April 23 2011 17:02
By Tim Johnson in Bangkok
Financial Times
Cambodia and Thailand have exchanged fire along their disputed border for a second day, with both sides blaming the other for the hostilities.
Panitan Wattanayagorn, Thailand’s government spokesman said that said that at least one more of its soldiers had been killed on Saturday, bringing the number of casualties to eight dead and 32 wounded over two days of clashes near two ancient khmer temples which are claimed by both countries.
Thousands of local villagers on both sides of the border are living in temporary accommodation in schools and other public buildings.
It is unclear how the fighting started. The two sides have accused each other of encroaching into the disputed border area and claim that they were merely defending their sovereignty.
“We have tried to communicate to the Cambodians that their troop movements on the border since yesterday are not acceptable,” Mr Panitan said on Saturday, going on to say that the Cambodians had started the firing.
But the Cambodian defence ministry issued a statement on Saturday morning accusing Thai forces of provoking the clash.
“The Thai armed forces once again resumed its offences against Cambodia today, at 6.15 in the area of Tamone Temple and at 6.45 in the area of Ta Krabei temple. The apparent aim of Thailand’s attacks against Cambodia is to take control of these temples,” the statement said.
Cambodia accused Thailand of using poison gas, a charge the Thai government denied.
The temples, known in Thailand as Ta Kwai and Ta Muen, are some 250km west of Preah Vihear, another 11th century ruin surrounded by disputed territory which was the scene of four days of fighting in February in which ten people died.
In a peace deal brokered by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations after that conflict, both sides agreed to stationing neutral observers on the border to ensure that there were no new clashes, but Thailand’s foreign ministry was overruled by the country’s powerful generals, who refused to consider the idea.
The two countries have been trying for more than 10 years to settle their border. The task that has been complicated by thousands of landmines left over from Cambodia’s war with the Khmer Rouge, but the main stumbling block has been strong nationalist constituencies in both countries which would condemn any compromise solution as abandoning sovereign territory.
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