The Thai Prime Minister announced on Sept 26 that his government will request a referendum on whether to withdraw two agreements on the demarcation of its boundary with Cambodia as part of an initiative to settle a long-smoldering dispute with its neighbor. Thailand and Cambodia have quarreled for decades along their 817km land border over undemarcated locations.
Tensions boiled over into a deadly five-day war in July – the most serious fighting between the two nations in more than a decade – that resulted in the deaths of at least 48 persons and displaced hundreds of thousands temporarily on each side.
The two nations have for years used an accord signed in 2000 that offers a template for joint survey and demarcation of the land border.
Another agreement, signed in 2001, provides a framework for cooperation and potential resource sharing in maritime areas claimed by both countries.
Both agreements have come under public scrutiny in Thailand; however, over the past decade, particularly following the latest clashes, which ended with a
A ceasefire was brokered in Malaysia on July 28.
To prevent further controversy, the House of Representatives has already established a committee to examine the issue, and the government policy will be to table a motion for holding a referendum on the issue,” Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul informed journalists.
A referendum would yield a definite mandate on the issue, he said.
The two treaties were previously fairly successful but have become a source of trouble for the relationship between the two nations, according to Dr Panitan Wattanayagorn, political scientist at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.
“Their withdrawal might not be an immediate solution to the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, as it could leave a void,” he said.
“The government needs to clarify what will take their place, and this has to be approved by Cambodia as well,” he added.
