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Border survey set to take place in December
 
A resolution of the long-standing Thai-Cambodian border dispute moved tangibly closer this week as the countries agreed in principle to begin surveying the disputed border around the ancient Khmer Preah Vihear Temple in December, according to Vasin Teeravechyan, Thailand's chief negotiator.
 
Vasin said the joint survey of the border would begin “within weeks”.

The latest round of talks left only a few unsettled issues yet to be resolved, Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat said. Sompong and his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong, met in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap on Wednesday, the final day of the three-day meeting of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary.

“This is a clear and quick step forward,” said Hor Namhong, confirming the positive news. “The delineation of the border at Preah Vihear will start from mid-December.” A further round of negotiations will take place in January, the two foreign ministers said.

The talks are designed to end a four-month military stand-off, which escalated into an exchange of gunfire near the Preah Vihear Temple in mid-October, resulting in the death of one Thai and three Cambodian soldiers.

Sompong said the three day meeting was “fruitful and warm”, reflecting the potential for restored good relations. During the talks, the Thai delegates adhered to the framework approved by the parliament and the parties achieved agreement on most of the issues on the agenda, he said.

However, Sompong admitted that the talks were quite complicated, and that some issues could not be agreed upon, which the Thai delegates must bring back to parliament for consideration before returning to negotiations.

Senior Thai officials who joined the talks said Thailand and Cambodia were able to reach agreement on more than 90% of all disputed issues.

One outstanding issue was the name of the Preah Vihear Temple as Thailand wanted to use the Thai-language Phra Viharn, while Cambodia wants the temple to be referred to as Preah Vihear, pointing out that this name is well known worldwide, while the International Court of Justice uses the Khmer name.

The Cambodian-Thai border has never been fully demarcated, in part because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia. Landmine specialists must take extra special care during their survey operations to locate boundary posts in accordance with an agreement between the two countries made in 2000. - Thai News Agency (TNA).