UN includes Thai-Cambodia border dispute on emergency agenda

At the request of Cambodia, United Nations has included the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia in its emergency session scheduled on July 24.

Thai Permanent Representative to the UN Don Pramudwinai said the inclusion of the dispute in the agenda is in line with the UN regulations which will consider any complaint from member states.

"We have expected this to happen because it is in line with the UN regulations. Now we are discussing the matter," Don said.

The UN Security Council has 15 members, five of which; China, France, US, Russia and UK, are permanent members while the ten others are on rotation basis.

Don said now Vietnam which is president of the Security Council is the only Asian country. "We still have hoped on the matter on Vietnam which is still neutral on the matter," he said without elaboration.

On Monday Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, claiming he feared an "imminent state of war," appealed to the 15-member UN Security Council to intervene in the Thai-Cambodian dispute over conflicting claims to territory adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple.

Thailand has informed the UN of its preference to resolve the dispute through bilateral talks, Don said.

Cambodian Defence Minister Teah Banh and Thai Supreme Commander General Boonsrang Niempradit met at the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet on Monday in an attempt to defuse the temple dispute bilaterally but failed to find a solution to the legal obstacles involved.

Thailand still claims that a 4.6-square-kilometre plot of land adjacent to the temple is still subject to this dispute.

The dispute over Preah Vihear flared up again earlier this month when Cambodia proposed listed the temple compound, minus the disputed 4.6 square kilometres around it, as a World Heritage Site at Unesco.

The proposal was approved on July 7, despite Thai opposition.

There are an estimated 2,000 troops now facing each other across the border around the temple, situated between Si Sa Khet and Phrea Vihear provinces, in Thailand and Cambodia, respectively, about 400 kilometres north-east of Bangkok.          

The border spat comes at a sensitive time for both countries. Cambodia is heading for a general election on Sunday, and Thailand's coalition government is heading for a reshuffle if not an early retirement.