Tuesday, 28 July 2009

Govt told: Scrub Preah Vihear accord

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 27/07/2009

About 30 members of a network of people following up the Preah Vihear dispute on Monday morning rallied in front of Government House and called on the government to withdraw from the joint Thai-Cambodian statement of June 18 last year which supports Cambodia's unilateral listing of the temple as a world heritage site.

The joint statement was signed by then foreign minister Noppadon Pattama without prior consent of parliament.

The group, led by ML Walwipa Jaroonroj, an academic at the Institute of Thai Studies at Thammasat University, said the Democrat-led government should revoke the joint statement and formally inform the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and the world community.

Thailand should also step up its opposition to Cambodia's unilateral registration of Preah Vihear as a world heritage site, otherwise it could lose its sovereignty over the 4.6 square kilometre border area under dispute and a 1.5 million rai of forest adjacent to Cambodia, said the group.

No comments: