai-Lao JBC meeting approved the installation of 15 more demarcation poles, resulting from joint border surveys, as well as discussed similar surveys and demarcation of the border in the Mekong and the Huang Rivers, with the demarcation aimed to minimize impacts on local people’s livelihood and lifestyles. The Lao foreign minister told the joint press conference that he was pleased to lead Lao authorities to the 9th JBC Meeting and saw progress in bilateral cooperation on the demarcation of the common border at a distance of 1,810 kilometers on land and in water, and that Laos and Thailand are close in races, religions and cultures and Laos wants to ensure peace along the common border. The Lao foreign minister proposed that Thai and Lao demarcation technicians meet and discuss obstacles to demarcation in unsettled areas on the Phu Chi Fa Mountain in Thailand's northern Chiang Rai province and the Phu Ja Ko Mountain in Thailand's northeastern Ubon Ratchathani province. (TNA)