Archive for August 5th, 2008
Kuwait rents rice farms in Cambodia
Sheikh Nasser with Cambodian premier Hun Sen
Kuwait has leased rice fields in Cambodia and plans to import food from the Asian country, a government official said.
Soaring food prices are a key driver of inflation in the desert state, hitting 11 percent in April and May. Kuwait imports most of its food and has said it wants to invest in chicken and other farms as part of a national food plan.
Daily Awan quoted Foreign Minister Undersecetary Khaled Al-Jarallah, who is with Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah on an Asian tour, as saying the rice fields would meet the country’s food demand.
“Kuwait has rented many rice fields which will secure the country’s needs, and will export the surplus to the international markets,” the paper quoted Al-Jarallah as saying.
Kuwait has also discussed investments in the oil, industrial and tourism sectors, he told the paper.
Kuwait is interested in investing in the agricultural sector in Cambodia and boosting trade in food products, state news agency Kuna said late on Tuesday after a meeting between Finance Minister Mustapha Al-Shamali and Cambodian officials.
In June, Commerce and Industry Minister Ahmad Baqer told parliament the world’s seventh-largest oil exporter could work with fellow Gulf Arab states to invest in food production and farming to secure food supplies.
The Saudi government is negotiating on behalf of Saudi investors to set up projects in Sudan, Egypt, Ukraine, Pakistan and Turkey for wheat, barley, soybeans, rice and animal fodder. - Reuters
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Cambodia demands Thai troops pull back
The Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodia demanded on Tuesday that Thailand pull its troops back from a second temple site along their border, the latest in a series of territorial claims and counterclaims that have prompted armed tensions between the Asian neighbors.
The dispute surrounding the 13th century Ta Moan Thom temple started when Cambodian officials said some 70 Thai soldiers started occupying the temple site last week and prevented Cambodian troops from entering. Thai military officials countered that their troops had been in the area for years.
Thai army commander Gen. Anupong Paojindasaid said Tuesday the temple is within “Thai territory.”
Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh, however, said the temple “is clearly under our sovereignty, and we have to demand it back.”
“Our position is to try to talk to them (Thai troops) and get them to withdraw to where they came from,” Cambodia’s Tea Banh told reporters Tuesday.
Cambodian Maj. Ho Bunthy, an army commander in the area, said Tuesday about 50 Cambodian soldiers were stationed near the Thai troops and another 200 deployed about 330 yards (300 meters) from the temple site.
Thailand’s Lt. Gen. Niphat Thonglek, chief of the Border Affairs Department, said Tuesday the Cambodian troops were normally allowed to enter the site because they usually came in small groups and they were unarmed.
“Over the weekend, about 40 to 50 of them came and they were armed, so the Thai troops did not allow them in,” said Niphat.
Ta Moan Thom temple was built in the 13th century as a rest house along a road linking the ancient city of Angkor with what is currently northeastern Thailand, said Chuch Phoeun of the Cambodian Ministry of Culture.
It is located several hundred miles (kilometers) west of the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, where Cambodian and Thai soldiers have been locked in a standoff for three weeks in a dispute over nearby land.
That dispute erupted last month near the Hindu-style Preah Vihear when UNESCO approved Cambodia’s application to have the complex named a World Heritage Site. Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej had backed the bid, sparking anti-government demonstrations by Thais near the temple. Thailand then sent troops to the border area.
Thai government critics say the temple’s new status will jeopardize their country’s claims to land adjacent to the site.
About 800 troops from Cambodia and 400 from Thailand remain at a pagoda near the temple complex, despite a tentative agreement reached by foreign ministers last week to redeploy them in an effort to ease tensions.
Anupong, the Thai army chief, said the Thai troops were waiting for orders from the government.
Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said new talks with Thailand will have to wait until after a new government takes office in Phnom Penh following elections last month.
In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear to Cambodia. The decision still rankles many Thais even though the temple is culturally Cambodian, sharing the Hindu-influenced style of the more famous Angkor complex.
Although it is not as well known as the Angkor or Preah Vihear temples, Ta Moan Thom is another of the architectural wonders of the ancient Khmer empire.
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Associated Press writer Ambika Ahuja in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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2nd temple sparks Thai-Cambodian tension
August 05, 2008
(CNN) — Thailand and Cambodia have become ensnared in controversy over a second temple on disputed land along their border, the Thai news agency reported Monday.
Buddhist monks on Friday pray in a Buddhist temple which Thai troops have occupied in Cambodia.
The two nations have been at odds for weeks over which nation owns the land around the Preah Vihear temple, not far from the two nations’ border with Laos. Thailand and Cambodia stationed troops near the 11th century temple as the dispute intensified.
On Monday, Thailand asked Cambodia to withdraw troops from positions near a second site along the border — the Ta Muen Thom temple, the Thai news agency reported.
A Thai foreign ministry spokesman, Tharit Charungvat, told the news agency that Ta Muen Thom “is just one of several sites sitting on an unclear boundary between the two countries.”
Tension between the two nations heightened after the United Nations approved Cambodia’s application to have the Preah Vihear temple listed as a World Heritage Site — a place the United Nations says has outstanding universal value.
Some in Thailand feared that the United Nations’ action would make it difficult for Thailand to assert its claim to disputed land around the temple. Opposition parties used the issue to attack the government, which initially backed the heritage listing.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power since 1985, portrayed the U.N. recognition as a national triumph.
On Friday, the Cambodian prime minister’s wife visited Cambodian troops “who were on guard” near the temple “to prevent Cambodia’s sovereignty from foreign invasion,” according to the Cambodian news
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Cambodia warned to ‘back off’
Ta Moan Thom temple new border flashpoint
BANGKOK POST AND AGENCIES – August 05, 2008
Boonsrang: Foreign troops turned back
Supreme Commander Gen Boonsrang Niempradit yesterday told Cambodia to stay away from Ta Moan Thom after the 13th-century temple became the latest hot spot between the two countries.
The army has informed its Cambodian counterpart of the Thai position, Gen Boonsrang said, adding that if Cambodian soldiers come to the area, they will be pushed back.
Lt-Gen Niphat Thonglek, chief of the Border Affairs Department, said Cambodian troops would be barred from entering the area, as Thailand and Cambodia have not settled the dispute over land surrounding the Preah Vihear temple.
A plan to reduce the number of Thai soldiers in the overlapping zone between Kantharalak district in Si Sa Ket and Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province will be tabled during a cabinet meeting today.
The agreement was reached in the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meeting in Siem Reap on July 28 by Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong. The two countries also agreed to hold more talks to settle the dispute.
But Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said further talks between their foreign ministers will not take place until Cambodia forms a new government in late September.
“There will be no more meetings until the new government is formed,” he said in Phnom Penh.
The Ta Moan Thom temple was thrust into the spotlight on Sunday when Cambodia accused Thai troops of staying in the area it claimed to be part of Cambodian soil.
It is part of a group of the Ta Moan temples in the same area. Two other temples in the group are located on Thai soil, outside the disputed area.
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The Cambodian complaint came after its soldiers were barred from visiting the temple on Saturday.
Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh said Cambodian soldiers and civilians were usually allowed to enter the Ta Moan Thom ruins for religious ceremonies, but over the weekend Thai soldiers blocked their way.
“They did not allow our troops to enter. That’s why the dispute arose,” he said. “Now we want the troops to stay where they are for a while.”
Gen Tea Banh, confirming the Cambodian troops were still stationed nearby, said the two sides were “working on this issue”.
After the weekend more border rangers from the Suranaree Task Force were mobilised to guard the temple and nearby historical sites.
A border ranger said there was no tension between Thai and Cambodian troops near the area, and discussions were conducted in a friendly manner.
Task force commander Maj-Gen Kanok Netrakawesana said Thai soldiers have been stationed around the temple for years.
The temple is in another location which has not been demarcated. Officials of the two countries had already surveyed the area to gather evidence for the JBC to decide where the borderline should be.
Cambodian Senior Minister Var Kimhong, who is in charge of border issues, said there was no legal doubt Ta Moan Thom was Cambodian. But Thailand is equally confident it is in Phanom Dong Rak district in Surin, opposite Oddar Meanchey province in Cambodia.
Fine Arts Department chief Kriengkrai Sampatchalit insisted the department has long taken care of the temple as Thailand’s national heritage, while Cambodia has never shown an interest in maintaining the site.
The department registered Ta Moan Thom as a national heritage site years ago. Phnom Penh has never opposed the registration, the official added.
Mr Kriengkrai said demarcation in the area by the Thai-Cambodian panel would settle the dispute.
Historian Thepmontri Limpapayom said Ta Moan Thom belonged to Thailand, and he believed the new dispute over the temple was a ploy by Phnom Penh to divert Thailand’s attention from the 4.6-square-kilometre disputed area near the Preah Vihear temple.
Historian M.L. Walwipa Charoonroj of Thammasat University said academics had warned government agencies that the Ta Moan Thom temple could be the subject of a serious dispute.
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Fanning the poisonous airs of nationalism
THERE IS nothing like a disputed place to bring incendiary nationalism to the boil. The mother of all examples is Jerusalem. Much of the energy of Europe was taken up in trying to wrest it from Muslims from the 11th to the 14th centuries. Today we are told there will be no progress in settling the 100-year dispute between Jews and Arabs in the Palestinian territories this year because of disagreements over the holy city.
But nations can face off over less exalted territory. Think of the predawn assault by Spanish commandos in July 2002, to force Moroccan soldiers off an uninhabited rock in the Mediterranean. Secretary of State Colin Powell got on the phone to calm the situation, and no one got hurt. The Spanish call the islet “Perejil,” while the Moroccans call it “Leila,” and both think it’s theirs.
A lot of people got hurt when Britain and Argentina went to war over the Falklands in 1982, islands that the Argentines call “Malvinas.” It is said that Britain could have resettled the entire population of the Falklands in Scotland for less money than the war cost, but, of course, it had become a matter of national pride, which Argentina lost.
The latest such face-off comes between Thailand and Cambodia over the ancient Khmer temples of Preah Vihear, recently named by UNESCO as a “world heritage site.”
The temple complex was built between the ninth and 11th centuries, during the heyday of the Khmer empire, before the Thais pushed down in force from China into Southeast Asia. But the Thais soon asserted sovereignty over Preah Vihear, as well as the better known temples of Angkor Wat.
The coming of European colonialism put the squeeze on Thailand, from the British in Burma, and the French in Cambodia and Laos. Thailand maintained its independence, the only country in Southeast Asia to do so, but French Cambodia gained control over both temples.
Preah Vihear is physically more attached to Thailand on the edge of a 1,640-foot cliff overlooking Cambodia. In 1904 the French and the Siamese, as the Thais were then called, convened a boundary commission that seemed to set the border on the watershed, which would have put Preah Vihear inside Thailand. But a subsequent French map in 1907 put Preah Vihear inside Cambodia.
When France fell to the Germans in 1940, Thailand saw a chance to seize western Cambodia. The Vichy French colonial government, which had made a deal to let Japan use its territory against China, reacted militarily and a short war with Thailand followed in January 1941 – a tiny sideshow to the Second World War that was rapidly unfolding. An inconclusive land battle, involving French and colonial “Tirailleurs,” was followed by a naval encounter in the Gulf of Siam, which the French decisively won. The French dropped a couple of bombs on Bangkok, too.
The Japanese stepped in to arbitrate, and gave much of western Cambodia to Thailand, which took pieces of British territory, too. But the eventual Allied victory in 1945 forced Thailand to disgorge its French and British territories, and Preah Vihear returned to Cambodia.
No sooner had the French given up their Indochina empire in 1954, however, than the Thais moved back into Preah Vihear. They stayed for seven years until an independent Cambodia took Thailand to the International Court of Justice at The Hague in 1962.
Cambodia’s case was ably argued by former secretary of state Dean Acheson, and the court ruled in Cambodia’s favor. It seems, however, that the court decision left ambiguous the fate of 1.8 square miles around the temple, and it is over that bit that Thai and Cambodian troops faced one another this summer. The poisonous airs of nationalism were fanned by ambitious politicians in both countries.
The International Court of Justices decision was based on geography and maps, and not over whose culture the temples belong in, but there is no earthly reason that Preah Vihear shouldn’t belong to Cambodia with an open border for tourists to reach it from the more accessible Thai side – except for the fact that national passions can usually be counted upon to rise above reason.
H.D.S. Greenway’s column appears regularly in the Globe. 
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Boonsang: land at Ta Muen Thom belongs to us
August 04, 2008
(BangkokPost.com) – The Supreme Commander, Gen Boonsang Niampradit, said he handed a letter to the Cambodian authority, stating that the land at the 13th century Ta Muen Thom temple belongs to Thailand. Cambodia has accused Thai troops of occupying a second sacred temple on the Thai-Cambodian border.
Gen Boonsang said the Thai army and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will have to discuss and work out the dispute involving the 11th century Preah Vihear temple. He said the army is providing relevant information for the Foreign Ministry for consideration before negotiating with the Cambodian counterpart.
The Supreme Commander said the decision to lessen or withdraw Thai soldiers from the ancient temples will have to be discussed, as the matter is sensitive, complex, and would affect the stability of both nations.
The Foreign Ministry can assess the situation better than the army, Gen Boonsang claimed.
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Thailand nominates 2nd disputed border temple as World Heritage site
BANGKOK, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) — Thailand has nominated the Khmer-style Ta Muen Thom temple, situated on disputed Thai-Cambodian border area, to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the country’s Fine Arts Department director general Kriengkrai Sampatchalit said Monday.
Kriengkrai said, The UNESCO is scheduled to consider the Thai nomination of the 13th-century Ta Muen Thom temple as well as other Khmer-style temples in Thailand’s northeastern provinces Surin, Buri Ram and Nakhon Ratchasima under “the Khmer Civilization Route,” in its meeting next year, according to a report by The Nation news website.
This move will be naturally viewed as a tit-for-tat response to the lingering dispute on the areas surrounding the disputed Preah Vihear temple.
“It is true that the Prasat (what Thai people call Khmer-style temples) is located just about 100 meters from the border in the Thai soil. The Fine Arts Department discovered and registered it as one of our Thai ancient items in 1935, or about 73 years ago,” Kriengkrai was quoted by the report as saying.
The Thai side has since then renovated it and opened it for public long time ago, he said, adding the Cambodian government has acknowledged the renovation and all activities related to the place.
Kriengkrai responded to a recent report that the Cambodian troops tried to cross the border to visit the place, but was declined by the Thai army.
Also on Monday, Thailand’s Supreme Commander Gen Boonsang Niampradit said that he has handed a letter to Cambodian authorities, stating that the land at the Ta Muen Thom temple belongs to Thailand.
The remarks came after reports said Cambodia accused Thai troops of occupying this temple on the border between Thailand’s Surin province and Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey. The Cambodian authorities claimed ownership over the temple.
| Editor: Sun Yunlong |
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Thailand in wrangle with Cambodia over second disputed border temple
by Shen Min
BANGKOK, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) — With the Preah Vihear temple issue still hanging on, Thailand and Cambodia have now engaged themselves in a new wrangle regarding another ancient temple on the disputed border.
This time it is about Ta Moan Thom temple, a 13th-century Khmer-style temple, or “Prasat” as Thais call, which is situated on Thai-Cambodian border between in Phanom Dong Rak district, Surin province in northeastern Thailand and Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province.
Responding to latest reports that Cambodia has accused Thai soldiers of occupying Ta Moan Thom temple, over which Cambodian authorities also claimed ownership, the Royal Thai Army issued a statement on Monday saying that “Thai military deploying at Ta Moan Thom has their duty to look after the border area as usual. They have continuously done this mission for a long time.”
“Thai military has been stationed on Thai site and never encroached into neighboring country. The situation in that area is still normal, military of both countries has closely coordinated to prevent crashes and any misunderstanding,” the statement said.
It also said that the Thai Army will “do anything to protect the sovereignty of the nation” in line with the principle of maintaining good relation between two countries.
Earlier on Monday, Thailand’s Supreme Commander Gen Boonsang Niampradit said that he has handed a letter to Cambodian authorities, stating Thailand’s sovereignty over the land at the Ta Moan Thom temple.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s Fine Arts Department has nominated the Khmer-style Ta Muen Thom temple, situated on disputed Thai-Cambodian border area, to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the department’s director general Kriengkrai Sampatchalit said Monday.
Kriengkrai was quoted by local media as saying that the UNESCO is scheduled to consider the Thai nomination of the Ta Moan Thom as well as other Khmer-style temples in Thailand’s northeastern provinces Surin, Buri Ram and Nakhon Ratchasima under “the Khmer Civilization Route” during its meeting next year.
This move will be naturally viewed as a tit-for-tat pose to Cambodia’s earlier successful bid to list the Preah Vihear temple as the World Heritage Site.
According to Kriengkrail, the Ta Toan Thom is located “just about 100 meters from the border in the Thai soil.” The Fine Arts Department discovered and registered it as one of Thai ancient items in 1935, or about 73 years ago, he said.
The Thai side has since then renovated it and opened it for public long time ago, he said, adding the Cambodian government has acknowledged the renovation and all activities related to the place.
Kriengkrai responded to a recent report that the Cambodian troops tried to cross the border to visit the place, but was declined by the Thai army.
He said Ta Moan Thom has usually welcomed all visitors but the Thai army stepped in to take care of the Khmer visit because they came in uniform and were armed with weapons.
Nationalist sentiment has grown in both countries since Cambodia’s bid to list the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple situated at a disputed border area as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Thailand then withdrew its support, with then Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama sacrificing his job to public emotion and judiciary oppugn, but it did not stop the UNESCO from adding the Preah Vihear to the World Heritage list last month.
Thai and Cambodian military have beefed up military presence along the disputed border since July 15 after three Thais including a monk were briefly detained by Cambodian soldiers for breaking into the temple, which had been closed to the public by Cambodian authorities as border tension rose.
On Monday, the Supreme Commander Boonsang also said the Thai army will provide relevant information for the Foreign Ministry for consideration before negotiating with its Cambodian counterpart over the Preah Vihear temple issue.
Thai newly appointed Foreign Minister Dej Bunnag is expected to hold a second round meeting with his Cambodian counterpart in SiemReap, Cambodia in an attempt to ease military and diplomatic stand-off between the two countries resulting from the Preah Vihear dispute.
The July 28 talks between the two sides produced no breakthrough but a joint statement in which the two countries agree no “adjusting military deployment” along the disputed border and act with restraint.
However, one week after the meeting, the two sides have shown no sign of reducing troops stationed there.
Boonsang said the withdrawal of troops has to be carefully discussed as the issue is sensitive, complicated and could affect the two nations’ sovereignty.
| Editor: Sun Yunlong |
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Kuwaiti PM meets with Cambodian counterpart
Kuwait Times – August 05, 2008
PHNOM PENH: His Highness the Prime Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, held a meeting with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen, in the Foreign Ministry Headquarters in Phnom Penh on Monday. Means of bolstering bilateral relations were amongst the issues discussed at the meeting primarily in the fields of oil, gas, investment and regarding the establishment of joint cultural exhibitions.
The two premiers also discussed the ways in which the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) could aid Cambodia in various long-term development-related projects, with an invitation offered to Kuwaiti investors in the Cambodian mining industry. An agreement for economic and technical cooperation between the two countries was signed by Minister of Finance Mustafa Jasim Al-Shamali for Kuwait and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Namhong on behalf of Cambodia.
Another two agreements were signed regarding the exchange of investments and trade, by the Kuwaiti Finance Minister and the Cambodian Minister of Trade Cham Prasit. The two countries furthermore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on holding bilateral negotiations between both Foreign Ministries, with Foreign Undersecretary Khaled Suleiman Al-Jarallah signing for Kuwait, while Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Long Visalo signed on behalf of Cambodia.
Another MoU was signed in the field of civil aviation, on the Kuwaiti side by Director of Civil Aviation Fawaz Abdulaziz Al-Faraj and for Cambodia by Secretary of State for Civil Aviation Mao HasVannal.
Later in day, His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammed paid a visit to the Monument of the Unknown Soldier, where he laid a wreath to mark the occasion. – KUNA
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