Preah Vihear Temple Dispute

Overshadowed by unrest in the Middle East, violent border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia flared up again this month in the region surrounding the Preah Vihear temple. Thailand and Cambodia have been fighting over the temple for more than a century. Commissioned by Kings in the Khmer Empire (based in what is now Cambodia), Preah Vihear was shown as belonging to Cambodia in maps drawn by Cambodia’s French colonial rulers and Thailand (then Siam) in 1907. However, in recent decades, Thailand has chosen to ignore those maps as well as the 1962 ruling of the International Court of Justice that granted the temple to Cambodia and Thailand now lays claim to an extended border that includes much of the land around the Preah Vihear temple as shown in the map above. Nationalist pride and emotions in both countries have been running high, especially since the temple was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 2008 and this has only increased tensions in the last three years.

The latest round of military skirmishes began on February 4 and several people have lost their lives and tens of thousands have been forced to evacuate their homes over the last month. There was finally some good news yesterday when Thailand and Cambodia agreed at a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers to allow Indonesian military and civilian observers to monitor the border area. The Indonesian foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, however, stressed that the Indonesian contingent was “an observer team, not a peacekeeping or peace enforcement team [and] will be unarmed.”

It will benefit everyone involved if intervention by the ASEAN and Indonesia stops the fighting along the Thailand-Cambodia border, albeit temporarily. However, in the long term it is imperative that both countries find a solution that resolves their differences once and for all. The more Cambodia and Thailand fight, the more it shows the world that this area is not safe for tourists to visit. Therefore, the best solution might be to develop a joint management plan for the temple and its surrounding areas so the citizens of both countries can enjoy the benefits that come from world heritage listing.