Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, President of the Senate of Cambodia, has called on his compatriots to remain calm over the case of Koh Kut (Kut Island), an overlapping area between Cambodia’s Koh Kong province and Thailand’s Trat province.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the 32nd National Congress of Buddhist Monks, held at the National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh this morning Samdech Techo Hun Sen recalled that he and former Thai prime minister Chatichai Choonhavan had negotiated on joint oil drill at Koh Kut, but there was no advancement on this plan. In 2001, he continued, both sides signed a memorandum of understanding, but no detailed discussions were made in the past 23 years.
Now, the extremist group has incited the Cambodian people to hold a protest demanding the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) to bring Koh Kut case to the International Court of Justice, he said, asking, “What is this? What is the act that repeatedly pushes the people not to get any peace […]?”
Samdech Techo Hun Sen wonders whether it is time for the Royal Government or the lawmakers to draft a law to classify this group as a terrorist group because it has the nature of provocation, which can lead to an armed conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, not only an internal problem of Cambodia.
The Senate President reminded that the scars of the war at Preah Vihear Temple and at Ta Moan and Ta Krabey Temples, and the suffering of Cambodian people as well as Thai people on the loss of spouses or injuries in this battle are not over yet.
“The settlement will continue, but through negotiations,” he underlined. “We have not yet used all the possibilities of bilateral negotiations.”
This morning, at the graduation ceremony of over 8,000 students of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, highlighted the RGC’s clear stance over Koh Kut issue, stressing that the RGC remains calm because it has political maturity and responsibility to the nation and the people in defending territorial integrity and national sovereignty.
Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet explained that the RGC has been settling the border issue based on official mechanism, not on Facebook platform or on media mechanism.
The official resolution mechanism is the mechanism agreed by the Royal Governments of Cambodia and Thailand, i.e. Cambodia-Thailand Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) and Joint Technical Committee (JTC), he said.
On sea border, he added, both sides have not yet gotten any resolution, even after many negotiations, but for land border of 805 kilometres long with 74 border markers based on the French-Siamese Treaty in 1907, the two neighbours have already agreed on 42 border markers.
