KI Media: “"Khmer Plich Khang Koeut" a Poem in Khmer & English by Hin Sithan” plus 24 more

"Khmer Plich Khang Koeut" a Poem in Khmer & English by Hin Sithan

Posted: 01 May 2011 03:27 PM PDT

Extraordinary gas Chambers for 003 victims in the Courts of sCambodia

Posted: 01 May 2011 12:37 PM PDT

Extraordinary gas Chambers for 003 victims in the Courts of sCambodia - Take 2

Posted: 01 May 2011 12:35 PM PDT

Joint Statement by Cambodians living in the EU and the USA supporting Sam Rainsy's demand for Hun Xen tp step down

Posted: 01 May 2011 12:33 PM PDT

Click on the statement in Khmer to zoom in

Legal team will be set up to deal with Cambodia's ICJ move on temple

Posted: 01 May 2011 12:30 PM PDT

May 2, 2011
The Nation

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is preparing to establish a legal team to deal with Cambodia's move to seek International Court of Justice (ICJ) clarification over its 1962 ruling on the Preah Vihear Temple.

The premier will raise the issue with his Cabinet at its meeting tomorrow.

A military source, meanwhile, disclosed that in the face of the military build-up near the Prasat Ta Kwai and Prasat Ta Muan Thom on Cambodian soil, Thai Army chief General Prayut Chan-ocha ordered that reinforcements be readied to boost the Thai military strength in the border areas. It added that the rapid-deployment force from the First Army Region was among the chosen reinforcement units.

The border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia has spiralled into clashes from time to time in recent years after Cambodia unilaterally sought to get the Preah Vihear Temple inscribed as a world-heritage site on its soil.

Now, Cambodia has also asked the ICJ to clarify its 1962 ruling over the ancient Hindu temple.

Speaking at the "Confidence in Thailand with PM Abhisit" programme yesterday, the premier said the ICJ had already officially received a petition from Cambodia. "But Thailand has not yet received any official document regarding the matter," he added.

In 1962, the ICJ ruled that "the temple of Preah Vihear is situated on territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia", after which Bangkok has argued that the court ruled only that the sandstone ruins belong to Cambodia while the areas surrounding the Hindu temple belong to Thailand.

DEALING WITH P PENH'S PETITION

During an interview with media later yesterday, Abhisit said Thailand would now have to form a legal team to deal with Cambodia's petition to the ICJ.

Asked whether he would have a discussion with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Abhisit said he would wait to hear what the legal team has to say first.

The Asean summit will take place in Indonesia between May 6 and May 8. The Thai and Cambodian prime ministers are scheduled to attend the event.

The border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand has been heating up in recent weeks with clashes reported every now and then. The latest flare-up began at around 11pm on Saturday, first with gunshots and then hand-grenades and rocket-propelled grenades.

SPORADIC CLASHES

Between 1am and 2am yesterday, M-79 grenades were fired into Prasat Ta Kwai. Both sides then used grenades against each other for about 20 minutes, after which only small-arms fire was traded sporadically until 7am.

The clashes stretched to Prasat Ta Muan Thom, injuring two Thai soldiers. Both were sent to the Phanom Dong Rak Hospital for treatment.

The Forward Operations Centre of the Second Army Region yesterday disclosed that since the fresh border fighting started last month, seven Thai soldiers and one Thai civilian were killed. The clashes also left 120 Thai soldiers and seven Thai civilians injured. Up to 11 houses were damaged.

To date, 42,804 people in border villages in Surin and Buri Ram have been evacuated.

At an evacuation centre in Surin's Prasat district, two women died after developing life-threatening symptoms yesterday. Rayya Saengtawan, 42, was feverish and had difficulty breathing before she passed away at the centre. The other, 76-year-old Tong Khantiwong, was rushed to the hospital but finally succumbed there.

An informed source said Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan was now trying to arrange ceasefire talks via his Cambodian counterpart Tea Banh and also to push for the General Border Committee (GBC) meeting because he wanted the fighting to stop.

"He wants it to end because prolonged clashes have hurt people of both countries," the source said.

Because of the fighting, Chong Chom and Chong Sangam border crossings have been closed for more than 10 days. Border trade there has come to a complete halt.

"This is too bad. To some people, border trade means their livelihood," Nitit Buajan said. He is a tyre seller in the border province of Surin.

Thailand going rogue? A different perspective

Posted: 01 May 2011 12:27 PM PDT

May 2, 2011
By Pornpimol Kanchanalak
Special to The Nation

Before the border clashes, the Cambodian people, who historically are more apprehensive about Vietnam, as many can still recall the five-skull torture, were beginning to vociferously question their leadership about the tens of thousands of square kilometres that it gave [to Vietnam].

The Wall Street Journal's editorial on "Thailand Going Rogue" published on April 26 needs a response. It is filled with "rigorous" hypothetical speculation and those conjectures were never verified. It also based on a loaded conspiracy theory whose foundation is at best unsound.

The article put the condemnation squarely on Thailand for being recalcitrant in hearing out peace initiatives. Without the normally required journalistic consideration for fair and equitable treatment of the subjects and subject matter, the article starts positing one huge hypothesis after another, and leaped to a conclusion about Thailand's motives and factual circumstances.

The first point of the article cites Thailand's refusal to accept the initiative to allow the Indonesian Observer Team (IOT) in the affected areas along the Thai-Cambodian border as evidence of Thailand's unwillingness to work towards peace.

Fact 1. It was the Thai foreign minister, Kasit Piromya, not the Cambodian, who proposed to the Asean meeting in Jakarta in February the deployment of an Asean observer team to the area of conflict. Unwittingly, his proposal was not attached with any conditions for implementation. Indonesia, which holds the rotating chair of Asean, in good faith, then drafted the terms of reference (TOR) for this IOT using the same guidelines as those governing the Aceh peace-monitoring activities by the European Union after the peace agreement was reached between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement - GAM.

Unfortunately, Aceh and the disputed 4.6 square kilometres on the Thai-Cambodian border are of a very different nature. Aceh is part of Indonesia and GAM was called the rebels, and all the monitoring bodies were under the jurisdiction of one government - that of Indonesia.

The Thai-Cambodian border row involves the conflicting claims of two sovereign nations. For this reason, the ToR that was applicable to Aceh is not germane to the Thai-Cambodian situation.

The key issue that makes the proposed TOR unacceptable to Thailand is the question of sovereign authority over the two observer teams. One will be deployed in undisputed Thai territory and, according to the TOR, will be under the supervision of Thai authorities.

The other observer team will be dispatched to the disputed area that the ToR considers to be under the jurisdiction of the Cambodian government. That would tip the scale of the delicate balance necessary for a negotiated peace. This issue, if left unaddressed, will become knottier, particularly when the Asean chair next year changes from Indonesia to Cambodia. The sweeping claim of the article that Thailand is unwilling to seek peace is erroneous because it ignores these important facts.

The second point of the article hypothesises that the Thai military has a hidden agenda to perpetuate the conflict. Worse, it makes the unsubstantiated claim that the military, the palace and business elite intentionally instigate and exacerbate the border clashes for their own self-serving interest, and that is to foil the general election that would make possible the return of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

If one does not have enough respect for the long-standing integrity and journalistic standard of this US newspaper, one may have thought that it was probably the hand of some directly interested party in Thai politics that penned this piece.

Fact 2. As much as Thais would like it to be, the Thai military does not have a unified stance and cannot be treated as a cohesive body. The Thai military may have pledged its loyalty to the monarchy as one of the three national pillars to defend, but the reality is quite different for some pledgers.

Fact 3. The article makes a cavernous connection between the yellow shirts and the palace. This is a continuing and blatant misconception. It is not only the yellow-shirt leaders who have been trying to legitimise the movement by dragging the monarchy into the fray for its own interest - many parties shamelessly have. The connection made between the yellow shirts, or the shirts of any colour, and the palace is as factually invalid as the argument that a man does not get pregnant because he is taking birth control pills.

Fact 4. Everybody seems to be fond of talking about the Thai "elite", who are the ultimate, omnipresent, omniscient conspirators/culprits who are equipped with a grand design for Thailand's political future. The truth is they are sheer theoretical phantoms or even a figment of the imagination. It was a catchphrase started by the supporters of Thaksin that has assumed a life of its own. No one, when pressed for an answer of who these "elite" are, can give a clear answer. It's always easier to deal with a complicated and senseless world if we believe in a creator who knows what he/she is doing. It is also quite romantic to have some "privileged" ones to blame with full vagaries of bias.

The third point of the article only talks about Thailand and its domestic politics as driving the Thai-Cambodian conflict. Never once does it ask the question if the same assertion can be applied to the Cambodian leadership.

Fact 5. Before the border clashes, the Cambodian people, who historically are more apprehensive about Vietnam, as many can still recall the five-skull torture, were beginning to vociferously question their leadership about the tens of thousands of square kilometres that it gave [to Vietnam].

As Asean's chair, Indonesia faces uphill tasks

Posted: 01 May 2011 12:23 PM PDT

May 2, 2011
By Kavi Chongkittavorn
The Nation

When the Asean leaders meet for the first time later this week in Jakarta, new challenges await Indonesia as the chair. The ongoing Thai-Cambodian conflict, the status of the 2014 chair, the membership of Timor Leste and the common platform for Asean beyond 2015 are key issues that can make and break the 44-year organisation. In contrast, myriad other problems related to the realisation of an Asean Community in 1,328 days need to be managed without exchanges of vitriol, bullets and mortar fire.

From the beginning, Indonesia has fixed a very high bar as the 18th Asean chair.

By breaking with the Asean tradition of the chair's rotation system -swapping with Brunei - the world's third largest democracy wants to ascertain other upcoming chairs of major summits, including the G-20, will not face future disruption.

The successful chairing of Asean this year will set a new compass for the country's diplomacy and help to define its role in the region and international community at large.

However, the unexpected eruption of border skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia in early February and late last month has threatened to derail Indonesia's grand strategy. It has zapped the host's overall energy away from the agenda of an "Asean community in a globalised community of nations." After the UN Security Council referred the border conflict to Asean in mid-February, Indonesia moved quickly to display leadership by facilitating dialogue between the two neighbours and serving as observers to monitor the border and establish a permanent ceasefire.

During the past five weeks, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has been hard at work to have the 30-member Indonesia Observers Team, 15 on each side, on the ground ahead of the upcoming Asean summit. His aborted trip last Monday to Bangkok and Phnom Penh indicated the complexity of facilitating any resolution of intra-Asean conflict. Unknowingly, Marty has entered on a new and untested Asean turf in conflict resolution and reconciliation.

The remaining eight months are crucial to set the Asean house in order. Any spill over to the next chair, Cambodia, would have adverse effects on Asean, as the chair would be a conflicting party. A general election is scheduled in Cambodia next year as well.

For the past 14 years, Asean has been unable to assert any peer pressure on the pariah regime of Burma. It was a bit odd that President Thein Sein would have the audacity to ask their colleagues to rubber stamp his legitimacy by permitting the new administration to host the 2014 chair. As of last week, Naypyidaw had not yet responded to the grouping's overture to dispatch a team of Asean senior officials, headed by the chair, to assess the country's readiness.

Several members have reiterated that the 2014 chair is not automatic and should be further deferred until Burma has agreed to the appeal and fulfilled the Asean charter. The often asked question is: Will Asean put its last stick to good use?

An equally divisive issue is the 11th membership of Asean. Timor Leste informed Asean in early March that it wanted to join the club now — a big jump from the 2015 deadline. Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand support the inclusion this year while Singapore would like to postpone it for a few years. The lack of consensus raises the spectre that Indonesia's chair has been linked to the speedier admission. The region's most impoverished nation was part of Indonesia until its independence in 1999. Lack of English-speaking human resources and poverty have been cited as key obstacles. Singapore fears it would further delay the Asean economic integration and realisation of the Asean Community.

Timor Leste, the supporters argue, should be integrated soonest within the Asean family despite all the shortcomings. Leaving this young nation alone would be precarious and subject it to non-Asean influence that could be detrimental to the grouping's interest in the future. For good for worse, Asean has already lived through years of ups and downs with old and new members in various Asean cooperative schemes. Some of the new members contend that no conditions should be placed for admission of a new member. Quite unique, however, has been the attitude of Thailand, which sees Timor Leste, a young democracy, as an inspiration for Asean's people-centred community.

More than Asean's leaders would like to admit that Timor Leste's membership could be a test case of new Asean leadership. Ironically, Dili's status will be the weathervane to where the grouping's real leadership is heading. For decades, Singapore was the prime mover and shaker in Asean's pivotal schemes, covering all aspects of activity. However, since the 2003 summit which gave birth to the Bali Concord II, Indonesia, along with its burgeoning democracy, has expanded its vision and influence on the organisation where it used to be a puller.

The outcome of Timor Leste's deliberation will to a certain degree impact on the current chair's ambitions beyond the Asean Community 2015. Indonesia's foreign policy in the past decade has been focused on finding solutions, building understanding and fostering consensus. Jakarta believes that Asean will be able to maintain its creditability and centrality through the establishment of an Asean common platform on global issues. Throughout its history, Asean's members could be quite inflexible when it came to issues that involved their national sovereignty. Asean still has a long way to go concerning collective sovereignty and responsibility. Climate change, nuclear energy and territorial disputes could serve as litmus tests whether the Asean members could adopt common positions and policies on global issues.

The jury is still out whether Indonesia will be able to carry through such a broad and ambitious agenda.

Cambodia recruiting more soldiers to fight against Thailand

Posted: 01 May 2011 12:20 PM PDT

BANGKOK, May 1 2011 (NNT) - Major General Hun Manet announced that he would give 1 house and 5 rai of land to anyone willing to become a soldier and fight against Thailand.

Deputy Army Commander General-Major Hun Manet the eldest son of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced that he would give 1 house and 5 rai of land plus a few thousand baht of their normal salary to anyone who are willing to become a soldier and fight against Thailand. This announcement has been broadcast in Sam Rong Province and A-long-weng province.

Meanwhile, Army region 2 spokesman Colonel Prawit Hukaew said that currently the army could not predict when the fighting would stop as Cambodia were now recruiting more soldiers to fight against Thailand. He further said that after the ceasefire agreement there was another breakout of fighting later that night, however, he had called Cambodia and asked for their reason, they said the announcement had not yet reached all of their units and also some soldiers refused to listen to their orders.

Colonal Prawit added that after the conversation, the fighting had lessened, which was considered a good sign.

Fighting eases on Thai-Cambodian border

Posted: 01 May 2011 12:18 PM PDT

Cambodian and Thai soldiers have been exchanging artillery shells along their disputed jungle frontier since April 22 (AFP)

Sunday, May 01, 2011
AFP

BANGKOK — Fighting appeared to subside on the Thai-Cambodian border on Sunday, allowing some evacuees to return home after more than a week of heavy clashes which left 17 people dead, officials said.

There were some clashes overnight Saturday-Sunday involving grenades and mortar fire, in which one Cambodian soldier died, but the front line has been quiet since then, Cambodian defence ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat told AFP.

The two neighbours have been exchanging artillery shells along their disputed jungle frontier in their bloodiest conflict in decades, forcing more than 85,000 civilians to flee on both sides.

As a tentative calm returned to the border area, some of the more than 37,000 Cambodian civilians displaced by the violence were starting to go home.

"Since the situation today is quiet, around 10 to 15 percent of the evacuees have returned home," Nhim Vanda, deputy president of Cambodia's National Committee for Disaster Management, told AFP.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva described the easing of tensions as "a positive sign".

He added: "We will monitor the situation for the next couple of days, before allowing people to return home."

The two countries have come under increasing international pressure to stop the violence, but an attempted truce announced on Thursday after local-level military negotiations proved short-lived.

Ties between the neighbours have been strained since the 900-year-old temple Preah Vihear was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.

The World Court ruled in 1962 that the 900-year-old temple belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square-mile) surrounding area.

On Friday Cambodia said it had asked the World Court to clarify that ruling.

The most recent deadly clashes have been mainly centred around two temple complexes about 150 kilometres (90 miles) west of Preah Vihear.

Seven Thai troops and nine Cambodian soldiers have died since the fighting began on April 22, and Bangkok has said a Thai civilian was also killed.

The border clash came at a sensitive political time for Thailand, with Abhisit preparing to dissolve the lower house of parliament for elections he has said will be held by early July.

Thai premier says border situation with Cambodia is improving [... even with daily fighting going on]

Posted: 01 May 2011 12:11 PM PDT

May 1, 2011
DPA

Bangkok - The Thai-Cambodia border situation was improving but it remains too early for people who were evacuated from the area to return home, the Thai prime minister said on Sunday.

If there are no more clashes over the next couple days, people can begin returning to their homes, Abhisit Vejjajiva said on his weekly Sunday address.

Thai officials said more than 30,000 civilians had to flee.

The most recent clash ended Saturday morning and left 10 Thai soldiers wounded, the Thai army said. That was the second breach of a ceasefire agreed to by local field commanders and then approved by their superiors on Thursday.

Both Thailand and Cambodia blamed each other.

The conflict is over disagreement on the border, particularly a 4.6-square-kilometre area near an 11th-century Hindu temple.

That dispute goes back decades but Bangkok said it resurfaced after UNESCO in 2008 designated Preah Vihear a world heritage site, over Thai objections.

The two armies have clashed several times since, most recently starting on April 22 with clashes for nine days running until Sunday.

Cambodia's army condemns Thailand for 10 straight days of arms attacks

Posted: 01 May 2011 09:40 AM PDT

PHNOM PENH, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Ministry of Defense on Sunday afternoon issued a statement condemning Thai troops for their ten straight days of armed attacks into Cambodian territory at the 13th century Ta Mon temple and Ta Krabei temple in Oddar Meanchey province.

"The repeated invasions of Thai troops into Cambodia have caused gradual damage to Cambodia, it is an unacceptable act," said the statement. "The Royal Cambodian armed forces (RCAF) strongly condemn this latest series of the attacks on Cambodia."

"We'd like to appeal to Thai troops to keep their repeated promises of ceasefire in order to avoid further costing human lives--either soldiers or civilians."

The statement was issued after the latest round of sporadic clashes between the two countries' troops overnight Saturday- Sunday over the border disputed areas at Ta Mon temple and Ta Krabei temple, marking the ten straight days of the skirmishes.

The fighting had killed at least eight Cambodian soldiers, seven Thai soldiers and one Thai civilian, and forced some 100,000 villagers of both sides to flee homes for safe shelters.

However, Lt. Gen. Chhum Socheat, spokesman of Cambodia's Ministry of National Defense said on Sunday that following renewal of acts of aggression on the part of the Thai military on Saturday night through Sunday morning, one Cambodian soldier was killed and another was wounded.

"Again and again, the acts of aggression on the part of the Thai military continue to cause damage for Cambodia despite the agreement reached between Cambodian-Thai military commanders at military Region levels and frontline commanders at Division levels, " Chhum Socheat said.

"This is the tenth times that the Thai military violated the ceasefire agreement and promised, and spin doctored the situation and alleged against Cambodia while we are stationing on our sovereign territory," he added.

The two countries' border has never been completely demarcated. The conflict has occurred just a week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008.

The International Court of Justice awarded in 1962 that the 11th century Preah Vihear Temple belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square- mile) surrounding area.

Thai, Cambodian troops clash again at border, total death toll rises to 17

Posted: 01 May 2011 09:35 AM PDT

Sunday, May 01, 2011
The Associated Press

BANGKOK — A Cambodian soldier was killed in fighting with Thailand on Sunday, bringing the total number of dead to 17 as the Southeast Asian nations' festering border conflict dragged on.

The two sides exchanged automatic weapons fire overnight and before dawn Sunday around the Ta Krabey and Ta Moan temples, which are in a disputed zone between the two nations, authorities on both sides said.

One Cambodian soldier was killed by shrapnel from an artillery round, Cambodian Defence Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen Chhum Socheat said.

In the 10 days since fighting began April 22, 16 soldiers and one civilian have died. Some 18 Cambodian and 50 Thai soldiers have also been wounded, military officials said.

Thailand and Cambodia fought six times since 2008 over land disputed for more than half a century, but analysts say domestic politics on both sides is driving the current conflict, which has forced nearly 100,000 villagers on both sides of the border to flee their homes for refugee camps.

Postcard from Stung Meanchey

Posted: 01 May 2011 09:30 AM PDT

ECCC sham! in sCambodia

Posted: 01 May 2011 08:39 AM PDT

By Khmer Democrat, Phnom Penh
SHAM! in sCambodia, Kingdom of ECCC Wonder Series

Extraordinary gas Chambers for 003 victims

in the Courts of sCambodia

("E-gas-C-oo3-C-sCambodia")

UN/German co-investigating judge, the E-gas-C-oo3-C-sCambodia gatekeeper Dr. Siegfried Blunk

The E-gas-C-oo3-C-sCambodia has cost $200,000,000 (two hundred million U.S. dollars) so far, with ONLY one verdict of Duch who cooperated, confessed in addition mounds of evidence against him.

The E-gas-C-oo3-C-sCambodia is the most expensive of all the international and internationalized courts, estimated currently at $68,000,000 per indictee (at close of investigation, before trial), if only current five.

It will be even more ghastly, more obscenely expensive if our concerns come true that one or two or three of the "senior" four KR leaders will not make it (ka-put! assisted or otherwise) through trial, thus raising the price to something even more incomprehensibly obscene.

My rights, my responsibility (Constitution) Series

Posted: 01 May 2011 08:37 AM PDT

Constitution of Cambodia (Sept. 1993)

CHAPTER IX: THE JUDICIARY

Article 133- New (Previously Article 114):

Judges shall not be dismissed. The Supreme Council of the Magistracy shall take disciplinary actions against any delinquent judges.

[Thai] PM: Cabinet to appoint committee to contend with Cambodia's appeals to World Court

Posted: 01 May 2011 01:44 AM PDT

BANGKOK, May 1 (MCOT online news) -- The Thai cabinet will be asked this Tuesday to appointing a committee to counter an appeal lodged by Phnom Penh government to the World Court to clarify its 1962 ruling about the ancient Preah Vihear temple, which sits on the disputed border with Thailand, as clashes between the two neighbouring countries continued.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday during his weekly TV and radio address--held for the last time before he dissolves the lower house and call for a general election--that he would ask the cabinet during its weekly meeting this Tuesday to formally appoint a committee to counter Cambodia appeals to the International Court of Justice.

The Phnom Penh foreign ministry last Friday said it had made a request "for an interpretation of the Court's judgment … concerning the temple of Preah Vihear which was prompted by Thailand's repeated armed aggression to exert its claims on Cambodian territory."

According to the statement, clarification by the court was of "the utmost necessity … in order to peacefully and definitely settle the boundary problem between the two countries in the area."

In 1962, the court ruled that the 11th century Preah Vihear belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square-mile) surrounding the area.

Mr Abhisit assured Thais that although the House of Representatives would be dissolved, expected sometime in early May, his caretaker government would continue to perform its duty in order to "protect Thailand's benefit and sovereignty."

The prime minister added although the border conflict is prolonged, it will not affect his planned House dissolution and the upcoming election, as the army can do its job and control the situation.

If the situation remains as it is during the next couple days where no heavy weapons have been used during the clashes, Mr Abhisit said, local residents earlier evacuated to temporary shelters will be allowed to return to their homes.

Meanwhile, Col Prawit Hukaew, spokesman of Second Army Region Command, said two minor clashes continued Saturday near Ta Kwai temple in Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district.

The first skirmish occurred at 7.00 p.m. after a number of Cambodian soldiers patrolling near Ta Kwai temple opened fire at Thai soldiers, forcing Thai soldiers to retaliate and fired back. Both sides exchanged gunfire for a short period.

Col Prawit said both sides clashed again at 9.45 p.m. and this time only machine guns and hand grenades were used. The fighting lasted until about 11.00 p.m.

Casualties of both sides were still unknown, he said.

Soldiers of the two countries have been fighting near the temple since April 22 with each side claiming to be attacked by the other first.

PM: Border situation ‘improving’

Posted: 01 May 2011 12:47 AM PDT

1/05/2011
Bangkok Post

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in his "Confidence in Thai with PM Abhisit" on NBT on Sunday morning that the Thai-Cambodian border situation is improving despite fighting continuing on the border near Surin for a ninth day.

Mr Abhisit said the Thai armed forces will continue overseeing the border area to prevent Cambodian troops from invading into Thai territory.

He said the armed forces will have to follow the border situation for another few days and if there is no more clash, the relocated people would be allowed to return home in the border areas.

The prime minister admitted that the evacuated people were getting stress and wanted to return home.

Intensity of fighting on border eases

Posted: 01 May 2011 12:43 AM PDT

[Thai] ARMY ENCOURAGED, BUT CLASHES CONTINUE

1/05/2011
Bangkok Post

The military believes the situation on the Thai-Cambodian border is improving despite fighting continuing on the border near Surin for a ninth day.

Second Army Region spokesman Prawit Hookaew said that although the clashes have not yet ended, encouragement can be taken from the fact that the exchanges of gunfire have lessened in intensity and heavy weapons have not been deployed in the past few days.

He said only small and mortar guns have been used since military delegations from both sides held talks on Thursday.

In the latest skirmishes, two Thai soldiers were injured yesterday afternoon near Ta Kwai temple in the border area of Surin.

Fighting on Friday night and yesterday left 11 Thai soldiers wounded, bringing the total injury toll for Thai soldiers to 97, while seven soldiers and one civilian have been killed.

According to the Second Army, two Cambodian BM21 multiple rocket launchers were destroyed and a number of their soldiers were killed during the clashes.

Col Prawit said that Thailand contacted Cambodia after the latest skirmishes broke out and was told that some troops were not following orders.

"They promise to look into this to avoid further incidents," said Col Prawit.

It is reported that troops under Special Force 911 and a number of those who are not under the control of Lt Gen Chea Mon refused to hold fire.

Special Force 911 is a highly trained armed unit under the command of army deputy commander Hun Manet, son of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Col Prawit said he had heard a report of Cambodia recruiting more troops and urging those who are relatives of former Khmer Rouge guerrillas to join the army.

Thai military spokesman Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday the overall situation is considered to be "improving" despite the continued fighting.

"At first there were rocket-propelled grenades and artillery shelling for hours. Now it is just sporadic fighting with small guns," he said.

He maintained the stance that a complete ceasefire must be sustained before further talks can proceed.

A border source said that Lt Gen Hun Manet has offered a house and a five-rai plot of land to those who join the Cambodian effort.

The recruitment drive was announced in the Cambodian areas of Samrong, Anlong Veng, Oddar Meanchey and O-Smach, which were once controlled by Khmer Rouge guerrillas.

The source said that more than 100 Cambodian troops with close links to former Khmer Rouge guerrillas have fled those areas.

Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the foreign minister, said the government has formed a three-man team to counter Cambodia's petition to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the border dispute around Preah Vihear temple.

Cambodia said it was seeking the ICJ's interpretation "in order to peacefully and definitely settle the boundary problem between the two countries".

Mr Chavanond said it would be some time before the ICJ decides whether or not to accept Cambodia's petition.

The 5th national blood centre in Nakhon Ratchasima is in short supply of blood and is pleading for donations.

Staff member Sirilak Piakkhunthod said the centre faces a severe shortage because the national blood centre in Bangkok has sent its supply to Surin.

Surin Hospital has needed 60-80 bags of blood per day since the border clashes erupted.

Ms Sirilak said the centre usually receives 60 bags of blood daily from Bangkok but is currently receiving only 10 bags a day.

The 5th national blood centre supplies blood to hospitals in Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum, Buri Ram and Surin provinces.

In Buri Ram, a large number of border villagers who were evacuated after the fighting erupted returned home during the day to tend to their farms.

During the day, about 4,000 evacuees were left at the centre, most of them women, children and the elderly.

More than 9,000 residents from Ban Kruat and Prakhon Chai districts sought shelter at nine temporary centres when the clashes broke out on April 22.

District authorities said yesterday the shelters would remain open until the last evacuee returned home.

Mit Krav Am-bo - A story in Khmer by Pen Puthsphea

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 11:39 PM PDT

Pen Puthsphea was forced to leave Cambodia after Hun Xen's regime threatened to arrest him

Sam Rainsy won lawsuit by Hor 5 Hong

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 11:32 PM PDT

30 April 2011
By Tin Zakariya
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Ossdey
Click here to read the original article in Khmer

Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy indicated on 30 April that he won the lawsuit brought up by Hor 5 Hong, the minister of Foreign Affairs. The lawsuit was dismissed by the French "Cour de Cassation" (the equivalent of the Supreme Court) after Sam Rainsy's appealed his case against Hor 5 Hong's 2008 lawsuit.

Sam Rainsy said over the phone from France that his French lawyer told him that the French Supreme Court decided that he won the case over Hor 5 Hong, after Sam Rainsy appealed his case to the French Supreme Court. Hor 5 Hong won the case in the first instance court and in the appeal court. He accused Sam Rainsy of defamation after Sam Rainsy accused him of being the former Boeng Trabek jail chief under the Khmer Rouge regime.

Kar Savuth, Hor 5 Hong's lawyer, said on 30 April that he did not know about this issue yet.

Sam Rainsy was sued by Hor 5 Hong in France after he commented on 17 April 2008 at the Choeung Ek Killing Fields Memorial that Hor 5 Hong was the former chief of Boeng Trabek jail under the KR regime.

The French first instance and appeal courst have both decided that Sam Rainsy lost his case to Hor 5 Hong and they both ordered Sam Rainsy to pay 1 euro (6,000 riels) in compensation to Hor 5 Hong for defamation.

However, at the end of 2010, Sam Rainsy appealed his case to the French Supreme Court. Sam Rainsy said that the Supreme Court had not issue an official confirmation to the case yet.

Regarding this case, on 25 April 2011, the Phnom Penh municipal court sentenced Sam Rainsy in absentia to 2-year of jail time and it ordered him to pay Hor 5 Hong 8 million riels ($2,000) for public defamation and incitation to hatred against a government official because Sam Rainsy accused Hor 5 Hong of being the former Boeng Trabek jail chief under the KR regime.

Opposition MPs demonstrate to advocate plight of Boeung Kak Lake Villagers

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 11:11 PM PDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fr2X5G0uPg&feature=player_embedded

Demonstration in front of the Viet embassy in Paris on 08 May 2011

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 11:06 PM PDT

The LOTUS Revolution

The Khmer Liberation Movement for Democracy (KLMD) invites all our Compatriots to come and demonstrate against Dictator Hun Sen and the Vietnamese on 08 May 2011, in front of the Vietnamese Embassy at:

62 Rue Boileau

Paris 16e (75016)

Starting at: 2PM

Metro: Michel-Ange-Molitor

Contact: (1) 06 76 47 30 82; (2) 06 42 67 28 63; (3) 06 59 02 59 85

http://www.box.net/shared/74ua8x0tv6

From a life in rubbish to a life in rugby

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 10:56 PM PDT

Source: The ROAR (Australia)

18,500km into our 18 month bicycle journey, we stumbled across one of the most courageous and heartwrenching stories to date. It comes from a remarkable education and welfare centre in the heart of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

After the horrific suffering of the Cambodian people throughout the Pol Pot regime (Khmer Rouge), the country was brought to its knees and life for many millions became a daily struggle between life and death.

Thousands of children and families were left to live and feed off the scraps of food at huge rubbish dumps, and to scavange whatever reusables they could find amongst the broken glass, syringes and rotting waste. If there was ever any doubt as to the destruction caused by the regime, you might find suggestion in their radio broadcasts to the people "To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss".

Many of the estimated 2.5 million victims of the genocide were educated, city dwellers, the brains behind business, and often nutritionally the healthiest sector of society. Over 10 years of slaughter, the national average height dropped by a staggering 10 cm, a difference that takes around 100 years of human evolution to gain back.

We were unsure what rugby story could be found in a country that was effectively born in 1980, the Khmer Rouge's "Year Zero"? The findings were nothing less than inspirational.

The rugby journey began in 1995 when a French couple visited Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Christian and Marie-France des Pallières witnessed children living and working through the rubbish dump and decided that something needed to be done. Starting only by feeding these children, they returned to France to raise awareness of the situation and began collecting donations to assist with their work.

Their footage was so dramatic that support was immediate, and soon they were able to turn some of their wider dreams into realistic projects. By 1996 their project "Pour un Sourir d'Enfant" (for the smile of a child) officially commenced and today the centres provides housing, healthcare, nutrition, education and support to over 6,500 children and their families.

One early student of this scheme was Ratana Pich.

As a young boy, Ratana grew up with his family, living and working on the rubbish dump in Phnom Penh. He attended the local shool each morning but in the afternoon worked with his family shifting through piles of hazardous refuse and waste. By the age of 16, his family could no longer afford the loss of income and he dropped out of education to begin a full time struggle for a lowly income.

In 1998, on one of his many visits to the dumpsites, Christian himself stumbled upon this boy, and personally brought him into the centre. Ratana was now 17 years old, and had already spent 12 years of his life working on the dumpsite. He spoke only Khmer, and had a very limited education. At an age where many people cease education, Ratana's journey was just about to begin, and he progressed through PSE to learn English, French and complete further education studies in a Business course.

It was through rugby however, that he found his greatest opportunity yet.

"I saw some boys throwing around a funny shaped ball, and the man who was teaching them was French," he said.

"I thought, I must understand this game! It must be important if a French man is teaching it!"

After joining the first training at PSE, Ratana learned about the sport and where it was played and realised that rugby was something that might lead him to further opportunities in life. He loved the teamwork that the game required, and although the game was a lot more physical than his beloved football, he was surprised at how much he enjoyed playing and became quickly hooked.

Rugby soon become a second family to many like Ratana, and after graduating through the scheme, they formed a senior PSE side, continuing to train under the guidance of the overseas volunteers. By 2005, they were experienced enough to form a national side almost entirely from PSE, and travelled to face Macau as an undercard fixture to Hong Kong vs Korea.

The little Cambodian boys from the dump took to the field weighing an average 35kg less per player than their opponents, and for 60 minutes held their heavier opponents at bay, before finally succombing 46-7 conceding most tries in the final 20 minutes. Despite losing, the team left the pitch to a standing ovation from a Hong Kong crowd who had rarely witnessed such effort and spirit.

It was a successful trip and in 2006 the PSE Garudas entered a Khmer side into the Angkor 10s, led by Ratana Pich. Only two years on and the team were good enough to bring home the trophy.

Ratana Pich is now 29 years old and has played in every single international fixture for his country, captaining the side for the passed few years. Now he is looking to the future generations of national players and jokes that he is "getting too old and slow", although, like most of the Cambodian team, he doesn't look a day older than 17. Now with a wife and baby daughter, Ratana is working back at PSE and is therefore contributing to the same centre that set him free from a life of poverty.

After another 10,000km of pedalling, we will begin a 50 day tour of schools and rugby clubs in New Zealand to display a collection of rugby stories and exhibits from around the world.

For us, there will be few tales more inspirational than the courage of a small boy who turned a life in rubbish, into a life in rugby.

Civilians Displaced Along Thai-Cambodian Border

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 10:47 PM PDT

Source: SOS Children's Villages (Canada)

30/4/2011 - Children are among the tens of thousands of civilians displaced in the ongoing territorial conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.

As of yesterday evening, it was reported that 42,500 Cambodian civilians have fled violent skirmishes erupting along the country's border with Thailand. Most of them are women, children and elderly persons. An estimated 11,200 of those forced to flee their homes are people who have been displaced recently.

According to a more recent media report by the AFP, the total number of displaced people now exceeds 85,000 civilians.

"We have never expected such great number of evacuees, so now our major concerns for them are clean water and sanitary facilities," Nhim Vanda of the Cambodian National Committee for Disaster Management told China's Xinhua News Agency.

Emergency relief assistance for fleeing families and their children should remain an important humanitarian consideration − this means ensuring peoples' access to water, hygiene and sanitation facilities, well as food, shelter, safety and child protection services.

Maintaining some normalcy, such as children's access to education, in the face of displacement is also desirable. Already, 67 schools have closed in Cambodia, leaving 1,600 students out of the classroom. Schools is Thailand's Surin province are now functioning as shelters.

The ceasefire brokered between the two countries on Thursday has broken down with the renewed violence that has villagers on the run. A total of 16 people have been killed in the fighting, which has lasted for more than a week.

The current casualties from the conflict are mostly among military personnel − eight Cambodian soldiers, seven Thai soldiers and one Thai civilian. Several people were injured.

This is the ninth day of the conflict. Gunfire has been exchanged over disputed border areas at the temples of Ta Moan and Ta Krabei. These temples are just 150 kilometers west of the Preah Vihear Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization.

Preah Vihear (known as Phra Viharn in Vietnam), an 11th century temple, is located in the Oddar Meanchey province of Cambodia. A 1962 court ruling gave the temple to Cambodia. However, the temple can reportedly be most easily accessed via Thailand, who has also claimed ownership to some 4.6 square kilometres of the surrounding area.

The current casualties from the conflict are mostly among military personnel − eight Cambodian soldiers, seven Thai soldiers and one Thai civilian. Several people were injured.

Cambodia has reportedly called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to review the case.

Thai, Cambodian troops clash again at border

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 10:39 PM PDT

Sunday, May 01, 2011

BANGKOK (AP) — Troops from Thailand and Cambodia have exchanged fire again at the countries' disputed border.

Thai regional army spokesman Col. Prawit Hukaew says the two sides exchanged automatic weapons fire overnight and before dawn Sunday as the conflict entered its 10th day.

Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan says the fighting took place around the Ta Krabey and Ta Moan temples, which are in a disputed zone between the two nations.

No casualties were reported. At least 16 people have been killed and nearly 100,000 displaced since fighting began April 22.

Thailand and Cambodia fought six times since 2008 over land disputed for more than half a century, but analysts say domestic politics on both sides is driving the current conflict.