In a press statement on the sidelines of the 18th ASEAN Summit here on Sunday the Thai prime minister referred to a statement by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on the clashes that broke out along the borders in 2011.
"Prime Minister Hun Sen stressed this morning that the two areas where the clashes took place needed different approaches. I could not understand it because the people staying in any point in the borders needed the same attention and permanent solutions," he said.
During 2011, open clashes broke out between the Thai and Cambodian troops along their common borders. The first clash broke out in the disputed area around ancient Preach Vihear temple in February 2011.
The second open conflict broke out about 100 km away from Preah Vihear temple in April 2011. Abhisit described this second incident as a clash which claimed many lives.
He said that after the open conflict in February, the Cambodian government called for the deployment of an Indonesian monitoring team around the temple as part of the settlement of the dispute.
"However, with regard to the second clash in April in a location more than 100 km from the temple which claimed more victims, Cambodia has not issued any statement on the need to involve a third party or monitoring team, or attracting the attention of international organizations on the location," he said.
So, he said, the Cambodian government was inconsistent with its attitude. "In one area it demanded the involvement of a third party but in another location it said the problem could be settled using various bilateral mechanisms," he said.
In the meantime, Hun Sen said Cambodia wanted that Indonesia and ASEAN should be involved in the peace talks that would be carried out in boarder areas where some of the negotiators would be split to the Cambodian zone and some others to the Thai one.
Afterall, according to Hun Sen, the UN Security Council had decided that the border problem between the two neighboring states should be resolved first in the ASEAN forum before it could be brought to the UN. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
