User talk:KhmerUS

Cambodia Thai border disputed

The neighboring countries have been at loggerheads over the land around the Preah Vihear temple for decades,

but tensions spilled over into violence last July when the temple was granted UN World Heritage status.

Although the World Court ruled in 1962 that it belonged to Cambodia, the most accessible entrance to the ancient Khmer temple with its crumbling stone staircases and elegant carvings is from northeastern Thailand.

In 1962, following a significant dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over ownership of the temple,

the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague awarded the ownership to Cambodia.

Affording a view for many kilometers across a plain, Prasat Preah Vihear has the most spectacular setting of all the temples built during the six-centuries-long Khmer Empire.

Hun Sen warns if Thailand violates Cambodian airspace along the border Cambodia has the right to shoot down Thai aircraft, Hun Sen told the Thai deputy prime minister and minister of defense frankly to be careful about not flying across the border into Cambodian territory, “I am afraid that I won’t be able to control the shooting if the ground soldiers lose patience.”

He said that Cambodia did not want confrontation, but that Thailand must not violate the the country’s territorial sovereignty.

“We are waiting to shoot because we are not invading [Thailand]. Cambodia is not showing muscle, but to defend the nation we will play it until the end,” Hun Sen said.

Meanwhile, the situation on the border remains tense, with officers of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) saying they are ready to counter any Thai incursions.

“The situation at the front line is increasingly tense since I learned that Thai soldiers are scheduled for military exercises along the Thai-Cambodia border near Koh Kong province to Anses of Preah Vihear Temple on July 3 2009,” said Seoun San, an RCAF captain based at Veal Sambokhmum.

“If the rockets launched from the military exercises fall into Cambodian territory, we will open the fight without discussions.”

Relations between Thailand and Cambodia worsened last month Since The Thai government issued a request ahead of UNESCO's recent annual meeting to reconsider the listing, a decision the agency put off until early next year.

The border was calm now but Cambodian troops were on the "highest alert," said Brigadier Gen. Yim Pim, a front-line commander.

"I have ordered troops to be ready for fighting if there is any new entry from the Thai side," he said, contacted by phone.