COMMENTARY: Thai Government Pushes Big Lie on Preah Vihear in the 21st Century

AKP Phnom Penh, May 29, 2011 — While Cambodian and Thai delegations are gathering in Paris for the preparatory meeting for the forthcoming 35th session of the World Heritage Committee from 19 to 29 June, the Thai government became even more flagrant in its efforts to intoxicate and mislead the world regarding its invasion of Cambodian territory and the damage it caused to the Temple of Preah Vihear.

On 26 May, the Bangkok Post reported, under the headline “PM says Thai troops didn’t fire at the Temple”: “Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has rejected allegations by Phnom Penh that the ancient Preah Vihear Temple was attacked by Thai troops in recent border armed clashes ”.

At the meeting of the Thai and Cambodian delegations with UNESCO in Paris, Thai Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Suwit Khunkitti, according to a source close to the Thai delegation who requested anonymity, repeated the same falsehood and lie, and claimed that there had been no damage to the Temple.

The leaders of the Thai government must think that the rest of the world has also a good memory. In early March 2011, the Thai government loudly objected when Cambodia organized a visit to the Temple by military attachés from 12 countries, who were able to see for themselves some of the damage caused by more than 400 Thai artillery shells, including cluster munitions, fired from 4 to 7 February.

Will Mr. Abhisit and Mr. Suwit now tell the world that the visit they objected to didn’t take place and that the attachés did not see the damage they saw?

The Cambodian National Authority for Preah Vihear has sent a report on stone damage to the Temple, which was listed as a World Heritage Site in 2008, to UNESCO. The Cambodian government has prepared several documentaries showing some of the damage, which the Cambodian delegation to the preparatory meeting has shown to interested delegates. These documentaries are available to the Thai delegates if they can bear to see evidence that the chief of their delegation is out of touch with reality.

Of course, it would be better if national and international experts could visit the Temple in person to inspect the damage. But the Thai government objects to such visits as too dangerous. But what danger is there if the Thai military is not firing at the Temple?

Therefore, the international community must not fall into the Thai incessant tricks and this big lie in the 21st century. It is also an imperative for the world community to help the restoration and the preservation of this sacred Temple, especially to prevent a renewed military attack by Thailand.

Phnom Penh, 27 May 2011
 

Press and Quick Reaction Unit of the Office of the Council of Ministers