THAI-CAMBODIAN SPAT: THAI RANGERS CLASH WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 000198 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2020 TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS TH CB SUBJECT: THAI-CAMBODIAN SPAT: THAI RANGERS CLASH WITH CAMBODIAN TROOPS IN VICINITY OF PREVIOUS ILLEGAL LOGGING INCIDENT Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission James F. Entwistle, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Thai rangers clashed January 24 with Cambodian troops in area east of the Preah Vihear temple. The clash apparently occurred near where Cambodian troops had engaged in illegal logging inside Thailand earlier in January. There were no reports of casualties. Local Thai and Cambodian military moved quickly to defuse tensions, and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva January 25 publicly downplayed the incident. End Summary. THAI RANGERS CLASH WITH CAMBODIAN SOLDIERS -------------- ¶2. (U) Thai border rangers (tahaan prahn) clashed January 24 with Cambodian troops near the Preah Vihear temple on the Thai-Cambodian border according to Thai media. Thai media also reported that tensions eased in the area after local commanders agreed that the clash was a misunderstanding, and that the two sides also suspended their border patrols for the time being. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva publicly downplayed the latest border shooting incident January 25, saying that situation would not escalate. ¶3. (C) Colonel Thanet Wongcha-um, Chief of Staff of Suranaree Task Force of 2rd Army Region, told us that the clash stemmed from misunderstanding on the part of ten to twenty Cambodian soldiers who had entered Thai territory. Thai rangers from the 23rd Ranger Forces Regiment, who were on patrol along the Thai-Cambodian border, confronted the Cambodian troops in Ban Samtae, Tambon Phu Pha Mok, Kantharalak district of Sri Sa Ket Province. Thanet told us that the Thai rangers had asked the Cambodian troops to withdraw from the area, but that the Cambodians had fired on the rangers with RPG rockets and small arms fire. As such, the rangers had returned fire in self-defense. Thanet told us he believed that some of the Cambodian soldiers had been wounded as a result of the approximately twenty minute clash. ¶4. (C) Sri Sa Ket Governor Rapi Phongbuphakit shared a similar account with us January 25 after talking to Thai military sources. In Rapi's version, twenty Thai rangers from 23rd Ranger Forces Regiment clashed with thirty Cambodian soldiers while patrolling along the Thai-Cambodian border, after the Thai troops had unsuccessfully asked the Cambodian troops to leave an area that the Thai military claimed as Thai territory. Rapi noted to us that both Thailand and Cambodia claimed sovereignty over this area. ILLEGAL LOGGING INCIDENTS LED TO RISING TEMPERATURES? -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The clash follows a January 10 incident in the same area in which two Cambodian soldiers were captured for trespassing on Thai soil, allegedly engaged in illegal logging. Since September 2009, there have been numerous incidents involving Thai border rangers and illegal Cambodian loggers crossing into Thailand to cut down trees. ¶6. (C) Thanet confirmed that the area of the January 24 clash had been the scene of illegal logging incidents by Cambodians, and told us that two Cambodian soldiers had been captured while felling trees on January 10. The Thai military had detained the Cambodian soldiers and returned them to the Cambodian military in accordance with established procedures. ¶7. (U) The Bangkok Post also reported January 25 that Lieutenant Colonel Nat Sri-in, commander of the 63rd Infantry Battalion responsible for security operations at Ban Samtae and the Chong Ta Thao border pass near Preah Vihear, claimed that Thai rangers in a separate January 24 incident clashed while on patrol with illegal loggers. According to Nat, the Cambodian loggers opened fire to scare off the rangers but fled after the rangers returned fire. LOOKING TO DEFUSE THE SITUATION -------------- ¶8. (C) COL Thanet told us he had visited the border area BANGKOK 00000198 002 OF 002 following the clash and communicated with Major General Srey Doek of Cambodia's 3rd Reinforcement Division in order to defuse the situation. JOHN