Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PHNOMPENH317
2006-02-16 10:47:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Phnom Penh
Cable title:  

CAMBODIA AND THAILAND FOCUS ON BORDER ISSUES

Tags:  PREL PGOV CB TH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9392
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0317/01 0471047
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 161047Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6029
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1315
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000317 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS; GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV CB TH
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA AND THAILAND FOCUS ON BORDER ISSUES
DURING BILATERAL TALKS

Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Margaret McKean, Reason 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000317

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS; GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV CB TH
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA AND THAILAND FOCUS ON BORDER ISSUES
DURING BILATERAL TALKS

Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Margaret McKean, Reason 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. Thailand and Cambodia agreed to survey
and delimit their land border over the next year and resolve
their maritime border claims by the end of 2007. Nearly 90
percent of Thai business claims arising from the 2003
anti-Thai riots have been addressed, but new Thai businesses
are focusing more on the tourism market in Siem Reap than
elsewhere in the country. The Thai Embassy rejects Cambodian
claims of mistreatment based on ethnicity of Cambodian
nationals at the border. The last-minute cancellation of the
November 2005 RGC-GOT bilateral meetings in Siem Reap was the
result of the Thai FM's urgent return to Bangkok to travel to
Malaysia for the funeral of the deceased wife of the
Malaysian FM, and not a reflection of GOT dissatisfaction
with the Cambodian government. End Summary.

Thai-Cambodian Relations: Reasonably Good
--------------


2. (C) On February 15, Pol/Econ Chief met with Songchai
Chaipatiyut, Second Secretary of the Thai Embassy, to discuss
the recent bilateral talks between the Thai and Cambodian
governments at the fifth Joint Commission on Bilateral
Cooperation that wrapped up on February 8. Songchai said the
talks had gone "reasonably well," but complained at the large
number of officials participating in the meetings.
Thai-Cambodian cooperation extends to 40 sectors; the total
number of participants from both sides during the discussions
numbered around several hundred people, said the Embassy
official. The key areas of interest during the talks
centered on the border demarcation of both the land and sea
borders and migrant Cambodian workers seeking to enter
Thailand.


3. (C) On the border issue, Cambodia and Thailand agreed to
complete a five-step process to delimit their land border
during CY 2006 and finalize an agreement on their maritime
border in 2007 -- an agreement that Songchai believes is
unrealistic. In the first place, the Thai official said that
Cambodia continues to work with the Vietnamese on their joint

commitment to demarcate the agreed-upon land border (save for
the disputed Dak Dam section of Mondulkiri) as well as
continue discussions on maritime borders. The Cambodians are
also working with the Lao on their border issues, he added.
The Thai-Cambodian land border is not as contentious as
Cambodia's border with Vietnam, he noted, as both sides
accept the French colonial borders defined in the early 20th
century. Some watersheds along the border may have shifted
slightly or are less well defined today, but Songchai said
there is general agreement that the problem with the
Thai-Cambodia border is a technical, rather than political,
issue. (Note: In a separate conversation with Cambodian MFA
SecState Long Visalo, the RGC official agreed on this point.
The problem with the Thai-Cambodia border, he said, is that
the old border markers were spaced widely and some markers
have either been lost or moved. Visalo said that the French
colonial government had physically relocated people,
including French colonial settlers, along the Thai-Cambodia
border when the border was agreed upon over 100 years
earlier; but no such population adjustment was overseen along
the Cambodian-Vietnam border. End Note.)


4. (C) Nevertheless, the technical aspects of getting to
the physical demarcation of the border area will take time.
Songchai has worked on border negotiations with Cambodia for
several years, and he acknowledged that the projected
timeframe for concluding the land and maritime borders is
overly optimistic. The two sides have not even begun to
review the old maps and redraw the border on up-to-date maps.
He noted that the overlapping claims area involving maritime
oil and gas deposits is particularly controversial, but
refused to speculate as to how a final agreement is likely to
look. Both sides are relying are foreign legal experts and
Songchai mentioned that the Cambodian side appears to be
receiving private U.S. legal advice.


5. (C) A second topic of particular interest to both sides
in the bilateral talks revolved around migration issues.
Songchai defended the GOT's treatment of Cambodians trying to
illegally enter the country. He said that the RGC continues
to characterize the issue as racist but the Thai diplomat
insisted that was not the case. If the Thai border police
find people crossing illegally into Thai territory and
request them to stop, and they refuse, the Thai law
enforcement officials have the right to apprehend them, he
stated. In some cases, the border officials are not aware of
the persons' nationality -- whether they are Thai, Cambodian,

PHNOM PENH 00000317 002 OF 002


Vietnamese or another nationality. But the Cambodians always
complain that the Thai are discriminating against them on the
basis of race. He added that the GOT is trying to regularize
the procedure for Cambodians to work in Thailand, but said
many Cambodians do not adhere to the law.


6. (C) Finally, Songchai explained that the previously
scheduled joint commission meeting in November 2005 was
canceled abruptl due to the death of the Malaysian PM's
wife, and the need for the Thai FM to return to Bangkok in
preparation for the funeral. Unfortunately, as the Thai
delegation was heading back to Bangkok, the GOT decided to
send a higher level delegation to Malaysia, but by then it
was too late to restart the Thai-Cambodia meetings. The
Cambodian government, continued Songchai, was unhappy with
the GOT over the incident, and there were some negative press
articles. He affirmed, however, there was no intentional
diplomatic slight.

Thai Businesses: Heading for Siem Reap
--------------


7. (C) In response to questions concerning Thai business
activity since the 2003 anti-Thai riots, Songchai said that
roughly 90 percent of the compensation has been provided by
the RGC; of the remaining 10 percent, some of it may never be
paid out as the claimants may not pursue it for business
reasons, or an agreement may not be reached between the RGC
and the business in question. As to whether there is
increased Thai business investment interest these days,
Songchai responded that Thai businessmen are more interested
in Vietnam than Cambodia. Start-up costs are too high in
Cambodia, even compared with Thailand. Nearly everything
must be imported, he noted. The one-stop shop for business
registration at the Council for the Development of Cambodia
(CDC) is good in theory, in practice it is a different story,
noted the Thai diplomat. The tax issue is not
straightforward in Cambodia, and Thai businesses often
believe they are taxed unfairly compared with their Cambodian
counterparts. Thai hotels and restaurants in Siem Reap are
another story, he added, and represent attractive business
opportunities. But that is the only area where there is real
movement.


8. (C) Comment: Despite the good relationship between the
prime ministers, Thai-Cambodian relations still have not
fully recovered from the 2003 anti-Thai riots that led to the
gutting of the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh. With this latest
agreement on borders -- announced by the Thai FM at the
celebration of the 55th anniversary of bilateral relations --
the Thai are effectively playing catch-up ball with the
Vietnamese, who recently concluded their own border agreement
with Cambodia. The Thai FM commented privately to us then
that his advisors told him the agreement was too ambitious.
They may have been right -- but the political message remains
a positive one. End Comment.
Mussomeli