Monthly Archives: November 2013

UN court awards disputed Preah Vihear temple area to Cambodia, orders Thai security forces to leave

Disputed land: Cambodian bodyguards stand guard at Preah Vihear temple. (Credit: AFP) 12 November 2013, 10:27 AEST The UN’s top court has ruled that most of the disputed land around a flashpoint ancient temple on the Thai border belongs to Cambodia and that Thai security forces should leave. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) interpreted a 1962 ruling saying that ... Read More »

Thailand Should Pay for Damages Near Preah Vihear, Groups Say

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer 13 November 2013 WASHINGTON DC – Outside observers and members of Cambodia’s opposition say the country should demand reparations from Thailand over damage to the border area near Preah Vihear temple, following a ruling Monday by the International Court of Justice that land adjacent to the temple is under Cambodian sovereignty. Members of the non-governmental Border Committee, ... Read More »

‘Even-Handed’ Temple Judgement Soothes Cambodian Worries

  A Cambodian flag flutters near an entrance gate to Cambodia’s Preah Vihear temple on the Cambodian-Thai- border in Preah Vihear province. Kong Sothanarith, Khoun Theara, VOA Khmer 12 November 2013 PHNOM PENH — The International Court of Justice has ruled that land immediately surrounding the temple of Preah Vihear in under Cambodia’s jurisdiction, sending a wave of relief through the country over ... Read More »

UN court rules for Cambodia in Preah Vihear temple dispute with Thailand

View of the courtroom at the opening of the ICJ hearings in the Temple of Preah Vihear case between Cambodia and Thailand. ns and agencies. Credit: UN Photo/ICJ-CIJ/Frank van Beek http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=46461&Cr=court+of+justice&Cr1=#.UphxXJE9elI 11 November 2013 – The United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) today ruled that Cambodia has sovereignty over the whole territory of the Preah Vihear temple, and that ... Read More »

ICJ consistent on Cambodian sovereignty over promontory

SUPALAK GANJANAKHUNDEE THE NATION November 20, 2013 1:00 am IT IS ABSOLUTELY wrong to say that the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s judgement caused Thai territory to be lost to Cambodia, since the court said nothing new last week when it confirmed that Phnom Penh has sovereignty over the whole promontory of Preah Vihear. Even the use of the term “promontory” ... Read More »

Whose Preah Vihear Temple is it, and what does it matter anyway?

Who owns the Preah Vihear Temple and surroundings? Cambodia does.  On June 15, 1962, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that, ‘the Court, by nine votes to three, finds that the temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia.’  The Cabinet of the time made a resolution and announced that Thailand, as a member of the ... Read More »

Preah Vihear is ‘not a Hindu monument’

By Ambassador Julio A. Jeldres Source: The Phnom Penh Post, July 25, 2008 Dear Editor, My attention has been drawn to your reporting of events concerning the temple of Preah Vihear over the past week. I notice that your reporters have referred to Preah Vihear as being “a disputed 11th century Hindu monument”. May I point out that the temple of Preah Vihear ... Read More »

THAILAND’S KAMPUCHEA INCIDENTS TERRITORIAL DISPUTES AND ARMED CONFRONTATION ALONG THE THAI-KAMPUCHEAN FRONTIER

By Larry Palmer Source: News From Kampuchea, Vol. 1(4), October 1977, published in Sydney, Australia On the night of 28 January 1977, a violent incident occurred along the Thai-Kampuchean border near the frontier towns of Aranyaprathet (in Thailand’s Prachinburi province) and Poipet (in Kampuchea’s Battambang province). This incident was widely, although tardily reported in the western press . In general ... Read More »

Cambodia-Thailand: Love Hate Relationship (Khom – Khamen flawed history)

(Thai historian Charnvit Kasetsiri is senior advisor to the Southeast Asia Studies Program at Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand. This article was translated by Michael Crabtree, with assistance from Somjit Jirananthiporn.) The violence which culminated in the burning of the Royal Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh on January 29, 2003, was both shocking and unexpected. The rioting not only inflicted extensive ... Read More »

The Thai’s Unique View Of The Khmer People And History

(Bora Touch, Esq., a Khmer living in Sydney, Australia, continues the discussion on the Khmer home in Southeast Asia prompted by a reported statement of Don Pramudwinai of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs) I AGREE with the historical description by Kenneth T So in “The Khmer home in Southeast Asia: A Wider View”, (Post August 6-19, 1999). I do ... Read More »