ID :
13895
Sat, 07/26/2008 - 19:14
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/13895
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Thailand names new foreign minister ahead of key talks with Cambodia
Bangkok, July 26 Kyodo - Tej Bunnag, a former career diplomat, was appointed Saturday as Thailand's new foreign minister, with the initial task of trying to resolve a tense military standoff between Thai and Cambodian troops massed along the two countries'border.
The appointment was endorsed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has said the new foreign minister will hold talks with Cambodian counterpart Hor Nam Hong on Monday in Siem Reap on the territorial dispute that flared up in mid-July and has since threatened to erupt into fighting.
Tej, 64, is a former advisor to the king's principal private secretary who was the Foreign Ministry's permanent secretary during 2001-2004. Before then, he served as ambassador to the United States, France and China.
He has been co-chairman of the Thailand-Cambodia Commission for Promotion of Cultural Cooperation. The commission was set up a year after the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh was burnt down by rioters in January 2003.
On July 14, Noppadon resigned as foreign minister after coming under widespread criticism in Thailand for having supported Cambodia's application to have its ancient temple of Preah Vihear, located on the disputed border, listed as a World Heritage site.
Relations with Cambodia took a dive after three Thai activists were detained by Cambodian authorities on July 15 in a disputed area adjacent to the temple, and Thai army rangers moved into the area, ostensibly to escort the three back home.
Since then, both Thailand and Cambodia have been building up their forces in the area and tension has escalated.
The Khmer temple, built between the mid-10th and early 12th centuries and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, is perched atop a 600-meter cliff in the Dangrek Mountains.
Thailand had occupied the area from 1949 when Cambodia was a French protectorate, but Cambodia won possession of the temple through an International Court of Justice ruling in 1962.
Although Thailand has bowed to the ICJ ruling, Bangkok still claims that a 4.6-square-meter area adjacent to the sacred temple is part of Thailand's territory and that the boundary line claimed by Cambodia has no legal status that can be derived from the court's judgment.
Cambodia recently asked the U.N. Security Council to convene an urgent meeting on grounds there exists an ''imminent state of war'' between it and Thailand and said the latter's military buildup along the border constitutes ''very serious threat'' to regional peace and stability.
The council was expected to hold such a meeting in the coming week until a deal was worked out Friday between Samak and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, inwhich the Cambodian side agreed to temporarily suspend its action at the United Nations pending the result of another session of talks on Monday.
Phnom Penh resorted to the United Nations after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations earlier Tuesday decided, at Thailand's behest, not to immediately set up a peace mechanism that ASEAN itself had earlier proposed to mediate the conflict between its two members.
Thailand had opposed the idea of ASEAN intervention on grounds the two countries should try to resolve their dispute bilaterally before seeking the help from outsiders.
Cambodia had sought ASEAN's help after bilateral talks between Thai Supreme Commander Gen. Boonsang Niempradit and Cambodia's Defense Minister Tea Banh held last Monday in the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet ended without concrete progress.
Those talks had ended after some 8 hours with only vague pledges to refrain from violence and avert armed confrontations.
The appointment was endorsed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has said the new foreign minister will hold talks with Cambodian counterpart Hor Nam Hong on Monday in Siem Reap on the territorial dispute that flared up in mid-July and has since threatened to erupt into fighting.
Tej, 64, is a former advisor to the king's principal private secretary who was the Foreign Ministry's permanent secretary during 2001-2004. Before then, he served as ambassador to the United States, France and China.
He has been co-chairman of the Thailand-Cambodia Commission for Promotion of Cultural Cooperation. The commission was set up a year after the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh was burnt down by rioters in January 2003.
On July 14, Noppadon resigned as foreign minister after coming under widespread criticism in Thailand for having supported Cambodia's application to have its ancient temple of Preah Vihear, located on the disputed border, listed as a World Heritage site.
Relations with Cambodia took a dive after three Thai activists were detained by Cambodian authorities on July 15 in a disputed area adjacent to the temple, and Thai army rangers moved into the area, ostensibly to escort the three back home.
Since then, both Thailand and Cambodia have been building up their forces in the area and tension has escalated.
The Khmer temple, built between the mid-10th and early 12th centuries and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, is perched atop a 600-meter cliff in the Dangrek Mountains.
Thailand had occupied the area from 1949 when Cambodia was a French protectorate, but Cambodia won possession of the temple through an International Court of Justice ruling in 1962.
Although Thailand has bowed to the ICJ ruling, Bangkok still claims that a 4.6-square-meter area adjacent to the sacred temple is part of Thailand's territory and that the boundary line claimed by Cambodia has no legal status that can be derived from the court's judgment.
Cambodia recently asked the U.N. Security Council to convene an urgent meeting on grounds there exists an ''imminent state of war'' between it and Thailand and said the latter's military buildup along the border constitutes ''very serious threat'' to regional peace and stability.
The council was expected to hold such a meeting in the coming week until a deal was worked out Friday between Samak and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, inwhich the Cambodian side agreed to temporarily suspend its action at the United Nations pending the result of another session of talks on Monday.
Phnom Penh resorted to the United Nations after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations earlier Tuesday decided, at Thailand's behest, not to immediately set up a peace mechanism that ASEAN itself had earlier proposed to mediate the conflict between its two members.
Thailand had opposed the idea of ASEAN intervention on grounds the two countries should try to resolve their dispute bilaterally before seeking the help from outsiders.
Cambodia had sought ASEAN's help after bilateral talks between Thai Supreme Commander Gen. Boonsang Niempradit and Cambodia's Defense Minister Tea Banh held last Monday in the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet ended without concrete progress.
Those talks had ended after some 8 hours with only vague pledges to refrain from violence and avert armed confrontations.
