The Constitution Court will rule on Tuesday whether a joint communique between the Thai and Cambodian government had violated the charter, the Constitution Court secretary-general said Monday.

Paibool Warahapaithoon, the Constitution Court secretary-general, said the court would make a ruling on 8:30 am.

A total of 77 senators and 151 MPs had demanded a ruling from the court as to whether the Cabinet required to receive an approval from Parliament before signing the joint communique as stated by Article 190 of the Constitution.

The Nation

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By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

It is likely that the World Heritage Committee will agree to list the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site following Thailand’s failure to delay the decision, the head of the Thai delegation at the meeting in Quebec said Monday.

Pongpol Adireksarn, chairman of Thailand’s World Heritage Committee, the committee agreed that the temple “ represented a masterpiece of human creative genius” which is one of six criteria to judge its “ outstanding universal value” , said The temple might not have to pass all six qualifications because one criterion is enough, he said.

The final decision will be known tomorrow morning Bangkok time.

As Cambodia insisted on a sole application, in accordance with the International Court of Justice’s ruling in 1962, the objection raised by Thailand was invalid, he said.

The committee acknowledged the Thai concerns about the temple’s outstanding universal value and the Thai Administrative Court’s injunction, but it cannot delay any more since the application has been pending for two years, he said.

Cambodia has been keen to convince the 21member committee since Phnom Penh officials took the members to see the site.

“ We had some problems after the 2006 military coup, since many democratic countries such as the United States gave full support to Cambodia for political reasons,” Pongpol said via telephone from Quebec.

Thailand and Cambodia locked horns over the proposal to list the temple as a World Heritage site after Phnom Penh declared ownership of a 4.6 square kilometre overlapping area claimed by both sides.

The dispute was settled when Cambodia agreed to list only its part of the temple in the application, but there was opposition and street protests in Thailand over the sovereignty issue.

The protesters asked the Administrative Court to overturn the Cabinet resolution – which endorsed a joint communiqu signed by Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama and Cambodia’s deputy prime minister Sok An in support of the application – and the Constitution Court to rule if the communiqu is unconstitutional.

Pongpol said the listing of Preah Vihear has nothing to do with Thai sovereignty as Cambodia proposed only its own area, not the overlapping area.

“ We did not lose any territory. The Foreign Ministry – both under the previous government and this government – has done a good job in protecting our sovereignty,” Pongpol said.

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Matichon newspaper summed up what the Cambodian press has said about the ongoing conflict at Preah Vihear.

Bear in mind the following has been translated twice, so it might differ slightly from the original articles. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to hear what our neighbours think about the way Thailand is dealing with the issue.

Koh Santepheap Daily said that there were Thais protesting at the site and using inappropriate words to scold Cambodians at Preah Vihear Temple. The paper said the Thai protest started after they found out about Cambodia’s bid to list Preah Vihear as a world heritage site. Koh Santepheap Daily said that the protest caused hardship among Cambodians who had to commute between Thailand and Cambodia because Cambodians are allowed to carry no more than five kilograms of rice and one bottle of drinking water.

The paper also quoted a Cambodian officer at a checkpoint in Preah Vihear who said the Cambodian officers didn’t make any effort to retaliate against protesting Thais. But he said, “ They [the Thais] are so low. They dare to scold us. They want to violate our sovereignty without shame.”

Rasmei Kampuchea Daily urged the Cambodian people to remain peaceful and not resort to violence. The paper quoted a senior official who thanked the Cambodian people for protesting against Thailand’s refusal to accept the ruling by the World Court. But he urged the public to conduct their protests in a peaceful manner.

Other Cambodian sources interviewed by the paper also were of the view that Thais have failed to respect the World Court and said they would monitor the situation closely.

The paper quoted another Cambodian MP who urged the Cambodian government to retaliate against Thailand for violating Cambodian sovereignty in proposing to list the temple as a world heritage site and evading the area near Preah Vihear. The MP also urged the government to enter into negotiations with the Thai government to sort out the conflicts within the presence of international organisations such as the United Nations.

The Voice of Khmer Youth said Thailand’s greed would end with shame. In spite of Thailand’s resistance to block the bid to list Preah Vihear as a world heritage site, the international community would consider the World Court’s ruling as the final one. Therefore, Cambodian people condemn Thais who don’t know their history. It said that the Cambodian people want to see Thais respect the international court’s decision. But Thais just want to reap profits from tourism and thus they don’t want to list Preah Vihear as a world heritage site.

The Voice of Khmer Youth said Cambodians are polite and honest. And they have thought of not intervening in areas that the country has lost, out of consideration for their friendship with Thailand. But protesting Thais don’t think this way. They seek only their own benefit; the Thai side wants to violate Cambodia’s territorial integrity. Nonetheless, it said that if Thais don’t give up, the number of protesting Cambodians may increase to 10,000 because Cambodians won’t let Thais do whatever they wish.

Kampuchea Thmey Daily quoted a Cambodian spokesman who said Cambodia’s proposal to list Preah Vihear had nothing to do with sovereignty. He also noted that the ruling by the Administrative Court in Thailand would not have any influence on Unesco’s promise to list Preah Vihear as a world heritage site. It said that the letter from the Thai court caused a strong reaction from Cambodians.

As a result, we see that Preah Vihear is not only a hot issue in Thailand but also in Cambodia as well.

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