Soldier killed, 5 hurt in border clash

[Flashermac]

 

The Thai military is speculating that Kim Hun Sen is getting very frustrated, since he still hasn't managed to get any international involvement in the border situation. May explain his firing on villages, since everything is done on his orders. He appointed his own son to command on the border some time ago, to make sure his orders would be obeyed to the letter.

 

[Bangkoktraveler]

If the Thais leave the border, the Cambodians can move in.

 

Sounds like the dispute is being handled.

[Flashermac]

From what I've read, it seems the Thais had small garisons at the temple ruins in Surin, not more than a platoon at each. It was agreed to demilitarise the area. But when the Thai troops were withdrawn, and the Cambodians promptly moved in to try to take them.

[Flashermac]

 

 

Hun Sen urges ceasefire

 

 

 

Cambodia must stop firing before negotiations can be held to solve the border dispute, says Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

 

A war of words between the two country's leaders broke out yesterday, dimming hopes for ceasefire talks.

 

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen accused the Abhisit government of being war-happy, in a manner he had not seen under previous Thai governments.

 

''Cambodia is appealing for a ceasefire,'' Mr Hun Sen said in a speech in the capital Phnom Penh, adding that he was ready to hold talks with his Thai counterpart.

 

He said in his first remarks since border fighting began last Friday that he welcomed talks with Mr Abhisit at a meeting planned for Indonesia early next month.

 

[color:red]But Mr Abhisit struck back in his response. ''Cambodia said it was ready to talk, so why don't they stop shelling,'' he said.[/color]

 

Each side accuses the other of firing first.

 

Shelling continued for a sixth day yesterday. Cambodia opened fire into Surin for 15 minutes late last night, but Thai troops did not return fire. There was no immediate report of casualties.

 

Mr Abhisit said Thailand was doing its best to resolve the situation but it could not end the dispute without Cambodia's cooperation.

 

Mr Abhisit said the easiest way to enter negotiations was for Cambodia to hold fire, noting that a framework for talks was already in place.

 

Mr Abhisit yesterday travelled by an army plane to Surin province to visit soldiers injured in the fighting at the provincial hospital, and to meet displaced civilians at an evacuation centre.

 

Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon plans to meet his Cambodian counterpart Tea Banh after returning on Saturday from a visit to China, on condition that the border skirmishes have ceased, said Gen Noppadon Inthapanya, Gen Prawit's secretary.

 

He said Gen Prawit was not scheduled to meet Gen Tea Banh yesterday because he was supposed to leave for China and had no plan to postpone it.

 

Earlier, army spokesman Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Gen Prawit refused to talk to his counterpart in Phnom Penh as suggested by Cambodia because he was frustrated about Cambodian media reports which said Thailand had accepted defeat.

 

Gen Noppadon said Gen Prawit's plan to talk to Cambodia did not suggest a defeat. Gen Prawit still wanted to resolve the dispute at the bilateral level.

 

Gen Prawit declined to discuss the conflict, saying he would rather wait until he is back from China.

 

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya will meet Indonesia Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa today during an Asean culture meeting in Jakarta.

 

They are likely to discuss the dispute issue as Indonesia is Asean chairman.

 

Meanwhile, field reports yesterday said one villager was killed and two others wounded in a cross-border clash in Surin's Phanom Dong Rak and Kap Choeng districts on Tuesday night.

 

The casualties were allegedly inflicted by Cambodian gunfire during the clash which started in the afternoon and continued until about 10.30pm.

 

The Public Health Ministry said the fighting had so far resulted in 94 Thais being wounded and six killed - five Thai soldiers and one civilian.

 

[color:red]The ministry said the border violence has forced nine state hospitals in Buri Ram and Surin to suspend all but emergency services.[/color]

 

[color:red]Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department director-general Wibul Sanguanpong said 142 villages in Phanom Dong Rak, Kap Choeng and Prasart districts of Surin have been declared emergency disaster zones caused by outside forces. Altogether, 29,677 people living along the Thai side of the border with Cambodia have been relocated to 22 evacuation centres in four districts of Surin, Mr Wibul said.[/color]

 

Cambodian media report eight soldiers killed. They include a colonel, a major, two captains and two sub-lieutenants, Thai intelligence said.

 

Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha has ordered the army to set up a front operation centre along the border in either Surin or Si Sa Ket provinces, a military source said.

 

The front operation centre will act as a coordinating centre between the army and soldiers in the border area.

 

Meanwhile, Privy Council president Gen Prem Tinsulanonda yesterday urged Thais to give moral support to troops at the border. Asked if the miliary has done its best to solve border conflicts, Gen Prem said the military always does it best. ''I pray for them every day. Thai soldiers are strong and we should give them support,'' he said.

 

 

 

Link

 

 

 

[Flashermac]

Ceasefire in place ... for a while anyway:

 

 

<< Meanwhile, the border clashes early yesterday were reportedly the heaviest of the past week.

 

Sounds of sporadic gunfighting and shelling near Ta Muen Thom temple were heard through Wednesday night and yesterday morning.

 

It was reported the army reinforced troops and artillery tanks in Phanom Dong Rak district in Surin on Wednesday night. The fighting left one Thai sub-lieutenant dead and 11 Thai soldiers wounded.

 

The front line office of the Second Army Region yesterday reported that Thai troops had not detected any movement of Cambodian soldiers during the past three days, but spotted women and children in Cambodia's military bases.

 

[color:red]More than 100 BM21 multiple rockets had landed on Thai villages since the fighting began, the office said.[/color]

 

Two Thai men were detained yesterday for questioning after they made numerous suspicious phone calls to Cambodia during heavy shelling.

 

Serm Pochailert was detained in Ban Don Tan in Phanom Dong Rak district. The other man, Sanit Pimkao, was detained in Ban Non Ma Yan near Ta Muen Thom temple. >>

 

 

BP

 

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

Yep, saw this morning. Friends in the area reported some sporadic firing last night. We'll see how long this lasts. Rained here most of the night. As of yesterday evacuees were still coming into Prasat.

[Flashermac]

 

 

The government says the cease fire is holding, even though one Thai soldiers was killed and 5 wounded in a firefight with Cambodian troops today. The govmt says it wasn't really a violation of the cease fire, since only small arms were used - no rockets or artillery.

 

Sort of like - if I shoot you with a rifle, it's okay. But if I throw a grenade at you, it's bad.

 

 

 

[Pom Michael]

I read from the Nation SMS that Hun Sen has asked the Intl Court of Justice (or something like that) to clarify their 1962 ruling.

 

I wonder if that is a foolish risk for Cambodia - what if they really do get involved, and this time actually take a look at the place and overall area and rule for Thailand? What a huge gamble for Cambodia I would think.

 

Found the link.

 

ICJ

[Flashermac]

 

 

 

If they looked at the whole matter anew and actually visited the site (which they refused to do in the 1960s), they might decide otherwise. But I seriously doubt they would do that. Hun Sen is counting on the court to uphold the original decision, in which the majority decided that Thailand had not officially protested the erroneous map and therefore it meant the Thais ACCEPTED it. The ICJ awarded the temple site to Cambodia. However, reading the original decision it would seem the court gave all of the land incorrectly listed as outside of the agreed natural watershed to Cambodia. If the French map stands, all the land is now Cambodia's. I don't know how the Thais can argue otherwise without retrying the entire case again. Can you imagine the fury in Cambodia if the court now decided the original judgement was wrong and that the agreed on boundary must be upheld, returning Preah Vihear to Thailand? The Cambos would refuse and fight to keep it.

 

However, much more is at stake than those 4.6 sq km. The recent fighting has been over a completely different area, one which I don't see how Cambodia has any claim on the land.

 

 

[Flashermac]

 

 

Broken ceasefire leaves trust in tatters

 

 

 

[color:red]The government has voiced disappointment over the clashes at the Thai-Cambodian border which broke out only 10 hours after a ceasefire agreement was reached.[/color]

 

The fighting prompted a joint press conference between the army, the government and the Foreign Ministry.

 

[color:red]"Thailand is very disappointed about the clashes that show Cambodia's insincerity despite the fact that the field troops of both sides had agreed to a ceasefire," said acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn.[/color]

 

"The government insists on its stance that the ceasefire must be strictly observed before further talks are pursued. The prime minister has made it clear he is happy to hold a dialogue. But if the situation doesn't improve, a dialogue will not be as useful as it is supposed to," he said.

 

Both sides agreed to a truce as of 12pm on Thursday after talks between the 2nd Army's Lt Gen Thawatchai Samutsakhon and Lt Gen Chea Mon, chief of the Cambodian 4th Region Army, at a casino at the Chong Jom-O Samet checkpoint in Surin's Kap Choeng district.

 

However around 9.30pm the same day, fighting with rifles and hand-grenades erupted and lasted for an hour. A second round of fighting reportedly took place at 2am yesterday and ended at 6am.

 

One Thai soldier was killed and four injured, increasing the total deaths on the Thai side to eight, including one civilian, after continuous clashes erupted on April 22.

 

Cambodia has reported that at least eight of its troops have been killed.

 

Gunfire was confirmed near Ta Kwai temple last night.

 

"Cambodian troops attacked first by firing rifles and throwing grenades at us," army commander Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said yesterday.

 

"We just responded to their attack with rifles but if it happens again we will have to retaliate further," he said, adding the talks on Thursday were not some sort of commitment.

 

[color:red]Gen Prayuth revealed that Cambodian military commanders had made contact following the fighting and agreed to uncover why the agreed ceasefire had been broken.[/color]

 

The army chief said that Cambodia intends to use the border skirmishes to internationalise the border disputes.

 

He added that bilateral talks are the preferable way to resolve the border conflict, but noted that if a third party has to be involved there is nothing he can do about it.

 

"I'm not sure if [Cambodian prime minister] Hun Sen has sincerity, I don't know what he is thinking. We can't change him," said Gen Prayuth.

 

Army spokesman Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd said there could be a communication breakdown among Cambodian troops.

 

"If we look on the bright side, it might be a communication problem because the commander in charge of the area where the fighting erupts is not Lt Gen Chea Mon," he said.

 

However, he added that a group of 10 military officers was dispatched early yesterday to discuss how to avoid further clashes.

 

Col Sansern insisted that further steps to negotiations were out of the question as long as the border fighting continued.

 

Second Army Region spokesman Prawit Hookaew said yesterday the incident was not an actual breach of the ceasefire agreement because the talks had been informal.

 

"It can't guarantee there will be no more fighting. They wanted field commanders to make contact immediately when any clash erupts to contain the situation," he said.

 

Meanwhile, Cambodia has accused Thai troops of initiating the fighting.

 

The resumption of hostilities so soon after a peace deal demonstrated the "pointlessness of bilateral negotiations", said the Cambodian government, which has continuously campaigned for a third party to be involved.

 

"Less than 12 hours [after the agreement] the Thai military again attacked, and fighting continued until the next morning," it said.

 

A Thai government source at the border noted that the Thai military might have talked to the wrong people.

 

Lt Gen Chea Mon does not have "real" power over the troops in the combat areas, said the source.

 

The areas where the border skirmishes have taken place for the past week are under the jurisdiction of deputy army commander Gen Chim Janpua, according to the source.

 

Local villagers in Ban Nong Danna on Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district said yesterday they heard the sound of sporadic gunfire throughout Thursday night. However, they said there was no artillery shelling.

 

Chong Jom checkpoint in Surin's Kap Choeng district remained closed yesterday and trading was limited.

 

 

 

 

30 April 2011