THAI-CAMBODIAN BORDER DISPUTE: MILITARY DIALOGUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 001275 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS TH CB SUBJECT: THAI-CAMBODIAN BORDER DISPUTE: MILITARY DIALOGUE AS BORDER DEMARCATION TALKS PROGRESS Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission James F. Entwistle, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. A May 21 phone conversation between Thai Army Commander General Anupong Paochinda and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen underscored efforts to preclude further clashes between the militaries of the two countries. The Director of the Thai Army's Foreign Liaison Division called talks between the two militaries frequent, but said they were conducted quietly. Despite the ongoing talks, the Thai Army viewed Hun Sen's demands that Thai troops unilaterally withdraw from the disputed territory as nonsensical. The Thai MFA told us that the Thai and Cambodian joint border commission had in early April made substantial progress, leading to an acceleration of joint field surveys along the Thai-Cambodian border to the west of the temple. The MFA judged the current status of Thai-Cambodian relations overall as stable, with cooperation moving forward in other areas. ¶2. (C) Comment. We remain reassured by seeming commitment by Thai and Cambodian governments to the joint border commission process for resolving the border dispute. That said, the process of settling overlapping claims will not be easy. The dispute covers a range of areas well beyond the immediate area around the Preah Vihear temple, and the Thai government is more focused on the vital, difficult domestic issues of political conflict, economic troubles, and the insurgency in the South. As such, it may be difficult to forge a compromise soon. Talks by the two militaries are promising, but the continued presence of soldiers in close proximity to each other could easily lead to further clashes. We will continue to raise the issue with Thai interlocutors and urge peaceful resolution of misunderstandings and disputes. End Summary and comment. MILITARY TALKS PROGRESSING UNDER THE RADAR -------------- ¶3. (U) A May 21 phone conversation between Royal Thai Army Commander General Anupong Paochinda and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen highlighted ongoing talks between Thailand and Cambodia over 4.6 square kilometers of disputed territory around Preah Vihear temple. The Bangkok Post reported May 23 that Anupong and Hun Sen spoke of the need for the two countries' soldiers to carry out their duties peacefully. Anupong reportedly initiated the conversation with Hun Sen in hopes of preventing further clashes between troops located in the disputed area. According to the article, Cambodian Deputy Commander-in-chief General Chea Dara also hosted Anupong for a visit to the temple itself, a first for high ranking Thai officials since the UNESCO-related controversy broke a year earlier in May 2008. ¶4. (C) The RTA 2nd Army command in charge of the Thai-Cambodia border region told us that Anupong had discussed with Hun Sen ways to avoid clashes and had stressed to the Cambodian leader that both Thai and Cambodian troops should work together and leave resolution of the border dispute to the joint border commission process. The 2nd Army also told us that it was quite rare for the Thai Army commander to communicate directly with the Cambodian Prime Minister. ¶5. (C) Colonel Werachon Sukondhapatipak, Director of the Royal Thai Army's (RTA) Foreign Liaison Division, told us May 22 that General Anupong's conversation with Hun Sen reflected ongoing, discreet talks between the two militaries that were conducted at many levels. These talks were intended to reduce tensions and to preclude clashes rather than to resolve the border dispute. Werachon said that the Thai and Cambodian militaries were comfortable talking with each other and preferred direct talks to those involving their countries' diplomats because political issues complicated matters when other actors were included. THAI ARMY CALLS HUN SEN'S DEMANDS UNREALISTIC -------------- ¶6. (C) Werachon said Hun Sen's repeated demands that Thailand remove military personnel from the disputed area were BANGKOK 00001275 002 OF 002 particularly sensitive for the RTA. The RTA did not dispute the 1962 International Court of Justice's decision that granted Preah Vihear to Cambodia, but the effect of Thailand complying with Hun Sen's ultimatum would be to give legal legitimacy to Cambodian claims on the 4.6 square kilometers of disputed territory. The RTA would withdraw troops from the disputed territory if Cambodia did as well, Werachon said. Failing a coordinated joint withdrawal, the RTA intended to maintain positions in the disputed territory until Thailand and Cambodia could resolve the dispute through the joint border commission mechanism, as had been agreed to in 2000. If both sides withdrew, then the disputed territory could be developed over time for tourism. ¶7. (C) Werachon said the RTA believed that the issue of the disputed territory would be extremely difficult to resolve. As such, it was likely to take many years before the two sides could come to an agreement; the RTA therefore hoped to pursue activities in the interim to build trust between the two militaries in order to avoid provocations. Despite continued dialogue, the RTA was concerned with what it perceived to be strengthened Cambodian military positions in and around the disputed territory, Werachon said. Cambodia had constructed more robust positions in the disputed territory and had recently replaced provincial, paramilitary-type soldiers with Special Forces soldiers. (Note: We have no independent confirmation of this. End note.) MOVEMENT IN JOINT BORDER COMMISSION TALKS -------------- ¶8. (C) MFA Chief of Cambodia Section Mongkol Visitstump characterized Thai-Cambodian relations as a friendly in a May 22 conversation. Mongkol said he believed that much progress had been made during the April 6-7 Joint Thai-Cambodian Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) meeting in Phnom Penh, but that the success of the meeting had been overshadowed in Thailand by protests later that week which had resulted in the postponement of the ASEAN 6 Summit in Pattaya. The two sides had agreed to endorse the minutes of three meetings of the JBC, something that had not been achieved since the first JBC meeting in November, 2008. In addition, the two sides agreed that joint operations in the disputed area would be called "Temporary Military Monitoring Groups." With these agreements, a joint field survey of the condition and location of boundary pillars for the Thai-Cambodian border along Si Sa Ket and Surin provinces would commence soon after Thailand and Cambodia transferred joint survey teams from border areas at Chanthaburi and Trat provinces. ¶9. (C) Mongkol told us that the official name for the temple remains a sticking point for the JBC, because the Thai government believed it must use Khao Phra Viharn, as that was the Thai-language name used by the Thai Parliament in approving the bilateral negotiations per Article 190 of constitution, not the Cambodian Preah Vihear (Note: In JBC meetings, the Thai have proposed both names be used, but the Cambodians have rejected the request, according to LTG Nipat Thonglek, Head of the Border Division at Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters and a JBC participant. End note). This issue would be discussed at the next JBC meeting which would be held in August, according to Mongkol. ¶10. (C) MFA Deputy Director-General of East Asian Affairs Department Pisanu Suvanajata also confirmed to us that the MFA viewed Thai-Cambodian relations as currently stable. The border dispute, including the area around Preah Vihear temple and other border problems, remained contentious, but other areas of cooperation were proceeding well. JOHN