[Thailand makes] A mistake to snub Unesco heritage convention

[Thailand makes] A mistake to snub Unesco heritage convention

July 2, 2011
The Nation

Strangely absent from this discourse are the claims by main Cambodian opposition leader, Sam Rainsy - who has now gone into self-imposed exiled - accusing Hun Sen's long time friend Vietnam of encroaching on Cambodian land.

It appears that Thailand has cut off its nose to spite its face in the dispute over Preah Vihear Temple and adjacent territorial claims

The recent decision by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti to walk out of the World Heritage Committee's meeting in Paris may have boosted his popularity here in certain quarters but in the long run Thailand's international standing may be put in an unwanted spotlight.

Thailand has to review its strategy regarding its decision to withdraw from the 1972 World Heritage Convention carefully after the kingdom decided to withdraw from the convention to express its disagreement with the World Heritage inscription of Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple.

Suwit defended his decision by saying it was made to protect Thailand's sovereignty over the territory adjacent to Preah Vihear. He said it was "too risky" for Thailand to accept the Preah Vihear management plan, in which Unesco and its committee would be asked to dispatch experts for restoration of the temple.

Irina Bokova, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), expressed her deep regret at Suwit's declaration of Thailand's intention to denounce the 1972 World Heritage Convention. She claimed that the World Heritage Committee did not discuss the management plan of the Temple of Preah Vihear, nor did it request any reports to be submitted on its state of conservation.

The International Court ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear was in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia, but questions remain unanswered over 4.6 square kilometres of adjacent territory.