Thai(Sino link), Cambodian PMs share view on mutual relations

BANGKOK, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) — Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said during this weekly program on Sunday morning that he and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen come to terms that both countries would avoid using violence as a means to solve the continuing border dispute.

PM Abhisit said that he had a chance to talk with PM Hun Sen for about half an hour at the 65th United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He said there would be more cooperation between both sides as the trade value along the Thai-Cambodian border grew this year. More checkpoints and roads could be built.

In a bid to strengthen bilateral relationship, both countries agreed to exchange more visits of ministers and media members along with organizing concerts and sport events, according to the PM.

Regarding the negotiation framework on border demarcation of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC), the Cambodian PM said his government understood it should first gain approval from the Thai parliament, he added.

The premier said Thai-Cambodian relations had improved after the reinstatement of the ambassadors of the two countries.

Thailand and Cambodia have age-old dispute over the area along their border and over the 900-year-old Hindu Preah Vihear Temple. In 1962, the International Court of Justice ruled the temple belongs to Cambodia, rejecting Thai claims.

Tensions flared up again as the UNESCO named Preah Vihear a World Heritage in 2008 and once again as Cambodia appointed Thailand’s ousted ex-PM Thaksin as its economic adviser in November 2009. Armed clashes resulting in casualties on both sides have occurred occasionally in the area since then.

Thailand protested against Cambodia by recalling its ambassador soon after Thaksin’s appointment, and then Cambodia followed the suit. The two countries’ diplomatic relations did not resume to normal until Aug. 25 of this year, when they reinstated the ambassadors to each other, following Thaksin’s resignation.