Thailand and Cambodia open border talks

[Coventina]

Source: International Herald Tribune

PHNOM PENH: The foreign ministers of Thailand and Cambodia met Monday to begin what they said would be protracted talks over a disputed mountaintop temple where soldiers from both nations have confronted each other since early this month.

"The situation is not easing," the Cambodian government spokesman, Khieu Kanharith, said at a news conference in Phnom Penh, the capital. "Thailand has continued to increase its military buildup." He said Cambodia had 800 soldiers at the temple, while Thailand had deployed about 3,000 troops. The Thai Foreign Ministry in Bangkok said that 400 Thai troops were facing as many as 1,700 Cambodian soldiers.

(snip)

In Thailand, the political opposition has used the issue to pressure the shaky coalition government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, making compromise difficult.

At an earlier meeting a week ago, the two sides deadlocked on the basic question of which maps should be used to demarcate the border. Cambodia is using a map drawn up by French colonial administrators a century ago, which was also used last month by the United Nations when it designated the temple, Preah Vihear, as a World Heritage Site.




Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/28/asia/cambo.php

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Let's hope they keep talking and forego shooting.

I don't understand the whole map issue. Thailand keeps complaining about the map. Has the border changed since the map was made? And if so, why did the UN use it? But regardless of the map, it still doesn't change the fact that the temple is in Cambodia and Thailand had no business rushing troops into the area.