Thai and Cambodian prime ministers squared off at the ASEAN summit today over their violent border clash which, ostensibly, is being fought over ancient temples. However, critics have said the temple excuse covers up the true drivers of the conflict: natural resources and domestic politics.
According to the Malaysia Star Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen held ceasefire talks on Sunday, mediated by Indonesia's president. But neither side had any designs on compromise.
On Saturday Hun Sen called a demand by Thailand to withdraw troops from the area "irrational and unacceptable." Cambodia wants ASEAN and other world powers to step in and referee the border dispute.
The international community tends to view Bangkok as the bully in this confrontation. Thailand’s economy dwarfs Cambodia’s – it’s nearly 30 times larger - with Thai’s GDP at $312 billion in 2010 versus Cambodia’s $11.4 billion. The disparity is also reflected in military spending: $2.9 billion by Thailand compared to $191 million by Cambodia in 2009.
Bangkok has been irritated by Sen’s predilection to involve outsiders and has accused Cambodia in the past of purposefully intensifying the conflict to garner international attention.
"We have a number of bilateral mechanisms that are functioning," Abhisit said, referring to Cambodia's attempt to seek a settlement through the International Court of Justice. "This is something that we should talk about ... and prove to the world that as members of Asean, this can be resolved.”
The decades-old territorial dispute centers on the controversial Preah Vihear, an 11th-century Khmer temple, which the UN designated as a Cambodian World Heritage Site in 2008 despite Thai objections. This ignited military skirmishes over the past two weeks that have claimed over 20 lives.
Thai native Jon-Amerin Vorabutra told Examiner.com that “word on the street” in Thailand is the temple is not the main issue, considering the land dispute has been going on for decades.
He claimed the conflict stems from oil in the Gulf of Thailand, which is why Thaksin Shinawatra, former Prime Minister of Thailand - ousted in a 2006 military coup - has become so close to Cambodian leader Hun Sen. While being PM, Thaksin granted soft loans to Cambodia so they could purchase equipment from his telecommunications company “Shin Corp” - with Thailand’s money. According to Vorabutra:
"Cambodia has been making deal after deal with the Thai government (old and new) regarding land along the border and into the Gulf. The temple land itself isn’t particularly important but Cambodia knows that Thai people would not allow the government to continue if they found out they’ve been selling our land to Cambodia.
Hun Sen is therefore taunting the Thai government by continuing to shell the army as he knows the government is backed into a corner where they cannot fully push back otherwise evidence will come to light. Hun Sen’s goal is to discredit the government, weaken the country, and further his advance towards oil in the Gulf."
Meanwhile, anti-Thaskin Yellow Shirts have accused the government of not protecting Thailand’s sovereignty. The Yellow Shirts, formally known as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), are primarily backed by Thai royalists, businessmen and the urban middle class and tend to favor strong-arm diplomacy. A recent TIME article underlined the military’s influence on domestic politics with respect to the border struggle:
"In any country where the army seeks a prominent role in politics, it needs a security dispute to command attention and influence," says John Ciorciari, an assistant professor at University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. The Thai military is strongly wedded to the border dispute with Cambodia because their most loyal supporters, the "Yellow Shirt" activists, used the issue as a rallying cry to bring down prime minister Samak Sundaravej, a successor and ally of Thaksin, in 2008, alleging his stance against Cambodia was timid. "Now Abhisit is in the position of having to placate this constituency," says Ciorciari.
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