THAILAND BELIEVES CAMBODIA RECENTLY PLACED MINES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 003069 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV TH CB SUBJECT: THAILAND BELIEVES CAMBODIA RECENTLY PLACED MINES IN DISPUTED PREAH VIHEAR AREA REF: A. BANGKOK 3021 ¶B. PHNOM PENH 814 ¶C. BANGKOK 2854 ¶D. BANGKOK 2487 ¶E. BANGKOK 2464 ¶F. STATE 86724 ¶G. BANGKOK 2428 ¶H. PHNOM PENH 679 Classified By: Ambassador Eric G. John, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY AND COMMENT -------------- ¶1. (C) Two THAI soldiers were severely injured October 6 by landmines that the THAI government believes were recently placed by the Cambodian military in disputed territory near the Preah Vihear temple. The THAI government is analyzing fragments from the landmines in hopes of proving whether the mines had been recently placed in the same area where a October 3 clash left two THAI troops injured. The THAI government has so far downplayed the mine incident in hopes of facilitating productive talks with Hun Sen during Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's October 13 visit to Phnom Penh. ¶2. (C) Comment: The THAI government continues to take a low-key approach to the border dispute with Cambodia in the hope that it can be resolved peacefully through bilateral mechanisms. The RTG appears committed to this approach despite what would appear to be a prime opportunity to try to shift public opinion away from the ongoing political conflict in Bangkok. We will continue to stress to our RTG counterparts that we support resolving the issue through peaceful, bilateral means. End Summary and Comment. THAILAND ALLEGES NEW MINES LAID BY CAMBODIA -------------- ¶3. (C) The THAI MFA and Royal THAI Armed Forces Headquarters (RTARF) have expressed serious concerns to us in recent days about landmines that the RTG believes were newly placed by Cambodia in the disputed area near the Preah Vihear temple. The RTG's concern follows an October 6 incident that left two Thai paramilitary soldiers severely injured. Media reports said the explosions cost one ranger both of his legs, while the other ranger lost his left leg. The troops were injured after stepping on landmines while on patrol in the area of the October 3 clash that left two THAI soldiers and at least one Cambodian injured (Ref A). ¶4. (C) The RTG has so far publicly downplayed concerns regarding the October 6 incident. Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat said publicly October 7 that the landmines likely were placed in the area some time ago but that the government was looking into the incident to verify whether the mines were recently planted or remained from the Khmer Rouge era. New Royal THAI Armed Forces Supreme Commander General Songkitti Jaggabartra also downplayed the incident during the Ambassador's October 7 courtesy call. Songkitti told Ambassador that he considered the Joint Border Commission and military to military negotiations the most appropriate fora to raise the recent incidents. PLANS TO RAISE BILATERALLY, BUT NOT BY PM -------------- ¶5. (C) Songkitti also told the Ambassador that he had assigned RTARF Border Affairs Director Lieutenant General Nipat Thonglek to coordinate with his Cambodian counterpart so as to limit fallout from the recent incidents. Songkitti planned to go to Cambodia to try to help resolve the issue after progress had been made at Lieutenant General Nipat's level. Songkitti told the Ambassador that he believed the recent Cambodian actions were intended to take advantage of BANGKOK 00003069 002 OF 002 the THAI government's preoccupation with the ongoing internal political conflict. ¶6. (C) The THAI government has in recent days begun to take a stronger line privately regarding the mine incident. During a October 8 meeting with the DCM, RTARF Headquarters Chief of Staff General Ratchakit Kanchanawat accused the Cambodian government of placing new mines in the disputed area. Ratchakit said the THAI military had proof that the mines were recently laid due to forensic analysis of the mine fragments from the explosion. Ratchakit said the mines were a violation of bilateral agreements to not alter the disputed areas and of the Ottawa Treaty on landmines. The RTG would prepare evidence for Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's October 13 visit to Cambodia to meet Prime Minister Hun Sen but would not make the accusation public before then, Ratchakit said. The RTARF also told the DCM that the THAI military had identified the mines as made in Russia. ¶7. (C) Mongkol Visitstump, Counselor in the MFA's Department of East Asian Affairs, confirmed to us October 10 that the RTG had verified that the landmines involved in the incident were Russian-origin. Mongkol told us that while the RTG believed that the mines had been recently placed in the disputed area, the RTG was not yet prepared to indisputably conclude that the landmines had been recently installed. Fragments from the landmines were being evaluated in attempt to determine if this was the case. If the RTG were able to prove that Cambodia had recently placed the landmines in the disputed area, the Thais would raise the issue in Geneva with the United Nations, as both Thailand and Cambodia were signatories to the Ottawa convention against land mines. ¶8. (C) The MFA's Mongkol told us that Prime Minister Somchai was not expected to raise this issue during his October 13 meeting with Hun Sen because the RTG had not yet proven that the mines were new. In addition, the MFA hoped positive momentum could result from the Prime Ministers' meeting so as to move bilateral discussions on the disputed border area forward. Thailand did not want to internationalize the border dispute, since the THAI government was confident that bilateral negotiations would succeed if both sides were patient. JOHN