A Good Lesson for the Government of Thailand

AKP Phnom Penh, May 29, 2011 — Supalak Ganjanakhundee, on 25 May 2011 concluded a piece in The Nation, under the title: “Thin grounds for World Heritage stance” by saying that “ of course, Thailand has the right to protect its sovereignty over the territory, but it should be kept in mind that this country has never exercised that right beyond the territory it really holds.” I concurred totally with Supalak Ganjanakhundee, and moreover I must add that world historians and the international community have observed that Thailand, through its long history, had never ever allowed its territory to be encroached upon or to be held by any other country other than Thailand. Thailand takes tremendous pride for that.

I am asking Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailand Foreign Minister Kasit Pyromya, Thailand Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti and other Thai politicians of their kinds the following simple question: Has Thailand ever really held the “so-called 4.6 sq km of dispute land between Cambodia and Thailand.”?

It must be quite clear to Abhisit Vejjajiva, Kasit Pyromya, Suwit Khunkitti and other Thai politicians of their kinds that laying claim over a territory is not “really” holding a territory. If they cannot see the fundamental difference, they must be dumb and stupid or otherwise excessively arrogant and totally insane. Arrogance and insanity are among the many traits of the Nazis and the Fascists. By all accounts and with all due respect to the Thai people, they are not dumb and stupid.

The answer to the above question is no. Thailand had never ever held “the so-called 4.6 sq km of dispute land between Cambodia and Thailand.” Therefore, as a matter of fact and truth, as a matter of common sense and reasonableness, and even without referring to the internationally recognized French-Siamese Treaties of 1904 and 1907, logically speaking Thailand has no ground to exercise sovereignty over the “so-called 4.6 sq km.”

Arrogance and insanity push Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailand Foreign Minister Kasit Pyromya, Thailand Natural Resources and Environment Suwit Khunkitti, and other Thai politicians of their kinds to lay claim over the territory that Thailand cannot exercise the right to protect sovereignty over that territory.

29 May 2011
Pen Ngoeun,
Advisor to the Office of the Council of Ministers

Royal Government of Cambodia,

Member of the Advisory Committee of the PRU

(The comments are solely the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Government of Cambodia.)