Cultural crimes?

There's plenty of tough talk but the bullets have stopped at least for now. Cambodia claims that Thailand damaged Preah Vihear intentionally.

Cambodia has lodged a complaint with the United Nations accusing Thai troops of damaging the ancient Preah Vihear temple during a border shootout earlier this month, an official said yesterday. Phay Siphan, spokesman for Cambodia's Council of Ministers, said a staircase and a sculpture at the ruins were damaged by rocket fire.

A complaint was filed with the UN cultural body Unesco a few days after the firefight erupted on Oct 15 near Preah Vihear, a World Heritage Site at the centre of the long-running territorial dispute.

''Preah Vihear temple was intentionally damaged by Thai troops, because we found the remnants of grenades ... near the temple and there were no Cambodian soldiers stationed nearby,'' Phay Siphan said.

''The Preah Vihear authority has sent pictures of the damage to Unesco.''

The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday denied Thai soldiers had damaged the 11th-century Khmer temple.

Intent? That's difficult to prove. If true it is a crime against humanity. Sounds more like sabre-rattling to me though.

ETA Thailand has its own version

A staircase and a sculpture of the mythical Naga creature were hit by rocket fire at the 11th-century Khmer ruins, he said.

However, Thai ambassador to Paris Thana Duangrat reported to the ministry that there was no record of a Cambodian complaint submitted to Unesco.

"We have evidence proving Cambodia fired the rockets from Preah Vihear Temple at Thai troops," said foreign ministry spokesperson Tharit Charungvat.

The ministry has checked the facts with the Second Army Area, which confirmed that on 15 Oct, Thai soldiers, fired upon by Cambodian troops in the vicinity of Pha Mor I Daeng, used only rifles in their defence, he said.

I wonder how long the truth will take.

Thai-Cambodian conflict

From Global Comment

Two soldiers are dead and six are injured for 4.6 square kilometres of land. Whose land? Well that is the question. Thailand claims it. Cambodia claims it. Neither side is happy with the other’s claim.

Historically, both have owned it. Naturally both claim ownership today. It has been a point of contention for quite a few decades. With the Khmer Rouge and the resultant landmines, the whole area was inaccessible until the early 90s so the argument was moot.

Read it all

The death toll has been revised. Three soldiers are now dead.

Conflict updates

Tourists with ammo?

This can't be true

As of today all tourists crossing to cambodia have to carry at least 2000 rounds of m16 ammo to be delivered to the thai troops on the cambodian side of the border.

Can it? It sounds ludicrous and heavy.

Military build up at the border again

From KI-Media

Thailand has increased its troop and ammunition supplies along the border of Bantey Meanchey province over the past few days, following a small skirmish and the injury by landmine of two Thai troops in the past week, military and government officials said.

Col. Ven Say, deputy commander of Regiment 51, said the Thais had sent 50 boxes of ammunition to soldiers along the border of Banthey Meanchey.

The increase of troops and ammunition were not a cause for concern, he said, but Cambodian soldiers were vigilant “24 hours” a day in the area.

Meanwhile, Cambodian soldiers at Preah Vihear have begun confiscating cell phone SIM cards from a Thai network used by many people living and working along the border.

Hang Soth, chairman of the Preah Vihear National Authority, said Thursday the SIM cards had been collected since Wednesday in an effort to improve security for Cambodian soldiers deployed nearby.

Right. All in the name of security. That makes total sense in a MAD sort of way. [/sarcasm]

Border skirmishes

The border tensions between Cambodia and Thailand, which I described here, have escalated. Shots were fired and soldiers were wounded. Both sides claim that the other fired the first shot. Reuters has this:

Thailand accused Cambodia on Sunday of firing the first shots in a border incident in which three soldiers were wounded, saying it was "a brutal and aggressive act" that had violated friendly relations.

In a letter to the Cambodian government, Thailand's foreign ministry demanded Phnom Penh ensure there is no repeat of the incident near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple.

"The shooting by the Cambodian troops against the unarmed Thai paramilitary rangers is regarded as a brutal and aggressive act and is contrary to the spirit of friendly relations between Cambodia and Thailand," the letter said.

Cambodia issued a similar protest on Saturday, accusing Thailand of "intentional armed provocation" and warning it could lead to conflict.

However, Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told Reuters that Phnom Penh had agreed to an investigation into Friday's exchange of fire and Thailand's foreign ministry said the situation at the border was calm.

Two Thai soldiers and one Cambodian soldier were injured in what was the first clash in the disputed territory since the two countries agreed to pull back troops in August after a tense month-long stand-off.

From Xinhua Net

Cambodia protested to Thailand on Saturday about Friday's border shooting incident, which was the first clash between the two countries in the more than two-month-long border dispute.

"On Oct. 3, 2008, at 15:30, a group of Thai soldiers entered Cambodian territory in the area of Phnom Trap and fired gunshots from M.79 at the Cambodian troops stationed at Veal Intry area on Phnom Trap hill side, located approximately 2,000 meters to the west of Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda (in the area of Preah Vihear Temple)," said Cambodia's Foreign Ministry in a letter to the Thaiembassy [sic] which was obtained by Xinhua.

"The shooting resulted in the injury of one Cambodian soldier from Brigade No 43," the letter said, adding that Cambodian troops returned fire in self defense, which was followed by a brief exchange of gunfire between the sides.

"The Royal Government of Cambodia considers the above act by Thai soldiers as a serious armed provocation, contrary to the commitment to exercise utmost restraint made during the Meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries on July 28, 2008 at Siem Reap, Cambodia and on Aug. 18-19, 2008 at Cha-am, Thailand," the letter said.

And CNN

A spokesman for Cambodia's Cabinet, Phay Siphan, said the incident began after Cambodian troops intercepted a trespassing Thai patrol. He said the Thai troops retreated in response to a warning from the Cambodians, but then fired the grenade.

Cambodian troops returned fire with AK-47 assault rifles, with the exchange of fire lasting three to five minutes, he said.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said Friday evening that the Thai troops had been patrolling in their own territory when they encountered the Cambodian soldiers.

"The Cambodian troops shot at the Thai troops first, wounding two soldiers. One Cambodian soldier was also wounded after the Thais responded," he said.

Both Thai and Cambodian politicians are adopting aggressive stances. Both claim that the others' soldiers violated sovereign territory.

With Hun Sen back in power after the general election, many thought that that would be the end of the tensions because there would be no further need to pander to the nationalists. Of course with Thailand in political uncertainty, there was no certainty. Now, we'll have to wait to see if war breaks out.

More info here

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