Preah Vihear for Koh Kong and Natural Gas / Oil

Does the Preah Vihear case have any links with the business interests of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra?… Does the case just coincidentally took place alongside Thaksin’s plan to invest in an entertainment complex in Koh Kong, Cambodia?

The point here is Nopadol Pattama, Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Thaksin’s lawyer spokesman fails to have good explaination on; why does Thailand has to support Cambodia to get it’s on Unesco Site .

Mr. Noppadon, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officials met in Paris for 10 hours on May22, 2008

In May 2008, Noppadon Pattama as a Thailand’s Foreign Minister cosigned a joint communiqué with his Cambodian counterpart. The communiqué was addressed to the World Heritage Committee expressing Thailand’s full support for Cambodia’s unilateral application. It had been done without public participation and without the matter being submitted to Parliament, though it involved delicate border issues and might be to Thailand’s detriment in future disputes.

The Constitution Court, at the request of some senators, ruled the joint communique signed by former foreign minister Noppadon and Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sok Anh to support Cambodia’s application was a treaty which might cause a change to Thai sovereignty. The Communique was ruled unconstitutional .

Thaksin put Noppadon in the MFA for a reason. That’s what happens when you have a government made up of so many politicians that cannot be trusted. The identity of Thailand’s Foreign Minister at the time is the issue. Before he was appointed foreign Minister, Noppadon Pattama had been spokesman and chief legal advisor to ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who is alleged to have major investment interests in Cambodia.

Thailand’s interest in Preah Vihear was also sacrificed in exchange for commercial concessions that the Cambodian government might grant to a certain private investor. This allegation may not in fact be true, but it is widely believed, and that is what counts.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) shakes hand with ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during a meeting at a hotel in Siem Reap province, 320 km (199 miles) northwest of Phnom Penh, April 5, 2008. Picture taken April 5, 2008.REUTERS/Stringer (CAMBODIA)

Former Thai Prime Minister and business tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra has recently signed an official deal with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to allegedly develop the Cambodia’s south-western maritime province of Koh Kong. Thaksin wants to secure very convenient Cambodian-based facilities to prepare his comeback with the support of Hun Sen, as well as to operate huge gas and oil deposits in Thai-Cambodia disputed waters in the Gulf of Thailand.

The current tension between Cambodia and Thailand about Preah Vihear temple is in part due to false assurances given by Thaksin to Hun Sen in the past about border delineation.

This is a deal wanted by Thaksin.

Thaksin with Cambodia-related issues

The PM visits Cambodia, agree to speady remove differences (June, 2001) 1, 2

Thai PM visits Cambodia to discuss oil and gas along disputed border (August, 2006) : 1,Oil & Gas News / 2 ,Thai Energy, / 3, newsgroups.derkeiler

Thaksin wants to open Koh Kong Casino (May, 2008)

Play off time for Thaksin? Thaksin set to invest big time in Cambodia ,and it’s not just in Koh Kong alone (June, 2008)

Thaksin, Hun Sen’s golf buddy purposes billion dollars investment in Koh Kong, (May, 2008)

(L)Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama, above, shows the Preah Vihear Temple map Cambodia will submit to Unesco in its World Heritage application. in June / (R) Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen talks with ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during a round of golf at Angkor Golf Resort in Siem Reap province, northwest of Phnom Penh, April 6, 2008.

(Picture Source)

The implications of the Thai-Cambodian border dispute reach far beyond the 4.6 sq km of scrub around Preah Vihear,

Writes: Piyaporn Wongruang

The disputed area adjacent to Preah Vihear covers only 4.6 square kilometres _ a very small area when compared to the total size of the countries of Thailand and Cambodia. But neither of the countries can afford to lose any of this land.

This is not only because the area carries with it the issue of territorial sovereignty, which no modern state can bear to lose, but also because the final fate of the area could signify the future of other overlapping areas still to be demarcated, particularly those in the sea, military analysts say.

While a lot of people are concerned about the possible loss of territorial sovereignty over the disputed land to Cambodia, Vice-Admiral Pratheep Chuen-arom (retired) has been pondering what will happen to the disputed areas in the Gulf of Thailand, which cover about 20,000 square kilometres.

For months, the vice-admiral has reviewed the information to hand and applied the lessons he learned when commander of a patrol fleet in the Gulf. He has decided to make public his concerns.

preahvihear_disputearea

”When we lost Preah Vihear temple, we lost spiritually,” said Vice-Admiral Pratheep. ”But if we lose the claimed land again, there is very much more at stake to be lost.”

Over a hundred years ago, Thailand was forced to demarcate its borders with two imperial powers, Britain (which ruled Burma and Malaya) and France, which had colonised Indo-China, including Cambodia.

Some maps helping define the borders between Thailand and states under protection of those imperial countries were drawn up. However, these were not officially accepted by Bangkok, especially those covering the border between Thailand and Cambodia.

Thai Internal Working Document – (L)The Official Thai Map (Scale 1:10,000),(R)The French-Siamese Commission Map Made in 1907 (Scale: 1:200,000)

While Cambodia continues to use the French maps, Thailand has its own versions and has used them as its border references. And because they use different maps, the two countries claim different borderlines.

Along the 800km territorial border between Thailand and Cambodia, there are at least 15 areas awaiting agreement from both sides. But the issue does not stop there.

According to Vice-Admiral Pratheep, the border line was drawn down to the sea. From the 73rd kilometre territorial border peg in the district of Khlong Yai, in Trat province,

France had drawn the boundary line cutting through part of Thailand’s Kud island, while Thailand drew a different line close to Cambodia’s Kong island.

This resulted in the different marine maps showing different sea boundaries. Typically, a marine border extends out 12 nautical miles, or about 22km, from a country’s coastline.

The sea territorial boundaries play a crucial role in determining exclusive economic zones, where countries can claim natural resources, including those under the seabed.

The map of Natural Gas and Oil deposits in Gulf of Thailand

Exclusive economic zones usually extend out to 200 nautical miles, Vice-Admiral Pratheep said. Because the two countries claim conflicting territorial boundaries, their claimed economic zones in the Gulf overlap by about 20,000 sq km.

Besides marine resources, those problematic zones also house huge petroleum deposits, which both countries thirst for, he said.

So, if the French-drawn maps were accepted, much of the area containing oil and gas deposits would go to Cambodia, Vice-Admiral Pratheep said.

”What is foreseeable is that the disputed territorial areas on land can be a model for the overlapping sea boundaries, because they are based on the same French mapping principle.” The problem comes from the same root, which is mapping based on unequal treatment by powerful countries in the past,” he said.

Over the past few weeks, Vice-Admiral Pratheep has teamed up with other senior officers, including Gen Pathompong Kesornsuk, to awaken the public to the implications that

the loss of the 4.6 sq km of overlapping land near Preah Vihear would have on the overlapping sea territory.

The general cited the lack of continuity and integration of work by Thai officials, from policymakers to officials at implementation levels.

Thailand and Cambodia formed the Joint Technical Committee in 2001 to work on the matter, but little information has been released, triggering suspicions of conflicts of interest by the politicians involved.

According to Vice-Admiral Pratheep and reports from Cambodia,

the Cambodian government has already granted permission to some US oil companies to explore petroleum resources in the disputed waters.

In November 8 last year, Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who is chairman of the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority (CNPA), declared a ‘‘breakthrough” regarding the petroleum exploration by Chevron Overseas Petroleum (Cambodia) Ltd, which obtained permission from Cambodia to explore petroleum resources in 2002.

The speech delivered by Mr Sok An that day noted that Chevron had drilled up to 15 wells in Block A, which covers about 6,200 sq km and is around 200km off the coast of Cambodia. The company has found some evidence of oil deposits.

The CNPA now has other petroleum agreements signed with various companies for six offshore blocks.

Mr Sok An’s speech further noted, ”We remain committed to resolving the matter of the Overlapping Claims Area in the Gulf of Thailand with the Royal Government of Thailand.

‘The overlapping area covers around 27,000 sq km that is thought to be highly prospective for petroleum accumulations.”

More Information about Natural Gas and Oil in South China Sea

Petroleum Geology of the Gulf of Thailand

OIL AND GAS RESOURCES Overlapping Claims Area (Cambodia)