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 Many archeological sites from the Angkor era in the border area could soon become centres of conflict as Bangkok and Phnom Penh both see their value for the tourism industry.

 Many temple ruins found in the heart of ancient Khmer civilisation along the border from Sa Kaew up to Si Sa Ket have great potential to be restored for tourism purposes.

The splendour of ancient Khmer civilisation is no less than any other in the world. Countries in the region can commercialise on the ancient marvel to generate hard currencies for their economies.

 No doubt Cambodia can claim it is the centre of the Khmer civilisation since the famous Angkor Wat is there in Siem Reap, and to complete the jigsaw the country could begin to count other Hindu temples in the region.

 Unfortunately, the artificial boundary drawn by the modern states of Cambodia and Thailand more than a hundred years ago have prevented the possibility of having a complete set of Khmer civilisation relics in a single collection.

Phnom Penh won a long battle with Thailand nearly a half of century ago, and found amongst its prizes the Preah Vihear temple. A huge sandstone structure on top of 500-metre hill, it is an example of the most supreme architecture that humans of that era could make. Preah Vihear was listed as a World Heritage site in July with high Cambodian expectations that the new status would generate ten times the 40,000 visits it had in 2006. In spite of the military stand-off at the site, a Cambodian official said that visitors to Preah Vihear had doubled after the World Heritage designation.

 Another claim raised by Phnom Penh recently over another ruined temple, Ta Muen Thom, was not beyond expectations since it has the potential for a World Heritage listing and development as an attractive site.

 Thailand has actually already restored the Ta Muen Thom and planned to seek a World Heritage listing for it as well.

 In a statement issued on Tuesday, Cambodia's Foreign Ministry outlined its legal claim to two temples - Ta Muen Thom and Ta Muen Touch in Oddar Meanchey province - citing border demarcation documents from 1908 defining the frontier between French colony and Thailand.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs therefore rejects any claim contrary to the legal rights of Cambodia," the statement said.

Thai soldiers have occupied Ta Moan Touch on and off since 2001, but only recently deployed at Ta Moan Thom, according to the Phnom Penh Post. The Thai military meanwhile said they had been there for years.

The statement was raised by Phnom Penh a week ahead of the second meeting of foreign ministers from both sides at the beach resort of Cha-Am on Monday and Tuesday. At the meeting, Thai Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag wanted to follow up on the redeployment of troops at Preah Vihear but his Cambodian counterpart Hor Nam Hong wanted to raise a new set of ruins for discussion.

"We will raise the issue of Preah Vihear and these two temples, along with border demarcation, at the foreign ministers' meeting next week," said Cambodia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Sin Bunthoeun.

Tej insisted yesterday that he would put only Preah Vihear on the agenda of next week's meeting.

Perhaps Tej needed a delay since the Border Demarcation Committee is still unable to function. It is in principle chaired by the deputy foreign minister, which Thailand does not have, and no delegation of the position has been made yet.

However, delays are not a good idea as Cambodia will add to its claims some more Hindu temple ruins sitting in grey areas along the border.

  Unless the boundary is soon agreed upon, no one can say for sure on what side the ruined temples are located. As long as this remains unclear, the issue has the possibility of exploding into another conflict.