BURNING ISSUE Supalak Ganjanakhundee The Nation It is absolutely wrong to say that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment caused the Thai territory 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 term ‘promontory’ is not exactly new to Thai perception. The court made clear when it ruled more than half a century ago that the Preah Vihear means the whole area where the temple stands. In the court-owned word in the page 15th of the 1962 judgment, the court regarded that the temple “stands on a promontory of the same name, belonging to the eastern sector of the Dangrek range of mountains which, in a general way, constitutes the boundary between the two countries in this region-Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the north. Considerable portions of this range consist of a high cliff-like escarpment rising abruptly above the Cambodian plain.” The court quoted these words again in the 14th paragraph of the judgment delivered last week to the parties. Therefore, when the court ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear is situated in territory under sovereignty of Cambodia it meant the whole Preah Vihear hill. In fact, Thai people misperceived for at least 50 years that the area adjacent to the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear belongs to Thailand, in accordance with the line unilaterally determined by Thai cabinet resolution in 1962. For at least one generation, Thai nationalist intellectual elite misled public opinion that the world court ruled only the ruin temple belongs to Cambodia but the piece of land where it is standing belongs to Thailand. The 1962 cabinet, under dictator Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat (1908-1963), decided that this country would give Cambodia only the ‘ruin stand stone temple and a small piece of land where it stands’. To relinquish the smallest piece of land to be ‘vicinity of the temple’, the Thai cabinet then gave only 0.25 square kilometers area for the temple to stand. Thailand then claimed Cambodia has already accepted that determination and the rest of area adjacent to the temple belongs to Thailand. The court said many times in its judgment last week such as in 11th, 41st,42nd,88th paragraph that the unilaterally line making quadrangle surrounding the temple did not represent the correct interpretation of the 1962 judgment. “The record before to the court (42nd paragraph) shows that Cambodia did not accept Thailand’s (troops) withdrawal as fully implementing the 1962 judgment.” The ICJ last week just simply gave further explanation on the limits of Preah Vihear promontory offering no right for any parties to exploit the 1962 judgment to claim any piece of land beyond the limits. Of course, some parts of the explanation, notably to the territory in the north of the temple might not be so precise therefore the court urged both sides to deal with it ‘in good faith’ and prohibited either party to do it unilaterally (the 99th paragraph). The ICJ judgment in 1962 and 2013 are not license for any parties, either Thailand or Cambodia to claim the things beyond their right. As long as Thailand has no right over the land, this country has no land to lose, either.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 05:13:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015