Court hands down temple verdict

The International Court of Justice says Thailand must withdraw all military and police units from the area surrounding the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple that stands on a ridge separating Thailand and Cambodia.

The judges ruled, late Monday, that the promontory on which Preah Vihear temple sits was part of Cambodia. The court awarded the temple complex to Cambodia in a 1962 judgment, but Thailand continued to maintain that ownership of the rest of the hilltop had not been settled by that court hearing.

“The court unanimously declares that Cambodia has sovereignty over the whole of the territory of the promontory of Preah Vihear,” said Peter Tomka, president of the International Court of Justice.

The ICJ unanimously found that Cambodia’s interpretation of the sovereignty over the whole monastery “admissible” and Thailand is now under obligation to withdraw military troops from that territory.

However, it did not mention sovereignty of Phnom Trap or Phu Makheu in Thailand, urging both parties to solve the dispute by peaceful means. That area is part of the 4.6 square km area, that became a crucial component of the dispute.

Yet, the ICJ’s ruling confirmed Phnom Penh’s sovereignty over the whole of a disputed hill ridge where the Cambodian temple stands on the border with Thailand.

Thai Ambassador to the Netherlands Virachai Plasai said Cambodia had only gained a small piece of the disputed territory. “We are still calculating the exact amount,” he said.

Thai Foreign Minister Suraphong Tovichakchaikul said “Both sides were satisfied with the court’s decision.”

The court also rejected Cambodia’s claim that it was also awarded a nearby hill, called Phnum Trap, by the 1962 ICJ during the court’s judgement, Monday.

The majority of the border between Thailand and Cambodia was delimited more than a century ago, but the boundary near Preah Vihear was not demarcated.

Cambodia, 50 years after the initial judgement, submitted a request for an interpretation of the judgement to define precisely the “vicinity” of the temple.

A 1962 verdict by the International Court of Justice declared the temple to be Cambodian, but did not rule on the area around it. Cambodia sought a clarification of the ruling in 2011, after fighting erupted.

The violence left 18 people dead and tens of thousands of people displaced. Both sides agreed to withdraw troops from the disputed area in December 2011.

Preah Vihear Temple is situated on a ridge that marks the border of Thailand and Cambodia. The temple falls under Cambodian jurisdiction, but access is more convenient from the Thai side in Kantharalak district in Si Sa Ket, province in the lower Northeast region. The temple is 110 km from Si Sa Ket town and about 140 km north of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat.

In recent years, Cambodia has improved road access to the escarpment to allow tourists to visit the temple. However, the military stand-off makes trips risky. Only 8,000 trips by foreigners have been registered at the temple this year.

There is no access from Thailand which is seriously damaging tourism to the lower Northeast provinces that served as gateways for trips to the historical temple. The long-term intention was to link the temple with trips to Siem Reap’s Angkor Wat.

Sourced: ttrweekly