Thailand will rejoin WHC if... [-Suwit must be day dreaming before the election]

1/07/2011
Apinya Wipatayotin
Bangkok Post

Unesco's request that Thailand reverse its decision to withdraw from the World Heritage Convention can be complied with only if Preah Vihear's listing as a world heritage site is temporarily withdrawn, until there is a clear agreement on the demarcation of the border in the immediate area, caretaker Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti said on Friday.

Mr Suwit announced Thailand's withdrawal and then walked out of a World Heritage Convention (WHC) committee meeting in Paris last week.

The dispute centres on Cambodia's proposed management plan for the temple and the land immediately adjoining it. Bangkok and Phnom Penh both claim sovreignty over 4.6 square kilometres of borderland surrounding three sides of the old Hindu religious ruin, which sits on the end of a promontory.


He said Unesco (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) should show its sincerity by carefully considering to the fact that the problem occurred due to the committee's poor understanding of the sensitive border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand.

This dispute needs to be solved first, at the root level, he said.

That means that Unesco should support all means that would bring the two countries together to complete the border's demarcation.

"Firstly, Unesco must be neutral, not take sides with either Thailand or Cambodia.

"We are ready to renew our membership on the condition that we will not lose a single inch of land to Cambodia," Mr Suwit said.

"Regarding with the border conflict, I think Unesco should delist Preah Vihear temple and allow the two countries to discuss demarcation of the land," Mr Suwit said.

The next government should set up a special team to deal with the Preah Vihear issue, otherwise it would have a high chance of being disadvantaged, as the issue is very sensitive and requires an expert team to take care of it, Mr Suwit said.

Mr Suwit, the Social Action Party leader, was speaking at a press conference.

He said it was called to clear up people’s doubts over his decision to withdraw Thailand from membership of Unesco's World Heritage Convention during the 35th session of Unesco’s General Conference in Paris last month.

There has been criticism that the withdrawal would deny Thailand the opportunity to defend its territory around Preah Vihear in the Unesco forum and that the decision was premature.

"At that minute, people who love the motherland would have done the same thing that I did," Mr Suwit declared.

"I don’t want to repeat the tragedy of 1962, which we lost our right to Preah Vihear temple. I don’t want to see any tears from Thai people," he said.

Mr Suwit decided to withdraw after the WHC failed to respond to Thailand’s request not to mention a sensitive part of a draft decision made by the WHC.

The Unesco director-general has asked that Bangkok reconsider the decision.

Before the walkout, the WHC suggested both Thailand and Cambodia agree to a draft decision over the ancient temple submitted for the World Heritage Committees' consideration. They failed to do so.

Finally, the WHC decided to prepare a draft decision for the two countries’ approval before further submissions were made.

The proposed draft includes the clause the WHC "acknowledges the good will of the parties and reaffirms the need to ensure, in accordance with the operational guidelines, the protection and conservation of the property from any damage".

Thailand would like to delete the paragraph, saying that it would lead to Thailand losing territory because the operational guidelines would allow the world heritage centre to go ahed with activities to protect and preserve the world heritage site, including sending expert teams to prepare the temple site and granting financial support.

"If we had agreed to the draft, it might be worse than the Preah Vihear temple management plan proposed by Cambodia," Mr Suwit said.

"Outsiders would be free to do anything on Thai territory under the protection of the World Heritage Convention," he added.