CAMBODIA PREPARES PREAH VIHEAR PLAN FOR UNESCO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH 000406

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS, P, D, L, IO
BANGKOK FOR T. HINES
STATE PASS TO NPS - STEPHEN MORRIS
PARIS PLEASE PASS TO US MISSION TO UNESCO - S. ENGELKEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2019
TAGS: PREL SCUL KTIA KJUS UNESCO EAID TH CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA PREPARES PREAH VIHEAR PLAN FOR UNESCO
MEETING IN SEVILLE; SEEKS MORE ACTIVE U.S. ROLE IN
ENCOURAGING THAI-CAMBODIAN MILITARY WITHDRAWAL

REF: A. STATE 41703 - SECRETARY'S APRIL 23 CONVERSATION
WITH THAI FM KASIT

B. PHNOM PENH 224 - CAMBODIA HOLDS ITS POSITION
(APRIL 3 CLASH)

C. 08 STATE 78884 - GUIDANCE TO POSTS ON
CAMBODIA-THAILAND BORDER

D. 08 STATE 77799 - INSCRIPTION OF PREAH VIHEAR

Classified By: AMBASSADOR CAROL A. RODLEY FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: In advance of his participation in the 33rd
session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Seville,
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Council of
Ministers Sok An asked to see the Ambassador June 16 to
outline progress by the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) in
developing a full Management Plan for the Preah Vihear World
Heritage site inscribed last July (Ref D). Sok An said
development of the plan met barriers such as Thai
foot-dragging on negotiations related to the disputed border
in the vicinity of Preah Vihear and delays to agreed border
demarcation. Thai non-responsiveness to reparation claims
for the destruction of a market by Thai heavy weapons is
another obstacle. Sok An also noted the RGC's difficulty in
accepting Thailand on the proposed Preah Vihear international
coordinating committee (ICC),in light of Thailand's invasion
of Cambodia last July 15 and multiple subsequent armed
clashes (Ref B). Sok An stated that withdrawal of troops and
return to the situation found before last July 15 would go a
long way to remedying the border dispute impasse. Prime
Minister Hun Sen appointed Sok An to negotiate with Thai
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsupan on the border; talks
might be scheduled for July, but success could depend on Thai
parliament giving permission to a joint border demarcation
committee at Preah Vihear. Sok An requested U.S. assistance
to "encourage both sides" to reach a resolution. END SUMMARY.

Success Hampered by Thai Obstacles
--------------


2. (C) Sok An recalled the helpful cooperation of the U.S.
delegation to the Quebec City UNESCO inscription by consensus
of Preah Vihear last July 7 (Ref D),that had culminated
earlier successful meetings in Christchurch and Paris. Now
there was no more success and the source of the problem was
the Thai claim on sovereign Cambodian territory. Once the
Thai referred to this as an "overlapping area" but now they
claim it solely as Thai territory, he said. Last July 15,
Thailand sent military close to the temple and invaded
Cambodia; they occupy Cambodian territory and don't want to
discuss withdrawal of troops. Although they say that they
want to negotiate, the Thai raise problems such as the name
of the temple, referred to in Khmer as Preah Vihear (PREE-ah
vih-HEE-ah). The 1962 judgment of the International Court of
Justice which awarded the temple to Cambodia, referred
exclusively to the "Temple of Preah Vihear" but the Thai
insist on joint communiques referring to the temple as Khao
Praviharn (the Thai name). Sok An cited this as an example
of Thai efforts to delay negotiations or render them
unproductive. He noted the unilateral Thai demarcation of
the borderline in the vicinity of Preah Vihear was
inconsistent with the 1908 map used by the ICJ. Sok An
complained that a bilateral team ready to begin demarcation
in late May was halted when the Thai pulled out of a
previously agreed mission, citing the excuse that they needed
permission from the Thai parliament.


3. (C) Sok An noted that UNESCO delegations continued to go
to the main Preah Vihear Temple complex (recognized to be in
Cambodian territory) to continue to develop the required
UNESCO World Heritage Management Plan. Pulling out a
foot-high stack of reports, he walked the Ambassador through
completed and draft plans, including plans to preserve the
site's "spectacular landscape environment" overlooking virgin
Cambodian forest from the temple perched atop a cliff on the
Dangrek Range. Part of the landscape seen from that view was
being referred to as the Sussman Rectangle, he noted, in
honor of private consultant Richard Sussman, a retired U.S.
National Park Service official.

Reparations From April 3 Destruction of Market
-------------- -


4. (C) Showing photographs of a marketplace (catering to
tourists) from before and after the April 3 clash of arms

PHNOM PENH 00000406 002 OF 003


(Ref B),Sok An noted that Thai heavy weapons had set the
market on fire, causing $2.5 million in property destruction.
Although Cambodia had paid reparations to Thailand of over
$30 million due to the destruction of Thai property in
anti-Thai riots in Phnom Penh in 2003, now the Thai were
silent on the fire started by Thai weapons that ruined the
livelihoods of 312 Cambodian families inside recognized
Cambodian territory, he said. A diplomatic note the Royal
Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent directly to the
Royal Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 11 has gone
unanswered, he said. The RGC is planning an archaeological
excavation on the area of the razed market, and will help
restore the market with a well-laid out area of modern kiosks
suitable to the environment. UNESCO was well aware of this
destruction, he said and UNESCO Director General Koichura
Matsura had issued a statement of concern on April 4,
deploring the loss of life and calling for renewed
negotiations on the border. Flipping through a large photo
album depicting multiple bullet pock-marks to the ancient
Preah Vihear temple, Sok An noted that UNESCO DG Matsura had
separately called on the international community to ensure
Preah Vihear's protection.

Plans Going Forward...
--------------


5. (C) In the meantime, Cambodia was developing its national
plan to resettle the market families and those from a
separate village that had sprung up within the panoramic
view. These 800 families would be relocated to a model
village 10 kilometers distant where Sok An had just helped
build the first 5X10-meter wooden house, each of which would
be situated on 5000 square meters of land. An
inter-ministerial committee was ensuring that water, a
school, a health center, pagoda, and modern market would all
be located on this new land concession. Multiple ministries
-- water resources, land management, interior, agriculture --
were actively involved and the Cambodian Mine Action Center
had been called in to conduct humanitarian de-mining. (NOTE:
Preah Vihear and the surrounding area was one of the last
Khmer Rouge strongholds attached to then KR headquarters at
Anlong Veng, which held out until 1998. END NOTE.)

...But Not Without the Help of the U.S.
--------------


6. (C) Sok An painted a picture of an active Cambodian team
well served by international consultants, intent on creating
a strong Management Plan for the Preah Vihear UNESCO World
Heritage Site. He said that the U.S. could help by
addressing a number of issues in Cambodian-Thai bilateral
relations and by "encouraging both sides" to take action.
Cambodia was the victim of an invasion on July 15, and
although Cambodia has tried to negotiate several times, these
negotiation have not gone forward. Cambodia has taken the
view that slow negotiations are better than no negotiations,
but both sides need the intention to go forward, he said.
Cambodia enjoyed the warm support of the U.S. in Quebec and
Cambodia hoped for the continued support of the U.S.
Praising Thai Prime Minister Abhisit for agreeing to
negotiation under the terms of a bilateral 2000 MOU on the
border through a Joint Border Commission (JBC),Sok An was
nonetheless skeptical that negotiations would move quickly.
He said that he would meet with Thai DPM Suthep in July some
time, but hinted that the bilateral demarcation team already
agreed to by the JBC would have to start its work at Preah
Vihear if any serious progress was to be made. Describing
Thai maneuvering as "very tricky," and noting that Thai
military movements were persistent in the Preah Vihear area,
he called on the U.S. to push for bilateral troop withdrawals
to positions consistent with the pre-July 15 status quo ante.


7. (C) COMMENT: Post will forward to the U.S. delegation to
the UNESCO Committee meeting in Seville some of the
background materials provided by Sok An. Following the trail
of the bilateral negotiation on Preah Vihear is not always
easy as it overlaps several Thai governments, some of which
have timely reversed positions (e.g., a June 18, 2008
bilateral communique that UNESCO decided should be
disregarded). Sok An frequently likes to cite Cambodian
successes in verbal negotiations, even if not part of the
official written record. While we recognize the merit in
UNESCO's decision to request the RGC to invite Thailand to
join the ICC, absent serious Thai engagement on a diplomatic

PHNOM PENH 00000406 003 OF 003


resolution of the border issue, something has to give. The
ICC needs to be formed to start its work. Similarly, Thai
participation in the Management Plan would be ideal, but not
as long as the presence of large numbers of Thai military
personnel and equipment in the Preah Vihear area inhibit
access to the site from Thailand. Post strongly recommends
that we once again actively engage both sides in the border
dispute, as we began to do in 2008 (Ref C),but were unable
to sustain given the political upheaval in Thailand.
Withdrawal of troops is the critical first step toward a more
permanent solution to the border dispute and will help avert
further armed clashes.
RODLEY