甫里維哈寺位於泰國與柬埔寨之間邊界山脈中一塊高地（Dangrek）上，根據1904年暹羅（泰國舊稱）和法國（當時柬埔寨是法國的保護地）之間的一項條約規定，雙方同意有關此山脈邊界線之劃定，應沿著分水嶺線為之。兩國為此另設立了一個混合委員會，礙於技術因素，當時泰國政府委託由法國調查隊來負責繪製該地區地圖的工作。1908年地圖繪製完成，當時泰國政府收到此地圖時即已發現古寺被標註在柬埔寨的領域內（即山脈分水嶺的另一邊），但卻未表明任何異議（直到1935年）。1953年柬埔寨獨立之後，新政府試圖在該地區確立其領土主權，但因泰國派駐軍隊於古寺，效果有限。1959年10月，柬埔寨向國際法院提起訴訟，請求法院宣告古寺的領土主權屬於柬埔寨，泰國應將其駐紮於古寺的武裝部隊撤離。法院先於1961年確立對本案的管轄權，接著在1962年對本案進行實質審理與裁決，判定古寺是屬於柬埔寨。(issued by TA wei-en)
Thai-Cambodian conflictFeb 10th 2011
KANTHARALAK
SITTING on her straw mat, Pisamai Poonsuk recalls how her family of ten fled their border village in a pickup truck soon after the shells began falling. After staying the night with relatives, the family moved into a temporary camp. Ms Pisamai, a cassava farmer, is waiting for the all-clear to go home. She prays the ceasefire will hold between the Thai and Cambodian soldiers ranged along a disputed border. She has little time for Thai jingoism. “We should trade with the Cambodians. We should be brothers.”
Fat chance. The clashes that erupted on February 4th were the fiercest since July 2008, when the two armies first began rumbling at each other in the vicinity of Preah Vihear, an 11th-century Khmer temple that Cambodia wants to develop for mass tourism. Six people died and dozens more were injured during four days of fighting. The temple itself was only slightly damaged. Each side accuses the other of firing first into populated areas.
Though the shelling has stopped, any ceasefire remains fragile as long as nationalists in both countries keep stoking the dispute. Thailand’s prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, faces street protests by the ultra-conservative People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) over his alleged failure to defend Thai soil. Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, does not tolerate protests but is sensitive to claims of lost sovereignty. He quickly castigated war-mongering Thailand and called for UN peacekeepers on the border.
It is not the first time that an ancient temple has bred violence. In 2003 anti-Thai riots erupted in Phnom Penh after a Thai actress was misquoted as saying that Angkor Wat, which appears on the Cambodian flag, belonged to Thailand. On February 8th PAD leaders said that Thai troops should threaten to invade, forcing a return of Preah Vihear. To Cambodians, resentful of being pushed around by big neighbours, this is bully-boy stuff.
In 1962 the World Court ruled that Preah Vihear, which sits on a ridge, was on Cambodian soil. But it did not rule on overlapping claims to the temple’s hinterland. In 2008 UNESCO listed the temple as a World Heritage site, to the delight of Cambodia’s tourist industry. The PAD cried foul over what it claimed was a loss of Thai territory. The controversy became a pretext for marathon protests that helped topple an elected government and sweep Mr Abhisit into power. Now the PAD vows to topple its erstwhile ally.
Despite international concern, Mr Hun Sen’s plea for UN intervention seems a non-starter. Thailand insists that bilateral talks can resolve the border dispute and rejects outside mediation. This did not stop Indonesia from dipping a toe into the row. It currently holds the rotating chair of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), to which the two feuding parties belong (see Banyan). Its foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, flew to both capitals this week for talks. But, an ASEAN diplomat sniffs, Indonesia should keep its own ambitions in check, lest the tables are turned in future. Nobody wants anyone “meddling in his own affairs”, he says. So much for Ms Pisamai’s brotherhood.
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