Cambodia halves border troops

Aug 30, 2009

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA has halved the number of troops around an ancient border temple that has been the scene of bloody clashes with Thailand, the defence ministry said on Sunday.

There have been several skirmishes between the two countries on the disputed frontier around the 11th century Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia since the ruins were granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.

'We have pulled out 50 per cent of the troops from Preah Vihear temple,' said Chhum Socheat, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence.
'This shows that the situation at the border is really getting better, and that both countries have a mutual understanding of peace,' he added.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last week said Thailand had just 30 soldiers on the border, meaning that Cambodia could stand some troops down and send them back to their provincial bases.

'We still have enough troops remaining to protect our territory,' said General Chea Dara, deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.
He said if Thailand 'shows a softer manner' they could cut the numbers further. 'However, if anything happened, our troop mobility would be very swift,' he told AFP.

Thailand in June reignited the row over the temple when it asked world heritage body UNESCO to reconsider its decision to formally list the temple in Cambodia.
Cambodia and Thailand have been at loggerheads over the land around the Preah Vihear temple for decades. Although the World Court ruled in 1962 that it belonged to Cambodia, the most accessible entrance to the ancient Khmer temple with its crumbling stone staircases and elegant carvings is in northeastern Thailand.

The last gunbattle in the temple area in April left three people dead while clashes there in 2008 killed another four people. The border between the two countries has never been fully demarcated, in part because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia. -- AFP

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Article from The Straits Times
Link: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_423273.html

Cambodia denies Thai claim of maritime problems

Last Updated: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:22:00 +1000

Cambodian defence officials have denied Thai media reports that Cambodian patrols have entered disputed maritime areas near Thailand's Koh Kut island.

The reports came less than one week after marines and warships from the Thai navy's 1st Fleet were deployed close to disputed areas.

The Phnom Penh Post quotes a secretary of state at the Defence Ministry saying he hasn't received any reports from his subordinates about a Cambodian move into the areas.

The chief of the Preah Sihanouk provincial coast guard station, says his men conduct regular patrols in Cambodian waters but never entered the 27,000- square-kilometre overlapping claims area.

The Bangkok Post reports Thailand's Ministry of Defence is planning to register a complaint about a Cambodian patrol entering disputed waters.

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Source: ABC Radio Australia News

http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/200908/2663645.htm?desktop

Convicted Thaksin holds Montenegro passport

By The Nation

Mon, April 27, 2009 : Last updated 14:04 hour

His passport number is I38kd3695, the source said.

According to his Montenegro passport, Thaksin who has been running away from a two-year jail term in Thailand, arrived in Monrovia, capital of Liberia on April 20 and departed it on April 23.

Earlier reports confirmed that he is also holding a Nicaraguan passport as he is appointed as "special ambassador" by Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega.

Thai government has revoked all his passports, including diplomatic and ordinary passports, after he became fugitive.

 

Runaway ex-Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra used his Montenegro passport to travel to Liberia last week, a source said.

 

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From The Nation: http://nationmultimedia.com/2009/04/27/politics/politics_30101407.php

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Thaksin "red shirts" gather again in Bangkok

Sat Apr 25, 2009 1:41pm BST

**  

* 12-day state of emergency lifted on Friday

* Protesters want government to quit


(Recasts with protest)

By Panarat Thepgumpanat

BANGKOK, April 25 (Reuters) - About 3,000 supporters of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra gathered in Bangkok on Saturday for their first rally in the capital since violent street clashes two weeks ago.

Security was tight with 450 police monitoring the crowd of red-shirted protesters at Sanam Luang, a public square near Bangkok's Grand Palace.

"The protest is going well so far. No violence," Police Major General Suporn Pansuea told Reuters.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva ended a 12-day state of emergency in the capital on Friday, saying he wanted to foster reconciliation after the street clashes which killed two people and dented investor confidence.

"Lifting emergency rule doesn't mean the government will give up monitoring the situation," Abhisit told reporters on Saturday.

A leader of the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) said the rally would be peaceful and end around midnight.

"Our request is the same. We want the Prime Minister to quit," Somyos Prueksakasemsuk said.

The UDD plan more rallies in the provinces before returning to Bangkok for a large demonstration in May, he said.

Abhisit, who was elected in a December parliamentary vote with the help of former Thaksin allies, has refused to call an election analysts say his Democrat party would likely lose.

Instead, he has promised constitutional reforms as a way out of the political crisis, but there are doubts it will be enough to heal the deep political rifts in Thai society.

The crisis is a battle between the "yellow shirts" -- royalists, the military and urban, middle-class Thais who back Abhisit -- and the "red shirt" supporters of Thaksin, whose power base is mainly drawn from millions of rural and urban poor who loved his populist policies.



BOTCHED ASSASSINATION

The street violence two weeks ago was the worst Thailand had seen in 16 years, forcing the cancellation of a summit of Asian leaders. The volatile situation was compounded by an attempted assassination of "yellow shirt" leader Sondhi Limthongkul.

Thai media reported on Saturday police want to question five soldiers over a possible connection to the attack on Sondhi.

A senior police official denied the reports, which followed last week's confirmation by Thailand's army chief that some of the bullets used in the April 17 attack were from the military.

Sondhi, who was wounded in the head after gunmen riddled his car with automatic rifle fire, did not speak to reporters as he left hospital on Saturday.

Army chief Anupong Paochinda has denied speculation by Sondhi's colleagues that military personnel may have been involved in the assassination attempt.

Bangkok's deputy police chief, Major General Pongsan Jaimon, rejected the reports that police were looking for five soldiers.

"How do you know this when I don't know?," he asked reporters. "We have to suspect all related people, including influential people, soldiers or whoever".

Sondhi is a co-founder of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which led a street campaign against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra before he was ousted in a 2006 coup. The PAD occupied Bangkok's airports last year to protest a pro-Thaksin government that was later dissolved by the courts. (Additional reporting by Arada Therdthammakun and Sinthana Kosopradit; Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by Matthew Jones)

 

 

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Article from REUTERS UK: http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKLP235029

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Thai Parliament to Debate Emergency Rule, Arrests of Protesters

By Daniel Ten Kate

April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Thai lawmakers will debate last week’s imposition of emergency rule and detention of street protesters, testing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s efforts to bridge an increasingly violent political divide.

Abhisit is urging speedy political reforms after quashing riots by demonstrators backed by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is living in exile after losing power in a 2006 coup. The head of a rival protest group, which shut down Bangkok’s airports last November, was shot and wounded last week.

Abhisit’s opponents and coalition partners are pushing for changes to the military-drafted constitution that may threaten his position by weakening his election prospects and alienating his supporters who backed the coup. Unless he can forge a compromise, protests that have plagued Thailand for the past year may resume and his four-month-old administration might fall.

“The prime minister is caught between the horns of the buffalo: he can’t go anywhere,” said Kanin Boonsuwan, a four- time parliamentarian who teaches law at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. “It looked like the government won a victory when they dispersed the protests last week, but really they’ve been pushed into a corner.”

Abhisit, 44, took power in December after a court disbanded the pro-Thaksin ruling party and two other groups for vote buying. The ruling was made possible by constitutional changes introduced by a military-appointed panel after the coup. The court decisions, together with a similar ruling in 2007, have left 220 politicians banned from office for five years.

Amnesty Possibility

Abhisit said the government would discuss amnesty for the disqualified politicians as proposed by several coalition members, a move that may damage his prospects should he bow to demands to call an election. His Democrat party hasn’t won the most seats in an election since 1992, and finished with 14 percent fewer lawmakers than the pro-Thaksin party two years ago.

“Any coalition by any party will be at risk if the present state of divisiveness continues,” said Buranaj Smutharaks, a spokesman for the Democrats. “Any process to address legal changes must be transparent, it must not be done by politicians who have a clear conflict of interest in exonerating themselves and it must be accepted by the general public.”

Parties linked to Thaksin have won the past four elections on heavy support from northeast Thailand, the country’s poorest region and home to a third of the electorate. A group of northeastern lawmakers defected to Abhisit, helping his rise to power in December.

Party Dissolutions

“The decisions on party dissolutions and banning executive members were unreasonable and against a democratic society,” said Phongthep Thepkanjana, Thaksin’s spokesman, who is among the disenfranchised politicians. “The good thing in changing them would be that people have many more experienced politicians to choose from.”

Abhisit has said any amnesty wouldn’t apply to criminal charges, so Thaksin himself would remain disqualified. Abhisit is seeking the former leader’s extradition after he fled last year before a court sentenced him to two years in prison for helping his wife buy land from the government while he served as prime minister.

Thaksin, who has split his time between Dubai and Hong Kong, faces three criminal charges from his five years in power, and a civil case targeting almost $2.2 billion of the fortune earned from the telecommunications company he founded. He claims Thailand’s justice system is biased against him.

The government is “quite worried” about Thaksin’s movements overseas, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban told reporters today.

“The government will try to find other ways apart from asking for help from Interpol to get Thaksin,” he said.

People’s Alliance

The People’s Alliance for Democracy, a street group whose protests helped oust Thaksin and two of his allies since 2006, has proposed a new political system in which elections don’t fully determine the country’s leaders. The group says Thaksin used his money to buy votes and the constitution wouldn’t be a problem if everyone followed the law.

“The fundamental problem is not the constitution -- it has just become a scapegoat and a delaying tactic,” said Chirmsak Pinthong, a People’s Alliance member who helped write the constitution. “The real problem is that Thaksin’s side wants to change the democracy with the king as head of state.”

Thaksin has accused advisers of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 81, of plotting his downfall. His allies say the constitution gives palace aides, judges, bureaucrats and soldiers too much power over elected officials.

Since King Bhumibol took the throne as an 18-year-old in 1946, the country has seen more than 20 prime ministers and nine coups. Only two of 17 Thai constitutions since absolute monarchy ended in 1932 have mandated fully elected parliaments.

Assassination Attempt

Sondhi Limthongkul, the main People’s Alliance leader, said Dec. 3 his group would return to the streets if the constitution was amended in Thaksin’s favor or to reduce the king’s power. Sondhi survived an assassination attempt last week when gunmen sprayed his car with more than 50 bullets. No suspects have been arrested in the incident.

The political unrest has hampered Abhisit’s ability to jumpstart an economy facing its first contraction in 11 years. The central bank today plans to revise its gross domestic product forecast, and may need a further cut to take into account the anti-government riots last week.

While Abhisit may risk upsetting some supporters with an amnesty or constitutional changes, this may be his best chance to find middle ground because the broader public is tired of protests on both sides, said Jade Donavanik, dean of the law school at Siam University in Bangkok.

“This is the right time as the public is looking forward to reconciliation,” he said. “The government must take this opportunity and run with it because they won’t get another chance.”

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This is a story from Bloomberg. It can be found here: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aRuJgx7errkU&refer=home

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 21, 2009 23:34 EDT 

Photos from the Article below

Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr (Choom Abhaiwongse), the last lord governor of Battambang under the rule of Siam.

The Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr building, now a museum of traditional Thai medicine. This year marks the building’s centenary.

The old mansion in Battambang, which once served as the provincial hall.

its interior.

The balcony of the old mansion.

The Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr building

Neang Chantara hopes the mansion, when fully restored, will become a city museum.

Wat Domrey Sor

the twin temple of Wat Kaewpichit in Prachin Buri

The marvellous mosaic tiles of the old mansion in Battambang

from the Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr building.

"An Interesting Article from Bangkok Post related to Battambang"

A legacy of HERITAGE

Thanks to one man's love of his hometown, Thailand and Cambodia possess a paired architectural heritage that has lasted for a century

By: PLOENPOTE ATTHAKOR

Published: 9/04/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: Outlook

The heritage sites - two stately mansions and two temples in Thailand's Prachin Buri and Cambodia's Battambang - remain as the legacy of Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr (Choom Abhaiwongse, 1861 to 1922), the last lord governor of Battambang before Siam gave up the province, together with Siem Reap and Sisophon, to French-ruled Cambodia in 1907.

Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr (Choom Abhaiwongse), the last lord governor of Battambang under the rule of Siam.

Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr was born in Battambang, but received education in Bangkok. He took over the position of lord governor of Battambang from his father who died in 1892. He was the fourth and last governor of Battambang from the Abhaiwongse family.

In 1905, Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr began building the baroque mansion in Battambang with the intent to make it his residence. However, the mansion was incomplete at the time he abandoned Battambang as France took over the province after the Siamese-French territory pact relinquished it for Trat and some islands on Siam's eastern coast.

The Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr building, now a museum of traditional Thai medicine. This year marks the building’s centenary.

Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr, who enjoyed hunting and a rural lifestyle, spent a short time in Bangkok before eventually asking for royal permission to settle down in Prachin Buri where he could pursue an adventurous life.

In 1909, he decided to build another mansion in a similar architectural style in Prachin Buri. His motivation came after he received King Chulalongkorn during a royal visit in the hope that he would have a proper place to serve the monarch if he travelled to the province again. The monarch never did as he passed away the following year.

The old mansion in Battambang, which once served as the provincial hall.

"Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr had the mansion face east, towards Battambang, instead of the Prachin River, in accordance with traditional construction practises," noted Supaporn Pitiporn, managing director of the Abhaibhubejhr Foundation. It significantly indicates the bond Chao phraya Abhaibhubejhr felt with his former home, and he is said to have re-hired the same group of craftsmen who completed the mansion in Battambang to construct the new building in Prachin Buri.

Moreover, the way he built the main hall of Wat Kaewpichit in Prachin Buri's Muang district after that of Wat Domrey Sor, a monumental temple with spectacular architectural work in Battambang, further accentuates the affinity he had with his hometown.

its interior.

"He didn't return to Battambang until his death, however," she said, adding it must have been difficult for the nobleman to leave his birthplace and ashes of his parents and wife for a new land.

Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr presented the mansion to King Vajiravudh as a wedding gift when he married his granddaughter Khun Kruakaew (promoted to Phra Nang Chao Suvadhana). She later donated the building to the Royal Thai Army to be used as a hospital for soldiers and members of the public. The building is now a museum of traditional Thai medicine.

The balcony of the old mansion.

The nobleman never made use of the mansion. Only after his death did his body enter the building, placed inside for a funeral ceremony before being cremated at Wat Kaewpichit.

While the Abhaibhubejhr mansion underwent a major facelift to its former grandeur in 1994, it's twin building in Battambang is still in a sorry state. It had served as the Battambang provincial hall for many years until it was worn out and abandoned. The province now has a new building on the same compound and the mansion is now a meeting place for a local association.

The Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr building

Neang Chanthara, assistant to the Battambang governor, said the Thai and Cambodian governments discussed a restoration plan some four years ago. Experts from the Thai Fine Arts Department estimated the restoration plan for the mansion to have an approximate cost of 17 million baht.

A budget problem on the Thai side has delayed restoration, he said, expressing no confidence that the plan will be realised.

Neang Chantara hopes the mansion, when fully restored, will become a city museum.

He pointed out that leaks in the mansion's roof are an urgent problem.

"The roofs need to be fixed immediately as seeping rainwater has extensively damaged the building's interior for years," he said.

Wat Domrey Sor

The roof restoration cost has been approximated at two million baht and is likely to be shared between the Battambang province and the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh, he said.

Moreover, he pointed out the Battambang province wishes to break down the restoration plan and budget into phases, as advised by the embassy, in order to make it more possible for Thailand to support the plan.

the twin temple of Wat Kaewpichit in Prachin Buri

The mansion, once fully restored, should serve as a museum, he said.

Supaporn said she hopes the Thai government will be able to participate in the mansion's restoration.

The mansion is a symbolic link between the two countries, she said, adding it may encourage the exchange of travellers from both sides and thus foster better understanding and relations.

The marvellous mosaic tiles of the old mansion in Battambang

"We are immediate neighbours and we should live and help each other like brothers. We should share with each other in good and bad times. If the neighbour needs helps, we should do what we possibly can," she said.

While it was widely believed that Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr cut off all the links he had with Battambang, historical evidence suggests otherwise.

Among it is an inscription carrying the Abhaibhubejhr emblem at the base of the back of the main Buddha image in the old ubosoth (ordination hall) of Samrong Khanong temple outside of Battambang town. The inscription says the image was built in 1911, four years after Chao Phraya had left Battambang.

from the Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr building.

It is believed by many that Chao Phraya provided the money for the Buddha image's construction at the temple.

Some Cambodian historical textbooks portray Chao Phraya in a negative light because of his decision to abandon Cambodia, but Supaporn sees the nobleman in a different way.

"He was a brave man with kind heart," she said. Chao Phraya's deep faith in Buddhism is attested to the fact that he built over 20 temples in Battambang while in power. One of them is Wat Domrey Sor (White Elephant), a monumental temple in the heart of Battambang town.

The temple became the prototype of Wat Kaewpichit when Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr patronised the construction of the temple's ubosoth in 1918, which signifies another historical link between the two countries.

Over the weekend, Supaporn, health officials from Abhaibhubejhr Hospital and Thai merit makers travelled to Battambang to conduct a pha pa ceremony at Wat Domrey Sor. It was part of the Abhaibhubejhr Foundation's celebration of the Abhaibhubejhr mansion's centenary in Prachin Buri this year and also was in honour of the nobleman. Supaporn said the event went well despite current border tensions.

"Every nation has border issues. But we should go beyond the problem as it would be mutually beneficial," she said.

The way the EU fosters integration is an ideal example, she said.

"Thailand and Cambodia are part of the region and each should do its part for Asian union. We lie in the same area, called Suvarnnabhumi, after all."

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 Article from Bangkok Post.

 Original text with photos can be found here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/leisure/leisurescoop/14791/a-legacy-of-heritage

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