Thai-Cambodian Dispute at the ASEAN Summit

The ASEAN summit that will be held in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin on 23-25 October is complicated enough due to the fears that internal Thai political wrangling will again disrupt the meeting of all ten-member states and six dialogue partners—China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. But whilst a stringent internal security act imposed on the area for the duration of the summit will probably deter protestors on the ground, Thailand may face tougher problems in the meeting room as Cambodia has proposed putting its rancorous border dispute with Thailand on the summit’s agenda.

The dispute is one of the more serious security flashpoints in Southeast Asia, and warrants mediation at the highest level to de-escalate tensions that are now also complicated by internal political fragility in Thailand. But Thailand is unlikely to want to see the issue discussed at a summit where it occupies the chair.

The two countries have already been involved in armed skirmishes over the contested land around the ancient Preah Vihar temple, which an international court ruled as belonging to Cambodia in 1962. The dispute flared up again after the ruined temple was granted UN World heritage Status in 2008. Thailand argues that the maps upon which Cambodia’s claim is based are inaccurate and wants the issue renegotiated.

The issue became entangled in Thailand’s vicious political struggle between the forces of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and strongly royalist “Yellow shirt” protestors who accused Thaksin and his officials of selling out to Cambodia on the issue. Armed clashes along the border killed four in 2008, whilst another skirmish in April this year left three people dead.

More recently, the border itself has become the scene of provocative demonstrations by Yellow shirt protestors demanding that Cambodian troops withdraw from the area. Cambodia has responded by beefing up security and sowing more mines along the border. The situation is made even uglier by unconfirmed reports that the Cambodian government is allowing former Thaksin supporters wanted by the authorities in Thailand to live in Phnom Penh.

As if this situation isn’t bad enough, in the past two weeks, opposition politicians in Thailand are reported to have sent audio clips of Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya allegedly making disparaging remarks about Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Meanwhile, for Cambodia, the escalation of tension, fueled by Thailand’s political crisis has provided an excuse to bolster its military presence along the border. 

None of this augurs well for the summit, where Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya has already found himself backtracking from plans to propose the setting up of a neutral organisation to handle disputes between countries in the region. Earlier Kasit said he believed such a body could be a venue for Thailand and Cambodia to solve their border dispute. But later the Thai foreign ministry firmly quashed the idea of ASEAN involvement in the dispute. So has ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan, who insists that as a bilateral dispute the matter should not be brought to the summit level.

But now that Cambodia has formally asked for the dispute to be placed on the agenda, it seems unlikely that Thailand will be able to avoid discussion of the issue.

The problem is that ASEAN remains woefully ill equipped to deal with such a thorny bilateral issue between member states in any other than an informal setting, which the larger summit environment clearly does not provide. The best way out would be for Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva to make a swift high-level visit to Phnom Penh, or for Hun Sen to visit Thailand ahead of the summit to defuse the issue. Sadly, the level of rancour between the two countries makes this unlikely to happen.

Posted by Michael Vatikiotis on October 14, 2009. Respond »