Suwit defends his Preah Vihear role

Preah Vihear

By: BangkokPost.com
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti on Thursday insisted he was able to get Thailand about one year of extra time to raise its concerns over the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (Unesco) listing of Preah Vihear temple as a world heritage site.


Mr Suwit admitted Preah Vihear had already been listed as a world heritage site, as Pongpol Adireksarn, former chairman of the Thai World Heritage Committee, had said.�

But Cambodia had yet to formally complete its obligations by �presenting a management plan �for safeguarding and developing the temple, �including a map of the buffer zone around the site.

Because of Thailand's opposition to the listing, coupled with Cambodia's inability to submit its plan by February this year, the WHC decided to give Cambodia until next February to do so.�

This has given Thailand the opportunity to raise its concerns over its border dispute with Cambodia, said Mr Suwit.

Mr Suwit said Unesco has been told the two countries have not been able to settle their border dispute.� "We need to explore ways of settling the dispute to end the Thai-Cambodian conflict over the listing of Preah Vihear," he added.

Asked whether Thailand would try to seek a bilateral listing of the temple, Mr Suwit said this could be done only after the disputed border has been clearly demarcated. �

Posted in: Cambodia,News