Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08PHNOMPENH840
2008-10-10 11:40:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Phnom Penh
Cable title:
CAMBODIA PREPARING FOR DOWNGRADED THAI VISIT;
VZCZCXRO3216 OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH DE RUEHPF #0840 2841140 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 101140Z OCT 08 FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9989 INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 2529 RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 2335 RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0172 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0649 RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 0674 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 3228 RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0113 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY 0013 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2325 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHDC PRIORITY RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY 0132
UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 000840
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, P, D
NSC FOR L. PHU
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KTIA MOPS TH CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA PREPARING FOR DOWNGRADED THAI VISIT;
STILL FOCUSED ON BORDER ISSUES
REF: PHNOM PENH 814
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.
UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 000840
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, P, D
NSC FOR L. PHU
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KTIA MOPS TH CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA PREPARING FOR DOWNGRADED THAI VISIT;
STILL FOCUSED ON BORDER ISSUES
REF: PHNOM PENH 814
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.
1. (SBU) Cambodian officials learned late October 10 that
the Thai Prime Minister has postponed his official visit to
Cambodia originally scheduled for October 12-13.
Nonetheless, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) is
awaiting the visit of Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister Sompong Amornvivat, who was apparently delegated by
the Thai PM to make the visit. MFA note verbales from the RGC
announcing official arrival times of the Thai PM's delegation
had already been issued when the news of the official
postponement arrived. The Thai embassy's first secretary had
just received the word himself and could only speculate that
internal Thai matters had detained the PM at home.
2. (SBU) Senior Minister and RGC Chair of the Joint Border
Commission Var Kimhong told A/DCM that RGC Deputy Prime
Minister Hor Namhong would receive his counterpart the
morning of October 13 and that the RGC planned to raise
bilateral border issues. No follow-on meetings had yet been
planned; Var Kim Hong noted any detailed talks on the
Thai-Cambodian border would depend on what transpired between
the two foreign ministers.
3. (SBU) The talks come as both sides begin again to ramp
up troop presence along Cambodia's northern border with
Thailand in several patches of disputed territory along the
Dangrek Range. The most prominent of these disputed areas is
near to the ancient Khmer Preah Vihear temple awarded to
Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962 and
designated a UNESCO World Heritage site last July 7. A brief
clash on October 3 and the serious injury of two Thai
soldiers from mine blasts on October 6 have contributed to
tensions along the border. (NOTE: In 2007, 357 Cambodians
suffered casualties from mine blasts and the vast majority of
these occurred in the northwestern and northern provinces
which were heavily mined by Khmer Rouge forces up until their
surrender in the Preah Vihear area in 1998. Tourists to
Preah Vihear who wander off into the surrounding landscape
have also suffered mine injuries, due to lack of knowledge by
RGC authorities of Khmer Rouge mine fields and incomplete
clearance of old mines. END NOTE.)
CAMPBELL
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, P, D
NSC FOR L. PHU
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KTIA MOPS TH CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA PREPARING FOR DOWNGRADED THAI VISIT;
STILL FOCUSED ON BORDER ISSUES
REF: PHNOM PENH 814
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.
1. (SBU) Cambodian officials learned late October 10 that
the Thai Prime Minister has postponed his official visit to
Cambodia originally scheduled for October 12-13.
Nonetheless, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) is
awaiting the visit of Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister Sompong Amornvivat, who was apparently delegated by
the Thai PM to make the visit. MFA note verbales from the RGC
announcing official arrival times of the Thai PM's delegation
had already been issued when the news of the official
postponement arrived. The Thai embassy's first secretary had
just received the word himself and could only speculate that
internal Thai matters had detained the PM at home.
2. (SBU) Senior Minister and RGC Chair of the Joint Border
Commission Var Kimhong told A/DCM that RGC Deputy Prime
Minister Hor Namhong would receive his counterpart the
morning of October 13 and that the RGC planned to raise
bilateral border issues. No follow-on meetings had yet been
planned; Var Kim Hong noted any detailed talks on the
Thai-Cambodian border would depend on what transpired between
the two foreign ministers.
3. (SBU) The talks come as both sides begin again to ramp
up troop presence along Cambodia's northern border with
Thailand in several patches of disputed territory along the
Dangrek Range. The most prominent of these disputed areas is
near to the ancient Khmer Preah Vihear temple awarded to
Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962 and
designated a UNESCO World Heritage site last July 7. A brief
clash on October 3 and the serious injury of two Thai
soldiers from mine blasts on October 6 have contributed to
tensions along the border. (NOTE: In 2007, 357 Cambodians
suffered casualties from mine blasts and the vast majority of
these occurred in the northwestern and northern provinces
which were heavily mined by Khmer Rouge forces up until their
surrender in the Preah Vihear area in 1998. Tourists to
Preah Vihear who wander off into the surrounding landscape
have also suffered mine injuries, due to lack of knowledge by
RGC authorities of Khmer Rouge mine fields and incomplete
clearance of old mines. END NOTE.)
CAMPBELL