Тайцы отступают

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Таиланд сокращает военное присутствие в районе древнего кхмерского храма Преа Вихеа.



Командующий армией Таиланда генерал Анупонг Паочинда объявил, что в ближайшие дни количество войск, находящихся в приграничном районе около храма Преа Вихеа, будет «занчительно сокращено». Договоренность об этом была достигнута в ходе недавнего визита тайского вице-премьера Сутепа Таугсубана в Пномпень.
Напомним, что поначалу премьер-министр Хун Сен публично отказался встречаться с тайским вице-премьером, потому что тот хотел обсуждать совместное использование двумя странами храма Преа Вихеа, который еще в 1962 году Международным судом в Гааге был признан собственностью Камбоджи (см. «Ну о чем с тобой мне говорить?» viewtopic.php?f=822&t=74011). Позднее, идя навстречу соседям, Хун Сен все-таки согласился на встречу с Сутепом, но только неофициальную и ограничил тематику переговоров исключительно отводом тайских войск от границы.
Как выяснилось, что тактика Хун Сена в очередной раз принесла свои плоды: тайцы были вынуждены согласиться уменьшить военное присутствие в районе храма.
По неофициальным сведениям, сейчас возле Преа Вихеа сосредоточены более трех тысяч тайских солдат и около пяти тысяч камбоджийских.

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THE KHMER EMPIRE

The Khmer Empire was at its apogee during the reign of Jayavarman VII
(1181-1215 A.D.). Its territory covered the current Cambodia, all of
southern Vietnam, all of the current Laos, all of the current Thailand,
and part of the current Malaysia. Unlike the Khmers, Thais, known then
as Siameses, were not natives of the region. The kingdom of Thailand,
known then as Siam, did not appear in Southeast Asia until the mid-
14th century.
A well-known Thai historian, Sulak Sivarak, who
was a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and the winner of the Right Livelihood
Award said of the Khmer Empire: "It included everything right up to
Lopburi and all of what is now Bangkok". Again, describing the Khmer
Empire, Peter Janssan of the Hindustan Times quoted Sulak Sivaraka in
his article on 18 June 2008: "Thai invasions of Cambodia, then in its
decline, led to the adoption of many Khmer cultural traditions by the
Thais, including the Hindu concept of god-kings and court rituals, and
an ongoing fondness for Brahman-inspired black magic, especially among
Thai politicians". Peter Janssan went on to describe that there are
many more Khmer temples located in Thailand, especially along the
northeast Thailand- Cambodian border like Buriram, Surin, and Sisaket.
The map depicting the Khmer Empire at its height is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Khmer Empire during the Height of its Civilization, Before the Appearance of Siam (From Jayavarman II to Jayavarman VII)

THE FRENCH PROTECTORATE
Cambodia
was a vassal state under Siam during the reign of King Ang Duong.
Cambodia had lost Battambang, Sisophon, and Siem Reap to Siam. Siam had
placed spies everywhere at the court of Oudong. To get out of the
Siam’s manacles, King Norodom who succeeded his father, King Ang Duong,
sought out help from France. On 23 March 1907, under the reign of King
Sisowath who succeeded his brother, King Norodom, France (as the
protectorate of Cambodia) and Siam signed a border treaty that
completed the 1904 treaty. In the 1904 treaty Siam ceded Tonlé Repou,
Mlou Prey, Koh Kong, and Stung Trèng to Cambodia. The 1907 treaty
subsequently produced the French- Siamese Commission 1907 Frontier Line
(Figure 2), placing Preah Vihear under the control of Cambodia. The
French-Siamese 1907 treaty had Siam ceded almost all Cambodia ancient
territory of the 16th century back to Cambodia. The territory included
Battambang, Sisophon, Siem Reap, Mongkol Borei, and Tnot (Figures 3 and 4).


Figure 2.
Extract from the International Court of Justice Report 1962 – The
French-Siamese Commission 1907 (Scale 1:200,000) (Courtesy Bora Touch.
Note in blue added by Bora Touch for clarity)



Figure 3. Map of Cambodia Showing the Te rritory That Siam Ceded To France in 1907


Figure 4.
Map of Present Day Cambodia Courtesy: Official Map by the Royal
Government of Cambodia Submitted to UNESCO for Preah VihearWorld
Heritage List

In
spite of this agreement, Thailand contested in 1934 that the Temple of
Preah Vihear belonged to her and their surveyors redrew the frontier to
locate Preah Vihear in Thailand’s territory. In 1954 Thailand occupied
Preah Vihear. On 6 October 1959, Cambodia, under the leadership of
Prince Norodom Sihanouk, petitioned the International Court of Justice
(ICJ) of the Hague, Netherlands, to rule on the dispute. By the end of
the year, Thailand retaliated with a claim listing Preah Vihear as a
national archeological site. On June 15, 1962, the ICJ made a judgment
recognizing that the Temple of Preah Vihear belonged to Cambodia using
the French-Siamese Commission 1907 Frontier Line as one of the
supporting arguments (Figure 5). A satellite photo showing Preah Vihear
and its surrounding region with demarcations of the frontier
established by the French-Siamese Commission 1907 is presented in
Figure 6. Figure 7 shows another satellite photo of Preah Vihear and
the Dangrek mountain range. Thailand never protested against the
verdict. However, over the years Thailand has unilaterally redrawn the
map that contradicts the ICJ judgment (Figures 8- 10).


Figure 5.
Area of the Temple of Preah Vihear in the Dangrek Range of Mountains
(Extrapolation from the map recognized by the International Court of
Justice, 15 June 1962) Courtesy: Official Map by the Royal Government
of Cambodia submitted to UNESCO for Preah VihearWorld Heritage List

Figure 6. Satellite Photo of Preah Vihear and its Surrounding Region (Courtesy: Bora Touch)

Figure 7. Satellite Photo of Preah Vihear and its Surrounding Region (Courtesy: Bora Touch)


Figure 8.
Thai Internal Working Document – The Official Thai Map (Scale 1:10,000)
Courtesy Bora Touch. Notes in blue and green Colors added by Bora Touch
for clarity

Figure 9.
Thai Internal Working Document – The French-Siamese Commission Map Made
in 1907 (Scale: 1:200,000) (Courtesy Bora Touch. Notes in blue by Bora
Touch for clarity)

Figure 10.
Extract from the Aide Memoire of Cambodia Royal Government 1962 (Scale:
1:6,000) (Courtesy Bora Touch. Note in blue by Bora Touch for Clarity)


The
temple of Preah Vihear was originally built under Yasovarman I, a Khmer
king who reigned from 889 to 910 A.D. The building started in light
material, but its completion in stone was carried on later by his
successors. The temple was dedicated to Shiva (God of destroyer).


The setting of Preah Vihear was ideal for a Khmer monarch who dedicated
the temple for Shiva because of its spectacular location sitting atop
of a high cliff over 500 meters above the lower ground. Aerial views of
the Preah Vihear temples are shown in Figures 11 and 12.


Figure 11.
Aerial View of Preah Vihear Hanging Over a Cliff On Cambodia Territory
(Courtesy: Official Photo by the Royal Government of Cambodia Submitted
to UNESCO for Preah VihearWorld Heritage List)

Figure 12. Aerial View of Preah Vihear


THE THAI TWISTED THESIS OF THEIR ORIGIN


There are some Thais in the academic, the press, and the media who
fantasize in their justification of Preah Vihear belonging to Thailand
by advancing a twisted thesis claiming that Khmer is not the same as
Khorm (note: the Thai used to call Khmer as either Khamin or Khorm).
They say that Khmer is Khamin, which is different from Khorm.
Furthermore, they say that Khorms are the real inhabitants of what is
now Thailand and they were the builders of Preah Vihear, Angkor, and
all the ancient temples found in Cambodia and Thailand. They are saying
that Khmers are not the descendents of the Angkor builders. Therefore,
they try to justify by implication that Thai people are the true
descendents of the Khorms, the original inhabitants of Thailand and
builders of Preah Vihear and Angkor. The Thai people have such a
twisted mind. Believing in this twisted thesis is like believing that a
bullet firing from a gun can be curved around a corner. The Thais are
not only satisfied to steal everything that are precious to Khmers and
then claimed them to be their own, such as Preah Ko Preah Keo, Preah
Khan Reach, Khmer classical dance and music, Khmer style boxing, and
Khmer scripts “Aksor Moul” (the Thai called it sacred scripts instead
of Khmer scripts), but now they try to even steal Khmer identity. They
want to strip Khmer people bare of any ancestry.

OBSERVATIONS


A few important observations to the central issue of the Preah Vihear
temple must be brought up to the attention of the world. The following
are two immediate points of interest concerning the affair of the Preah
Vihear temples:

The press keeps mentioning that Preah
Vihear was an ancient Hindu temple instead of a Khmer temple. Preah
Vihear is not a Hindu temple but a Khmer temple built under the reign
of Yasovarman I, a Khmer king in the 9th century, dedicated to Shiva,
one of the Hindu gods. When the press says that Preah Vihear is a Hindu
temple, it deemphasizes Khmer ownership and legitimacy to the temple.
In modern time, the war of words is very important. This clarification
is very important and it must be emphasized at all time.

Thailand
kept insisting on using her own map to claim the disputed area around
Preah Vihear instead of the French-Siamese Commissioned Map of 1907,
where the International Court of Justice (ICJ) based its judgment on to
award Preah Vihear to Cambodia. The map was the product of the treaty
signed by Thailand and French (Cambodia was under the French
protectorate) in 1907. It is legal and binding. Thailand wants to use
its own map that is not binding and not recognized by the International
Court of Justice. Cambodia must not give in to the Thai insistence of
using her own map to settle the dispute of Preah Vihear and its
surrounding area.
CONCLUSION


Cambodia is doing the right thing to seek help from the United Nations
(UN). It is not in the interest of Thailand to have the UN intervene in
the affair of Preah Vihear, because she knows that Cambodia has more
legitimacy and historical claim of Preah Vihear and its surrounding
area than Thailand does. The UN will have to consider and abide by the
1962 judgment made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the
recent recognition by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that included Preah Vihear in the World
Heritage List. If the UN were to side with Cambodia, then they would
probably ask Thailand to withdraw from the disputed area.

Thailand
is playing hardball because she knows Cambodia is no match with her
militarily. Cambodia has no choice but to ask the UN for help. With the
UN help Thailand will not dare to encroach further into Cambodia
territory. If war were to erupt, Thailand would be condemned by the
world and she will lose face. Additionally, the Muslims are now waiting
for the right opportunity to stir troubles again in the southern region
of Thailand if this latter decides to go to war with Cambodia. Thailand
cannot afford to have war with Cambodia. Thailand may win in the short
term but she will lose in the long run. Thailand fears the UN because
among the five permanent members, Cambodia can count on France, China,
and Russia to side with her. As to the US and the UK positions, nothing
can be certain but if these two countries interpret the laws and
historical facts properly, they should come to the conclusion that
Thailand has no claim and basis over Preah Vihear and its surrounding
area that she had ceded to Cambodia during the French-Siamese 1907
treaty.

The UN cannot ignore the ICJ judgment that recognized
Preah Vihear belonging to Cambodia, because to do otherwise would bring
chaos to the international rule of laws. There is no doubt, both based
on the court of laws and historical facts, that the Temple of Preah
Vihear is a Khmer heritage and belonging to Cambodia.

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Ланч с врагом

Камбоджийские и тайские солдаты и офицеры устроили совместный обед на границе, рядом с древним кхмерским храмом Преа Вихеа, едва не ставшим причиной войны между соседними странами.



Седьмого июля в Камбодже — национальный праздник: годовщина внесения ЮНЕСКО храма Преа Вихеа в список Всемирного культурного наследия как камбоджийского объекта. По случаю праздника во всех публичных местах вывешены государственные флаги, проводятся торжественные буддийские церемонии и концерты.
Несмотря на то, что еще в 1962 году Международный суд в Гааге признал Преа Вихеа собственностью Камбоджи, в соседнем Таиланде прошлогоднее решение ЮНЕСКО до сих пор вызывает возмущение. За последний год в районе Преа Вихеа три раза вспыхивали серьезные пограничные бои между солдатами соседних стран. С обеих сторон есть погибшие и раненые.
В данном контексте очень по-буддийски выглядит инициатива кхмерских военных. Накануне они пригласили своих противников, тайских солдат и офицеров, провести совместный обед у пагоды Кео Секха Кирисвара, в 300 метрах от храма Преа Вихеа.
Тайцы не отказались. Перед обедом буддийские монахи провели небольшую церемонию, пожелав мира и дружбы соседним народам. Ланч прошел в миролюбивой обстановке, после чего военные вернулись на свои позиции по обе стороны границы.