Thailand and Cambodia seek to ease simmering border tensions

By Panu Wongcha-um and Chantha Lach
BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH (Reuters) -Thai and Cambodian officials met on Saturday to try to ease tensions amid fears of military clashes after a long-running territorial dispute reignited, leading both countries to mobilise troops on the border.
The two neighbours share an 820-km (510-mile) land border, parts of which are undemarcated and include ancient temples that both sides have contested for decades. The latest standoff followed a brief skirmish on May 28 that left a Cambodian soldier dead.
"The Thai government hopes to use the platform to resolve the situation peacefully," Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra posted about the meeting on her Facebook page on Friday.
The row comes at a challenging time for Thailand's government, which is losing popularity in prolonged struggle to spur economic growth. Paetongtarn's administration is under pressure to take a tougher stand on Cambodia, accompanied by initially strong rhetoric from the Thai military.
Despite both countries pledging dialogue to handle the issue and to calm nationalist fervour, Bangkok has threatened to close the border and cut off electricity supplies to its neighbour.
Phnom Penh announced it would cease buying Thai electric power, internet bandwidth and produce. It has also ordered local television stations not to screen Thai films.
RESOLUTION UNLIKELY
A resolution this weekend at the Joint Boundary Commission meeting in Phnom Penh is not expected, and it was unclear when the outcome would be announced.
Cambodia is determined to file a case at the International Court of Justice to determine jurisdiction over four disputed areas, while Thailand insists on a bilateral solution.
"Cambodia wants to settle the disputes at the ICJ, something that Thailand won't accept," said Dulyapak Preecharush, a Southeast Asian studies expert at Thammasat University in Bangkok.
"So there's not much left to discuss at JBC apart from maintaining an atmosphere for further dialogue."
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Friday his country would not discuss the four contested areas at the boundary commission, adding the government would send an official letter to the ICJ on Sunday on its plan to file the case.
Influential former strongman premier Hun Sen, Hun Manet's father, has criticised Thailand's military for restricting border crossings and has accused generals and Thai nationalists of fanning the tensions.
"Only extremist groups and some military factions are behind these issues with Cambodia because, as usual, the Thai government is unable to control its military the way our country can," he said late on Thursday.

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