The heated rhetoric around the Preah Vihear temple has been dialed back
several notches since her July election, but Thai Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra said over the weekend that her nation intends to put
its all into the ongoing legal battle over the contested 4.6 square
kilometres around the site.
On Saturday, the Thai premier said her government would apply its utmost efforts to contest the Preah Vihear case at the International Court of Justice, pledging to protect Thailand’s sovereignty, Thai news agency MCOT reported.
Speaking
ahead of a Thai by-election, Yingluck, who has seen her public support
slide, said she and her deputy prime minister, General Yutthasak
Sasiprapa, and military and foreign affairs officials met two days
earlier to discuss the case with a specialised legal team.
Reached
yesterday, Cambodian government spokesman Ek Tha said Thailand must
stop making baseless claims to Cambodian land near the temple.
“Cambodia
is very, very optimistic that the ICJ, which ruled in favour of
Cambodia based on the clear maps and clear border lines, will stick to
and uphold its 1962 decision,” Ek Tha said.
“If the ICJ did not
have clear maps and clear boundaries…the court would have not ruled in
favour of Cambodia in 1962. The ICJ has full sense in terms of legal
process and technical aspects as well as full authorisation and
discretion as a UN court, so no one can pressure the ICJ to do this or
that.”
The ICJ has asked Thailand to submit further written explanations by June 21, Thai press reports stated.
Cambodia previously sent its written explanations to the court ahead of a March 8 deadline.
Cambodia’s
complaint with the ICJ seeks a reinterpretation of the court’s 1962
decision, which awarded the Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia, but was
silent on the issue of the surrounding land.
“A clear
interpretation would prevent both sides from exchanging fire in the
future,” Ek Tha said, adding that at the same time, Cambodia wants to
maximise and expand trade with Thailand, which would benefit both
nations.
To contact the reporter on this story: Cheang Sokha at sokha.cheang@phnompenhpost.com
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