The newly-minted Thai Foreign Minister, Tej Bunnag, hit the ground at some speed, scoring a notable success on his first day at the office.  He met his Cambodian counterpart at Siem Reap and achieved the first step in defusing the tension over the Preah Vihear dispute by securing an agreement to remove the Thai and Cambodian troops occupying both sides of the border.

His success was, however, clouded somewhat when it was made known that although both sides had agree what they would do, there was, as yet, no agreement on when they would do it.  Reports from the Thai side spoke of troop reductions in months, rather than days.

It is not difficult to foresee what might happen.

27 Sept 2008

Thai and Cambodian negotiators have revealed that agreement has been reached on the first stage of the agreement process to agree force reductions.  Each side has proposed, and had accepted by the other side, the identity of the negotiating authority for each party.

‘This is an important step forward,’ a Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson was reported as saying.  ‘We now have agreement on who has the power to agree on how we are going to achieve what we have already agreed.’ 

For the Thai side, the Foreign Minister was granted plenipotentiary negotiating powers, as was the Foreign Minister on the Cambodian side.  This was felt to be a better solution than putting military commanders on the ground in charge.  It was feared that they might just pull the troops out willy-nilly, without a properly negotiating withdrawal agreement.

In the meantime, Thailand rejected charges that it had increased the number of its troops.  Military sources said that due to miscommunication concerning a normal rotation of personnel, units re-assigned from the south had arrived unexpectedly early, whereas there had been delays in relocating troops due to leave the Preah Vihear area.  The temporary imbalance would be normalized within the next few weeks, it was claimed.

1 December 2008

As a result of recent Cabinet reshuffles, the Thai government has been forced to ask the Cambodian side to recognize a change in its negotiating authority over the Preah Vihear case.  As more Thai Ministers are removed from office as a result of political crimes, it was felt that the incoming Foreign Minster, however it might be, would lack the requisite knowledge and experience.  Persistent rumours have named the wife of a banned politician in the post.  Or possibly a mother.  The chief Thai negotiator will now be the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

A ministry spokesperson, speaking anonymously, admitted that this was setback to the process, but a minor one only.  ‘It is still better than giving the military any role’, he said.  Military officers at the scene are said to be chafing at the slow pace of troop reductions.  ‘We haven’t had one soldier sent home yet,’ said one.  ‘There’s only so long you can just sit and enjoy the view.’

Cambodia, meanwhile, has rejected charges that its troop numbers have increased.  They argued that a recent unilateral confidence-building measure had replaced some regular troops with unarmed reservist trainees.  These new units, however, needed the protection of additional regular forces.  This apparent rise in numbers in fact represented a lowering of Cambodia tactical strike potential.

30 March 2009

A breakthrough in the 8-month impasse in Preah Vihear negotiation has seen agreement on procedures for determining the date of a meeting to agree troop reductions.  Foreign Ministry sources reported that this represented a major step in resolution process.  ‘Diplomacy cannot be rushed’, said one.  ‘This is a delicate matter best left to the professionals.’

Thai military commanders at the scene were reported to be ‘extremely bored’ with the drawn-out process.  ‘It is very difficult to keep troop morale high,’ said one, ‘when there is nothing to do but look at the Khmer troops looking at us.’ 

Some concern has been expressed at the decision by the Cambodian decision to deploy female units at the scene.  A military source admitted that this has led to two cases of ‘desertion by marriage’ from the Thai side.  Although the Thai numbers were quickly brought back up to par, it was not clear whether the Thai soldiers living with their new Cambodian consorts should be counted as part of the Cambodian contingent and therefore an extra 2 soldiers in the Thai side would be required to even things up.

26 July 2009

As Foreign Ministry negotiators celebrated a year of overtime bonuses working on the Preah Vihear agreement, an apparent agreement on a date for a meeting to agree a reduction in forces was put on hold at the last minute.  Reports had emerged that Cambodia had granted a contract to a private company to build a cable car from the base of the cliff on the Cambodian aide to the ancient temple site.

While the Cambodian negotiators claimed that this was in keeping with Cambodia’s sovereign rights and a normal contract between the government and a company with close connections to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, the Thai side felt that such a precipitous move could derail the delicate negotiations. 

‘No one on the Thai side wants to touch this,’ an inside source reported.  ‘They are afraid that even acknowledgement that a cable car plan exists could lead to the same fate that befell Foreign Minister Noppadol more than a year ago.’

26 July 2018

As Khmer schoolchildren held celebrations to mark the 10^th anniversary of Preah Vihear Troop Reduction Agreement Day, and the Preah Vihear Negotiation Section within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was upgraded to Division status, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee dropped a bombshell by delisting the temple as a World Heritage site.

‘The decision to list in 2008 was intended to improve access by the public.  Instead, the continued occupation by troops has meant that not one tourist has been able to visit the site in 10 years,’ said an UNESCO spokesperson.  ‘Clearly the site was better off when it was not listed.’

The World Heritage Committee is also reportedly unhappy at the construction of semi-permanent barracks and related facilities, including an ‘International Sepak Takraw Stadium’, where, in monthly competitions, the Thai soldiers have won 62 times and the Cambodians 58.

A Thai military source says that with this decision, Thai troops are already packing to go home.  He noted that over the years numbers had already gone down through retirement, desertions, medical evacuations and ‘we think Somchai must have fallen over the edge back in 2015 when he got pissed after a party on the Cambodian side and never made it home.’

As troops on both sides prepared to leave and finally bring the long-standing dispute to a close, nationalist sentiment on both sides of the border has begun to question the UNESCO decision.

‘This is an insult to Thailand’s ability to negotiate a peaceful settlement with its neighbours,’ said a PAD spokesperson from their 3-storey temporary office on Makkhawan Rangsan Bridge.  ‘We demand that the government force the Cambodians to re-apply for listing and reinstate the natural tension between our two peoples.  If they do not do this, we will bring down the government.  Again.’