KI Media: “Rally for the 20th Anniversary of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements in New York (Revised schedule)” plus 24 more

Rally for the 20th Anniversary of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements in New York (Revised schedule)

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 05:29 PM PDT

Signatories of Paris peace accords cannot change Cambodia, Cambodians can

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 04:01 PM PDT

Here is the test for Cambodians: Can they be masters of themselves or, put another way by some disdainful commentators, can Cambodians rid themselves of their "dependency syndrome"?

Contributors: Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth


An article by Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth published by the Asian Human Rights Commission

We live in interesting times – times of great challenges, opportunities, and of creativity and hopeful changes.

This year, the 20th anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords falls on October 23. Some people celebrate and commemorate its achievement. Others reflect on its meaning. Some others still, want the Accords to do something for them.

The Final Act of the Accords, signed by 18 governments (Australia, Brunei, Cambodia – the four warring Cambodian factions – Canada, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam), with the participation of officials of Zimbabwe and Yugoslavia representing the non-aligned movement and of the UN Secretary-General and his special representative, sought to "restore peace" and endow "a system of liberal democracy" to Cambodia.

It was no small achievement that the Accords were signed.

It was miraculous that the four Khmer warring factions, whose members harbored mistrust and hatred for one another in a traditional culture that memorializes offenses not just for "muoy ayouk" (one's life or a generation) but for "muoy cheat" (covering seven generations of "chi tuot," "chi luot," "chi leah," "chi ta," "ov pouk," "kaun," "chao"), came to the table to conclude the Accords.

Yet, maybe they had no other choice but to accept the inevitable if they were to remain relevant.

Certainly, the imminent dissolution of the Soviet Union and the uncertainty of the looming power vacuum as the Cold War came to an end were catalysts to bring this small regional war to an end. Asian backers of each Khmer faction did not hesitate to discard their respective client's wishes and even pressure them to accept a negotiated settlement. The major powers in the Cold War made deals – the US ceased recognition of the Non-Communist Resistance, China dropped the Khmer Rouge – at the expense of their Cambodian allies. A change in the status quo ante was inevitable.

So, the signatories sought to end Cambodia's "tragic conflict and continuing bloodshed" – from 1970, when Cambodia was engulfed by the Vietnam War, through 1975-1979, under the brutalities of the Khmer Rouge, and from 1979-1989 when Vietnamese troops invaded and occupied Cambodia.

A "liberal democracy" in Cambodia reflected the world's intention to provide that country with a government that mirrored the democratic changes also occurring in Eastern Europe. In practice, ending the conflict and bloodshed meant the different factions must be denied the means to continue fighting. Foreign backers unplugged the Khmers' military supply chain.

Cambodian conflict in the world context 

As a result of their regular contacts at the Khmer-Thai border with foreign representatives, the high command of the Khmer People's National Liberation Armed Forces was acutely conscious of impending changes in the world order that would inevitably affect those waging the war for Cambodia. Notably, the rise in March 1985 of Mikhail S. Gorbachev to the position of Secretary General of the Soviet Community Party seemed to presage change in international relationships.

As Special Assistant to Commander-in-Chief, I read and researched to keep him abreast of changes that might affect the Front. We discussed a correlation between Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia on Christmas Eve 1978 and the reports of Soviet troops in Afghanistan on December 24, 1979 under Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev. By 1988, I reported on the significance of Gorbachev's social, economic, political, and foreign policy reforms; his abolition of the Brezhnev doctrine that allowed Moscow to intervene in any socialist country; and his policy allowing the Kremlin's Eastern European allies to pursue independent domestic and foreign policies.

News of Soviet military withdrawal from Afghanistan in May 1988 (completed in February 1989) was echoed by Hanoi's public announcement in January 1989 of Vietnamese troop withdrawals from Cambodia – withdrawals recorded by reporters in the summer of 1989.

Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front Jakarta Informal Meetings (JIMs) of the Khmer warring factions were held in July 1988 and in February 1989, followed by France's push for an international conference on Cambodia in July-August.

In Eastern Europe, six governments of the Kremlin's allies – Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, East Germany, Romania – collapsed in 1989, and the Berlin Wall came down in November of that year.

Heaven seemed to conspire to bring change. To say that change causes anxiety is an understatement.

Having served actively with the KPLNF since 1981, I was a direct participant in the KPNLAF's general staff and high command beginning in 1985-1986. My theory: The KPNLAF was racing against time to achieve its goals. Unless the army accepted risks, its future would be dictated by others. 

"Overreacting," I was told.

I asked what price we would pay for "peace," and came to a personal conclusion that we were going to pay far too dearly for a poor result. In November 1989, I left the KPNLAF – ironically, after a visit to a KPNLAF zone by a United Nations military delegation. I had reached a fork in the road with members of the KPNLAF leadership. My views would have been an obstacle to the course they had determined they must follow. In vogue was hopeful talk of turning "battlefields into free markets" and "bullets into ballots." They turned their attention to creating a political party in anticipation of Cambodia's forthcoming national elections. I believed these could be neither free nor fair, as Hun Sen and the CPP had been in complete control of Cambodia for a decade. My colleagues embraced a "procedural democracy." Our shared dream of establishing a "substantive democracy" that comprises fundamental rights and freedom was no longer acknowledged.

In an article in the China Morning Post in 1992, I questioned Cambodian democrats' participation in a national election that would not be free and fair as Hun Sen would use this priceless democratic process to legitimize his Cambodian People's Party's dictatorship.

But, I was pleasantly surprised – embarrassed, but elated – as a nearly 90 percent voter turnout at the 1993 UN-supervised general elections gave victory to Prince Norodom Ranariddh of the royalist FUNCINPEC party. Maybe I was "overreacting"?

The pleasant surprise soon turned sour. Hun Sen, who lost the election, refused to accept Ranariddh's victory, and threatened war. Then Prince Ranariddh's father, now King Father Sihanouk, came up with his "co-premiership" formula: The election winner should be First Prime Minister, the election loser, Second Prime Minister. A two-headed government was created. Each prime minister had separate ministries and armies.

Ironically, in an interview on Guam with a reporter of Bangkok's The Nation, I warned of a coup. In July 1997, Hun Sen pulled a coup d'etat against Ranariddh, ahead of the next general elections.

And so the dream of "national reconciliation" vanished, perhaps to be revived when it is politically expedient?

Now, as celebrations and commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the Paris Accords begin, I find myself an odd man out.

Each to his/her own drumbeat

Last month, on August 6, in a keynote speech to Sydney's University of New South Wales Law School, Australia's former foreign minister (1988) Gareth Evans described the pre-1991 "complex and intractable" Cambodian conflict and admitted, "We have not yet seen a durable, human-rights respecting democracy," but dubbed the Accords "a formidable achievement indeed for the international community, and one in which … Australia played a quite central part."

For Professor Evans, "nothing has given me more pleasure and pride than the Paris peace agreement concluded in 1991," though Cambodia's "glass is still half full. In democracy and human rights terms, Cambodia still has a long way to go," he said.

Evans's remarks at the signing of the 1991 Accords should be recalled: "Peace and freedom are not prizes which, once gained, can never be lost. They must be won again each day. Their foundations must be sunk deep into the bedrock of political stability, economic prosperity and above all else, the observance of human rights."

Indeed, political stability and economic prosperity must not eclipse "observance of human rights."

Also in August, in "Silencing Cambodia's Honest Brokers," former New York Times reporter Elizabeth Becker wrote of "champagne and a huge sigh of relief" as the 1991 Accords were signed; except Cambodia was not moving on to peace and democracy. "It didn't turn out that way. Cambodia today is essentially ruled by a single party with little room for an opposition, has a weak and corrupt judiciary, and the country's most effective union leaders have been murdered." To Becker, Hun Sen's proposed law on civil society would silence Cambodia's "lively civil society and NGOs."

She suggested, as commemorations of the Paris Accords begin, "instead of looking backward to the past glory, it might be better to focus on today and reinforce the accords." Hun Sen wants a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council, she wrote. Cambodia's "price for greater influence and prestige in the world should be reinforcing democracy, not diminishing it."

I like Becker's column. But, it drew some critics.

While foreign government and United Nations officials commemorate the Paris Accords, Cambodian opponents of the Hun Sen regime recognized by the United Nations are using the anniversary as an opportunity to draw attention to the Accords' successes and failures through conferences and rallies.

In general, Cambodian expatriates around the world are convening conferences and rallies to petition the UN and the signatory governments "to reconvene and re-enforce" the stipulations in the Paris Accords, because Cambodia's neighbors, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as the Hun Sen government, have violated Cambodia's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, and the Hun Sen regime is violating the Khmer people's rights and freedom. Many expatriates repeat the goal of their conferences and rallies to seek to "safeguard" Cambodia's survival.

Cambodians have reason to be dissatisfied with the implementation of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords. When the election results of 1993 went awry and then were overturned through a coup, signatory nations were occupied elsewhere. Today, denouncing the Thais and the Vietnamese may make some people feel better, but bashing them endlessly brings no change to the situation, only fossilizes the "we-they" enmity. The UN and the 18 signatory governments of the Paris Accords have no interest in reconvening to "re-enforce" the Accords' stipulations. The world has moved on; signatory nations find their self-interest currently involves productive engagement with the government in place.

Time, energy, and resources would be better employed building the foundation for the Cambodia enlightened citizens hope to develop. Teach people to think. As Lord Buddha taught 2,500 years ago: "We are what we think … With our thoughts we make the world." Bashing others makes an ugly world.

Some Khmer weaknesses 

I am not seeking personal popularity. I write to encourage change through constructive processes, critical reasoning, informed decision-making. Generally, Cambodians have a tendency to personalize and see things in black or white; hence, many have trouble thinking "outside the box."

Centuries of a Khmer culture of "smoh trang" (fidelity, loyalty) that reinforces the teaching to "korup" (respect), "bamroeur" (serve), "kar pier" (defend) the god-king or leader until the end of one's life, boxes people into servitude to the god-king or leader, their minds forbidden to stray. Human beings are creatures of habit. Centuries of doing and thinking the same thing over and over results in too many who act thoughtlessly. Improvement, change, is hard to accomplish when views are immoveable.

This culture has to be "unlearned." If learning consists of repeating the same process, unlearning means to terminate the old and start new process over and over. Unlearning means change, and change begins with the one who looks into the mirror: You and me.

While Cambodian children were taught the "virtue" of the traditional culture to be loyal and fight to the death for a god-king or leader, American children are taught to believe in the "self-evident truths" and regardless of their party affiliation, they fight when "life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness" are threatened. Cambodia, with a history that dates back more than 2,000 years, is in decline. The United States, born in 1776, still holds world leadership.

There is a German proverb that goes, "Necessity unites." John F. Kennedy famously said: "The unity of freedom has never relied on uniformity of opinion."

Yet, the necessity to oppose Hun Sen's autocracy has not united Cambodian democrats, many of whom inflexibly view uniting as being with "me," with "my party," under "my leadership," – a uniformity of opinion that "I" or "my party" defines. What's the difference between them and autocratic Hun Sen and the CPP? Too many in the democratic opposition colorfully denigrate one another and encourage their followers to engage in personal invective, to the pleasure of Hun Sen and the CPP.

Remember Lord Buddha's preaching, "Words have the power to both destroy and heal"?

"Pay no attention to the faults of others, things done or left undone by others. Consider only what by oneself is done or undone," Buddha taught.

In other words, think only of what have we ourselves have done or not done.

Last week, I had the fortune to speak with a respected Khmer elder with experience in Khmer affairs since the 1950s. I spoke my thought: "If for any reason, Khmer democrats have problems 'uniting' against an autocratic opponent, can they at least refrain from 'disunity' and be humble enough and not paint one another black?"

Khmer Revolutionists

Regular readers know I am no fan of bashing anyone – though I am not shy about offering critical analysis, which means assessing and evaluating whether an action leads to a desired goal. Criticism is not a denunciation or denigration. Nor do I stand in the way of others who fight for rights and freedom. To the contrary, I give a hand when and if possible to help opponents of autocracy. I don't remain "neutral" in the face of injustice and violations of rights and freedom. I like the words of human rights icon, Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

Thus, I offer no objection to the Khmer People Power Movement of Sourn Serey Ratha, albeit some listeners in Phnom Penh of KPPM radio station tell me they are unhappy with the radio's "strong" language. Nor do I challenge those in the Lotus Revolution of Ou Chal in France, though I am in agreement with Dr. Tith Naranhkiri, formerly with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, who suggested the Lotus Revolutionists "shift emphasis" from first "liberating" Cambodia from the Vietnamese, to first liberating the Cambodian people from Hun Sen/Sihanouk, and not to count on the Paris Accords to do the liberation for Cambodians. As Tith says, "It is too late. That change was wrecked by Sihanouk when he joined Hun Sen after the 1987 meeting in France."

What concerns me about "revolution" in Cambodia a la Arab Spring is not whether a popular uprising is possible – I think it can be made to happen, and opposition leader Sam Rainsy needed not consult Arab Spring revolutionists – but, as I said to the Khmer elder last week, after a Khmer uprising, "then what?"

As a movie character said, It's not so much time but so little to do, but there's so much to do and so little time!

In the final analysis, the UN and the signatories of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords cannot change Cambodia. It's Cambodians who will have to bring about the change that they want to see.

Here is the test for Cambodians: Can they be masters of themselves or, put another way by some disdainful commentators, can Cambodians rid themselves of their "dependency syndrome"?

……

The views shared in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the AHRC, and the AHRC takes no responsibility for them.

About the Author:

Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. He currently lives in the United States. He can be contacted at peangmeth@gmail.com.

Yingluck Shinawatra's visit to Cambodia on 15 Sept 201

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 03:14 PM PDT

(All Photos: Reuters)

Forced to become Viet citizens

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 02:33 PM PDT

Nguyen The Tai (right) and his sister Le Ngoc Hai outside their mother's house near Viet Nam's Ho Chi Minh City. The ex-refugees from Cambodia were stateless until they received Vietnamese citizenship last year. (UNHCR/K. McKinsey)

Statelessness: Former refugees win citizenship, and now dream of home ownership

HO CHI MINH CITY, Viet Nam, September 15 (UNHCR) – When the coconut groves of this city's Thu Duc district became a refugee camp nearly 30 years ago, the area was so remote it was a five-hour commute from the centre – by rowboat.

Now called District Nine, today it's one of the most fashionable areas of the booming southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), where wealthy business people build villas and fanciful walled castles, which they reach in less than an hour over bridges and wide highways.

Luxury property has always been out of the reach of Nguyen The Tai, who fled Cambodia and came here as a refugee when he was just 11, and has been stateless all his life. In fact, he never even dreamed of buying the small cinder-block row house built by UNHCR where he lives with his 75-year-old mother.

But his dreams expanded exponentially after he finally got Vietnamese citizenship last year, along with some 2,300 other former stateless Cambodians. Thanks to UNHCR's efforts, he now has a chance to buy his rented house from the local authorities at just two per cent of the market price.

"I would be very happy to be the owner of this house," the cheerful 46-year-old says, romping with his dog in his small garden. "In Vietnamese there is a proverb, 'settlement before career'."

Not that he's had much of a career either. Because he was stateless, Tai – he took the Vietnamese name when he got his citizenship – could only work as an unskilled labourer at perhaps half the going rate, despite being a skilled electrician. He could not get bonded, obtain an identity card, or legally marry his common-law wife of nine years.

His older sister, now called Le Ngoc Hai, has also paid a life-long price for their statelessness, lingering fall-out from the Pol Pot years in Cambodia. The family fled in 1975 after their father, a former Cambodian military officer, was attacked with an axe by Pol Pot's murderous Khmer Rouge. He died of his injuries after reaching Viet Nam.

Despite speaking fluent French, the closest Hai has come to using it professionally was while working as an underpaid cook for a Frenchman in Ho Chi Minh City for the last 15 years.

In the 1980s, as they saw thousands of other refugees resettled abroad, the family originally hoped they would get to join relatives in France. A change in policies shattered that dream, and by the mid-1990s, their focus shifted to trying to get citizenship in their adopted home, where they had learned the language and customs. But they were caught in a legal limbo, because Viet Nam required them to relinquish their Cambodian citizenship, and Cambodia had renounced them.

The aspirations of all the stateless refugees in this settlement plummeted. "I just had one simple hope: that when I died I could get a death certificate, to prove that I ever existed," said one of the family's neighbours in the row of modest townhouses built by UNHCR and later handed over to municipal authorities.

Hai, the mother of two teenagers, feels a tinge of sadness she had to wait 35 years to become a citizen, but she and her brother are still optimistic about the future.

"I am not very young, but I am not very old," the 51-year-old says, "so I can still hope my life can change because of my new nationality."

Her brother adds with a smile: "Physically I am strong, stronger than young people, so now I hope I can work in my real profession." And buy that house, of course.

By Kitty McKinsey

In District Nine, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

Introducing the Khmer Post Radio Broadcast

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 02:25 PM PDT

The Khmer Post Radio to broadcast in Cambodia, Kampuchea Krom and Thailand

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 02:17 PM PDT

US Ambassador Renews Calls To Halt Corruption [-PLEASE tell that to Hun Xen and his henchmen!!!]

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 02:15 PM PDT

U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Carol A. Rodley, and U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel, right, meet with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in Phnom Penh. (Photo: AP)

Thursday, 15 September 2011
Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

"It prevents countries like Cambodia from fully realizing their potential."

US Ambassador Carol Rodley said Thursday that Cambodia's ongoing corruption prevents the country from moving forward and is scaring off foreign investors.

The ambassador spoke at a national seminar in Phnom Penh aimed at bolstering civic engagement in development and tackling corruption.

"It prevents countries like Cambodia from fully realizing their potential," Rodley said in opening remarks. Corruption undermines good governance and "hinders economic and social development," she said.

"It erodes the confidence that citizens have in their government and in the rule of law," she said.

Rodley said corruption, which costs the government an estimated $500 million a year, drains money from public coffers and "often makes international businesses think twice" before investing.

"The government of Cambodia acknowledges this," said Keo Remy, a spokesman for the Anti-Corruption Unit, a government body tasked with fighting graft under a 2010 law that donors had sought for years.

The government is undertaking an education campaign across the country to curb the practice, he said.

However, Hang Chhaya, a member of Transparency Cambodia, said the fight against corruption was taking place with little information available publicly.

"We want to see transparency in the fight against corruption," he said.

Australian Ambassador Penny Richards said the battle against corruption was not the government's alone. It also takes a "strong coalition" of civic groups, she said.

“Development is for other people”

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 01:53 PM PDT

September 15, 2011
Zhang Hong
ChinaDialogue.net

"What use is electricity to this primitive fishing and farming village? Even if they wanted it, neither the government nor the company plans to give it to them – there's no distribution network."

Fishermen and rice farmers in Cambodia's Ratanakiri province don't want dams, electricity or even compensation, argues Zhang Hong. They just want to preserve their way of life.

In the Cambodian province of Ratanakiri – bordering Vietnam to the east and Laos to the north – local people are fighting to protect their rivers from hydroelectric dams, and their lifestyles from disruption. In early August, I spent two days in Ratanakiri at the invitation of 3SPN, a local NGO focused on the "three Ss": Srepok, Sesan and Sekong, all tributaries of the mighty Mekong.

Founded by Cambodians, 3SPN aims to bring together communities in this north-eastern region of Cambodia to campaign for the rivers and the livelihoods that depend on them. Joining me on the trip were journalists from Hong Kong, Vietnam and Korea – all home to companies that have built or are planning to build hydroelectric dams here. 3SPN wanted to show these reporters the impact dam construction has on local lives.

On our first day in Ratanakiri, we travelled to the village of Thmey, outside the provincial capital of Banlung. Lying on the Srepok River, Thmey has neither electricity nor running water. The village is home to 899 people, divided between 178 households. It has four television sets and a collection of radios – some of the richer families have small generators to provide electricity.

Through a translator, village head Sela Ratha told us that people here mostly make a living through fishing and rice farming. Any surplus fish can be sold and the income used to buy new fishing equipment or other goods.

Downstream Cambodia is often affected by dams built beyond its borders. Even if upstream nations carry out environmental and social impact assessments on their dams, they rarely consider what will happen over the border, much less provide compensation for people living there. Several years ago, Vietnam built a dam on the Srepok, which the fishing communities of Thmey say has made their lives more difficult.

The villagers complain that the dam causes unpredictable changes in water level – meaning their nets are never in the right place. They set the nets up, then come back the next day to find that they're hanging above the water or are completely submerged, or even that they have been swept away. Via the village head, they have asked the Vietnamese to keep them informed about their dam operations, but by the time they get the phone call, the flood peak has already passed.

The dams also block the path of migrating fish. In the past, a 100-metre net could catch 20 kilograms of fish in an evening. Now, it's only two or three kilograms. Water quality has also declined, as vegetation submerged by the dam waters rots. Reduced flows have also increased sedimentation, and the Srepok is turning into another "Yellow River" (which contains more sediment than any other river in the world).

The villagers know there's not much that can be done about the dams Vietnam has already built – they are more worried about one due to be constructed right next door. At the end of last year, a team of Chinese workers suddenly appeared and started drilling bore holes in the rice fields by the river. Their translator told the locals that they were carrying out a geological survey as part of proposals to build a dam. The villagers say they were never informed about the project, let alone consulted. Even the village authorities didn't know about it.

With help from local NGOs, the villagers found out that, in 2008, the Cambodian government signed a memorandum of understanding with Guangxi Guiguan Electric Power on the construction of two hydropower dams on the Srepok River, with generating capacity initially planned at 300 megawatts and 100 megawatts respectively.

"We don't want dams," a villager told me. On January 11 this year, they put this message in writing to the village and district governments – but have received no response.

Is it really true they don't want dams under any conditions? Although I knew the villagers had strong objections to dam development, I thought that they would be asking for reasonable compensation and minimisation of the environmental and social impacts, for talks and hearings – I didn't expect their attitude to be so absolute.

The first reason the villagers give is this: they don't want electricity, nor do they want hydroelectric dams. What use is electricity to this primitive fishing and farming village? Even if they wanted it, neither the government nor the company plans to give it to them – there's no distribution network. The power from the dam will go to industry in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, or be exported to Vietnam. The locals will pay with their homes, but get nothing in return.

What if the government gives them adequate compensation? The villagers answer that they might get a one-off payment, but that won't help their children and grandchildren. The dam will flood fields and fishing will be even harder. With no livelihoods, what use will the money be? The villagers also feel certain the government and the Chinese company will not be generous: they didn't tell the locals about the agreement with the electricity company or the feasibility study, so it's clear that they don't see any need to consider them.

The villagers also report that, this year, the government leased a nearby parcel of land to a Cambodian company to use as a rubber plantation. That land included some of their rice fields, but no compensation was paid. Events like this are common in Cambodia, and the villagers are worried they will keep happening.

I asked people here if they would be prepared to go and work for that company – it's a job, after all. The response was a forceful "No!" The translator summed it up: "They would rather work for themselves."

As in many parts of the world, villagers are facing modern realities of land acquisitions by private companies and have no choice but to sell their labour on the open market.

I started to understand why, to the people of Thmey, development isn't a priority – for them, development is something for other people; they don't get anything out of it.

The next day, we went to Padal Thom, near the border with Vietnam. This is a Jarai village, with a population of 552, living in 103 households. The people here are even poorer, and even more dependent on fishing than in Thmey. The village used to get everything they needed from the Sesan River, but Vietnam has built five dams upstream and there are no longer enough fish – when there's not enough to eat, the villagers have to take a one hour motorbike ride to the border with Vietnam to buy more. When Typhoon Ketsana struck in 2009, the Sesan River experienced a rare flood, which carried away the village's livestock and poultry. The villagers believe the size of the flood is related to the dams upstream.

The villagers here are equally firm: no dams, even if there is compensation.

These people live in a "pre-capitalist" era, and are accustomed to traditional farming and simple living. They think their descendants can maintain the same lifestyle and see nothing wrong with it.

The Jarai are animists, and that's another reason they don't want to move – this is the place where generations have made sacrifices to the gods and their ancestors, and they need to stay within its protection.

Some might call this "ignorant", even "backward". But who are we to say the lifestyles others choose aren't as good as ours, or that we must "help" by giving them "more advanced" ways of working and living? Surely that's the same attitude adopted by Europeans arriving in Africa and Asia in the nineteenth century.

I tried to look at it from the point of view of the government and investors: without industry, Cambodia will always be at the end of the global value chain – and, with less than ideal energy resources, hydropower is the only way out. There's no alternative but to sacrifice the interests of a few for the sake of the many.

But, in this case, do the benefits for the many really outweigh the costs for the few – including the environmental costs and future risks that haven't been calculated? I'm not sure, but I know that for these villagers who know nothing but farming and fishing, relocation might mean hunger and disease. Have the many thought how to repay the few? Have the Chinese companies, who think all they need to do is reach a deal with the Cambodian government, heard their pleas?

A Cambodian working for an international research institution, told me that there are good dams and bad dams. The World Commission on Dams has a set of detailed guidelines: if you follow these closely, you can maximise the benefits and reduce the negative impact. But those guidelines aren't compulsory, and many nations, especially developing nations, don't use them in their own projects. Even in the European Union and United States, where they are followed, new issues often arise after construction, and dams remain controversial.

So is the villagers' stance – no dams at all – too extreme?

"It's because they don't have very good information," said the NGO worker. "Some environmentalists just tell them about the disadvantages, but not about the advantages – and the disadvantages aren't always there."

"So . . ." he paused. "You need the best researchers mediating between the government and the environmentalists. We won't tell the government not to build dams – on the contrary, we'll tell them when you build a dam, you need to do this and this."

Zhang Hong is European correspondent at Caixin.

A longer version of this article first appeared on the author's Caixin blog.

Thaksin may be a no-show at soccer game

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 01:30 PM PDT

September 16, 2011
THE NATION

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra might not make an appearance at the soccer match between Thai and Cambodian teams scheduled for next week, a red-shirt source said yesterday.

"It would not be good for the Yingluck government if Thaksin were cheered by thousands of red shirts at the Cambodian stadium," he told The Nation. 

It would provide an opportunity for criticism from the opposition, the source said.

Kwanchai Praipana, a red-shirt leader, yesterday told supporters via his television programme to wait for confirmation that Thaksin would appear.

"Unless Thaksin joins the event, there is no need for so many of us to go there."

Meanwhile, Pheu Thai MP Weng Tojirakan yesterday said more than 10,000 red shirts would attend the friendly football match in Phnom Penh.

The Thai team will comprise red shirts-turned-Pheu Thai MPs and the Cambodian side will be represented by Cabinet members and ranking officials.

"The friendly match will signal the two countries have resumed good neighbourly ties," Weng said.

He said Thailand and Cambodia would not go back to bickering as they did under the Abhisit Vejjajiva government.

Weng said he could not confirm or deny whether the red shirts would meet with Thaksin since he did not know Thaksin's schedule in the Cambodian capital.

He was speaking after the Criminal Court approved his petition to travel to Cambodia on two separate trips tomorrow and again next Friday. In the first trip, he would be part of an advance team. The second trip would be to take part in the match.

Three other members of the advance team, Veera Musigapong, Natthawut Saikua and Yoswaris "Jeng Dokjik" Chuklom, had earlier obtained court permission to travel abroad. Weng's trip was delayed for a day because of incomplete documentation.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said the government would not seek to extradite fugitive Thaksin from Cambodia because of lack of a legal mandate.

"The extradition request for Thaksin is impossible," he said in reference to Thaksin's visit to Phnom Penh tomorrow.

Chalerm said the Democrat-led government had tried but failed to persuade the Cambodian government to send back Thaksin.

He said the existing extradition provisions did not apply to Thaksin's conviction and two-year jail term.

Hun Sen to seek reduced jail terms for Veera and Ratree [-Hun Xen is the LAW afterall!]

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 01:26 PM PDT

September 16, 2011
The Nation, Agencies

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen promised visiting Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday that he would seek reduced jail terms for two Thai activists imprisoned for espionage, but insisted a royal pardon could be considered only after they had served two-thirds of their sentences.

During their meeting in Phnom Penh, Yingluck had asked Hun Sen to seek a way to help Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, who are serving eight and six years, respectively.

They were arrested in December while inspecting a disputed border area near Sa Kaew's Ban Nongchan village.

The prime ministers also discussed overlapping maritime claims, trade, investment, and a plan to issue third-country tourists with a single visa for the two countries, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said.

The two leaders agreed to comply fully with an International Court of Justice (ICJ) injunction to withdraw troops from a disputed border area adjacent to Preah Vihear Temple and allow Indonesian observers to monitor a cease-fire, he said.

Yingluck and Hun Sen assigned their defence ministers to decide details of the Preah Vihear peacekeeping operation and the withdrawal of troops from the ICJ-determined demilitarised zone.

The ICJ issued provisional measures ordering a troop withdrawal pending an interpretation of its 1962 judgement on the temple as requested by Cambodia. The court ruled in 1962 that the temple is situated in Cambodia, but Thailand argues that its adjacent land belongs to Thailand.

Hun Sen told Yingluck that if the ICJ decides that the disputed 4.6 sq km near Preah Vihear belongs to Thailand, Cambodia will hand it to Thailand unconditionally, Hor Namhong said.

Hun Sen vows to aid jailed Thais [-Hun Xen to help the Yellow Shirts by request from a Red Shirt?]

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 01:23 PM PDT

Maritime issues also raised on Yingluck visit

16/09/2011
Bangkok Post & Agencies

Hun Sen's gesture also came as a surprise given that Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong had said hours earlier that Veera and Ratree must serve out at least two-thirds of their sentences before being considered for parole.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has promised to find ways for the early release of two Thais serving prison terms in Phnom Penh to reinforce vastly improving ties between the two countries.

The Cambodian leader pledged to help Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipatanapaiboon during a meeting yesterday with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was on a one-day visit to Phnom Penh.

Her trip will be followed by a high-profile visit to Cambodia today by her brother and deposed prime minister Thaksin.

Ms Yingluck quoted Hun Sen as saying that he would find a way to reduce the sentences of the coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network and his secretary so that both could seek a royal pardon earlier than scheduled.

The meeting went smoothly and was the opening of "a new chapter" in relations between Thailand and Cambodia, she said.

The Phnom Penh Municipality Court in February jailed Veera for eight years for spying, crossing the border and illegally entering a military base in December.

Ratree was sentenced to six years for the same offences.

They were arrested when the Democrat Party, led by then prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, governed the country.

Relations between Thailand and Cambodia turned after the Democrats were defeated in the July general elections.

The previous government was at odds with the neighbouring country over the Preah Vihear temple issue, with Thailand opposing a joint management plan for the temple. The conflicts led to armed border conflicts which plunged ties to a new low.

Hun Sen's gesture also came as a surprise given that Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong had said hours earlier that Veera and Ratree must serve out at least two-thirds of their sentences before being considered for parole.

Mr Abhisit defended the Democrat-led administration's handling of Veera and Ratree cases, saying his government had made its best effort. Phnom Penh had insisted on the two activists staying in jail in accordance with Cambodian laws first.

"We tried to seek a royal pardon," Abhisit said. "But Hun Sen said the government could not intervene in the judicial system.

"We raised the case of Sivarak Chutipong, but Hun Sen insisted that he did not want to make a second mistake."

Hun Sen had requested a royal pardon for Mr Sivarak, a Thai engineer accused of stealing flight information pertaining to Thaksin, who was then an adviser to the Cambodian government and Hun Sen.

Mr Sivarak was sentenced to seven years in prison, but freed after serving a month in prison apparently due to a request by Thaksin.

Ms Yingluck and Hun Sen also agreed to resume negotiating a plan for joint development of overlapping maritime claims in the Gulf of Thailand based on a Memorandum of Understanding in 2001.

Ms Yingluck promised transparency in the negotiations on the issue which has at stake oil and gas reserves.

Mr Abhisit said Thailand and Cambodia could not avoid talks about oil and natural gas reserves in the disputed waters. He said a core issue would be the framework for negotiations, adding the public should scrutinise the government to ensure it is acting in the country's best interest.

The prime ministers agreed to "redeploy troops" away from the disputed area near the temple, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said.

The Hague-based International Court of Justice in July asked both nations to withdraw military personnel from around the Preah Vihear temple complex, but neither side has pulled out yet, though the border has been calm.

Hor Namhong said the redeployment of troops would require observers from Indonesia, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc.

Ms Yingluck said details of the issue will be thrashed out in a meeting of the General Border Committee chaired by the two country's defence ministers. The meeting has yet to be scheduled.

The two leaders also agreed to pursue joint infrastructure projects, including building roads linking the two countries and opening a new border checkpoint at Ban Nong Iean in the Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo province to boost trade ties.

Ms Yingluck and her delegation, which included Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, received a red carpet welcome from the Cambodian government. Students and Cambodian citizens lined up along the roads from Pochentong International Airport waving Thai flags to the city where she held talks with Hun Sen and later paid a courtesy call on King Norodom Sihamoni at the Royal Palace.

ព្រះគុណពុកម៉ែ ! កំណាព្យបទពាក្យប្រាំបី ! Gratefulness to our Parents!

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 11:15 AM PDT

Impossible to extradite Thaksin from Cambodia: Chalerm

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 07:42 AM PDT

September 15, 2011
The Nation

The government would not seek to extradite fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinwatra from Cambodia due to a lack of legal mandate, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said on Thursday.

"The extradition request for Thaksin is impossible," he said in reference to Thaksin's visit to Phnom Penh tomorrow.

Chalerm said the Democrat-led government had tried but failed to convince the Cambodian government to send back Thaksin.

He said the existing extradition provisions did not applied to Thaksin's conviction and two-year jail term.

Chalerm declined to say if Thaksin had helped release two Thais in Cambodia

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 07:39 AM PDT

By NNT
Pattaya Mail

BANGKOK, 14 September 2011 -Deputy Prime Minister Pol Capt. Chalerm Yubamrung refused to say whether ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra was behind the attempt to release the two Thais in Cambodian prison or not while saying that the legal charges against Mr. Thaksin were not qualified for criminal extradition.

According to Pol Capt. Chalerm, it would be considered a present from Cambodia to release Mr. Veera Somkwamid and Ms. Ratree Pipattanapaiboon when Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra visited the country. However, it is not known that whether the two will return to Thailand with the Prime Minister or not.

Regarding Mr.Thaksin, the Deputy Prime Minister expressed no opinion on the speculation that Mr. Thaksin could have been securing the release of the two remaining Thais in Cambodia. He simply added that every one already knew.

The Deputy Prime Minister further stated that since Mr. Thaksin could not be extradited from Cambodia and not even the Foreign Minister could enforce the Thai law in Cambodia to bring Mr. Thaksin back to justice, citing that the law in one nation could not be enforced elsewhere. Therefore, the Foreign Minister can not break Section 157 of the Constitution regarding criminal extradition as claimed by the Democrat Party.

Illegal Cambodian beggars sent home

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 07:35 AM PDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJLSESOoac

These Cambodians are waiting to be deported back to their home country.

Thursday, 15 September 2011
By PMTV
Pattaya Mail

On the afternoon of September the 12th a press conference was held by Chonburi's immigration department regarding illegal Cambodian beggars.

Nine men, eighteen women and twenty three Cambodian children had been rounded up after it came to light that they had entered the country illegally and after the numerous complaints about children begging across the city.

The Cambodians will now be sent back to their country and the Immigration Department at the Thai-Cambodia border have been notified to be more vigilant.

Cambodia and Thailand agree to demilitarize border zone

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 07:30 AM PDT

Sep 15, 2011
DPA

Phnom Penh - Thailand has agreed to a July ruling by the International Court of Justice calling for Thailand and Cambodia to remove troops from a disputed flashpoint zone on their common border, Cambodia said Thursday.

The move came during the visit to Phnom Penh of Thailand's recently-elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra amid expectations of improved relations between the two neighbours.

The disputed zone lies near the 11th century temple of Preah Vihear, one of several areas along the Thai-Cambodian border that saw deadly clashes as recently as April.

The fighting, which took place under the previous Thai government, caused consternation at the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations group, of which both countries are members. Indonesia, the ASEAN chair, was forced into a mediating role.

Cambodia's Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said Thursday's talks were fruitful.

'When we talked about the border, (Cambodian) prime minister (Hun Sen) says we have to follow the decision of the ICJ, and also accept the role of the Indonesians,' Khieu Kanharith said. 'The Thai prime minister agreed.'

He said the two countries had also agreed to combat cross-border crime, adding that Thailand would send a business delegation to Phnom Penh later in the year to try and boost trade and investment.

Yingluck, whose Pheu Thai party won Thailand's July ballot, is scheduled to leave Cambodia later Thursday. She has already visited Brunei and Indonesia as part of her regional trip.

Earlier Koy Kuong, a spokesman for Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Phnom Penh expected the visit would 'restore our bilateral relations and cooperation in all fields.'

'The government led by the Pheu Thai party in Thailand has the same goal as the Royal Government of Cambodia - that we hate war, we don't like to use violence as a means to solve our problems,' he said. 'We love a peaceful solution.'

Relations between Cambodia and Thailand plunged under Yingluck's predecessor Abhisit Vejjajiva. Abhisit became prime minister in 2008 following the military's 2006 ousting of Thaksin Shinawatra, who is Yingluck's brother and the force behind Pheu Thai.

Another area of common interest is the stalled effort to resolve disputes over offshore oil and gas deposits in the 27,000-square-kilometre Overlapping Claims Area.

It has been a decade since the two countries started efforts to reach agreement on carving up revenues from the deposits. However a Cambodian government spokesman said the issue was not discussed Thursday.

The rocky relationship between the countries worsened after Phnom Penh appointed Thaksin as a government adviser in 2009, a post he no longer holds. Thaksin, who has been living in Dubai to avoid a two-year jail term for abuse of power, is due to visit Cambodia on Friday.

However, Phnom Penh has stressed that Thaksin has no authority to negotiate on behalf of the Thai government, adding that he would visit to deliver two speeches, meet his Thai supporters and play golf with Hun Sen.

Thailand, Cambodia agree on easing border tensions

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 07:26 AM PDT

Thursday, September 15, 2011

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand have agreed that troops along their disputed border should meet regularly to ease tensions and withdraw from a temple area as ordered by an international court in July.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong says that Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen made the agreement Thursday afternoon in Phnom Penh.

Hor Namhong called the meeting a big step in improving ties.

Relations between the countries have been strained since July 2008 when periodic skirmishes broke out in the region around the centuries-old, Cambodian-owned Preah Vihear temple. It sits on a mountain straddling the disputed border.

The clashes have killed dozens of people, and each side blames the other for starting them.

Kasit: Cambodia should respect Thai court procedure to bring Thaksin to justice

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 07:22 AM PDT

By NNT
Pattaya Mail

BANGKOK, 14 September 2011 - Former Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said that Cambodian Prime Minister Somdech Hunsen should respect the Thai justice system regarding the case of ex-premier Pol Lt Col Thaksin Shinawatra while expressing hope that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra would be able to separate her leadership role from personal relations with her brother.

Following Pol Lt Col Thaksin's scheduled trip to Cambodia, Mr. Kasit said the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh could either notify Cambodia of the legal status of Thaksin or to report the ex-prime minister's move to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand so that it will notify the Office of the Attorney General.

A formal letter will then be drafted by the Office of the Attorney General and sent to notify Cambodia about the legal charges against Mr. Thaksin. Mr Kasit added later that it was entirely up to the Cambodian government whether to cooperate with Thailand or not. He personally thought that Mr Hun Sen should respect Thailand in this regard otherwise it could break the relationship between the two countries.

The Former Foreign Minister said that every government has the duty to bring criminals to justice, and he was hoping that Ms. Yingluck would give no one a favor.

Eight workers lost in deluge at dam site

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 07:19 AM PDT

Thursday, 15 September 2011
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

Eight workers at the Stung Tatay hydro project, in Koh Kong province, are presumed dead after being swept away by floodwaters on Sunday.

Seven of the men had drowned while trying to rescue a colleague who had fainted after floodwaters swept over a bridge, stranding him at his work site, Thma Baing district police chief Sem Vari told the Post yesterday.

None of the bodies had been found, but all eight men, who range in age from 19 to 29, were presumed dead, Sem Vari said.

Horm Soth, 40, said his three brothers had been among the seven who swam to rescue their co-worker.

"I have been searching for them for days, but I cannot find them," he said.

Sem Vari said water levels remained high and it was likely the bodies had been swept far downstream. He said he had asked officers in downstream communes to search for them.

"If the bridge was not cut off by the flood, they would not have died," he added.

Neang Boratino, provincial co-ordinator for rights group Adhoc, said he had received a complaint from relatives and would help them file it to Koh Kong provincial police.

The US$540 million dam is being built by the China National Heavy Machinery Co, which could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Floods show Laos needs early warning

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 07:17 AM PDT

Thursday, 15 September 2011
Irin News Agency

Heavy flooding during the rainy season, affecting 10 of 17 provinces in Laos, has underlined the need for stronger disaster-management efforts, experts say.

Tropical storm Haima struck central and northern parts of the country on June 24, with Nock-10 hitting central and southern areas on 30 and 31 July. Heavy rains have affected water levels in neighbouring Thailand and Cambodia.

More than 300,000 people were affected and 26 died in the two storms, which resulted in more than US$100 million in damages, the Laos government's National Disaster Manager Officer reported.

More than 37,000 hectares of rice fields were damaged at a time when farmers were planting for the new season. This will affect harvests this year, with aid workers warning of long-term food distribution needs.

"When the emergency struck, they [local communities] quickly mobilised, organised themselves and divided the roles and responsibilities to respond. However, this could have been much better had they been better prepared and planned beforehand," Ghulam Sherani, a disaster risk management for the United Nations Development Program, said.

Sherani believes that lives, livestock and food stocks could have been saved had an improved early warning system been in place, noting that unlike earthquakes, where and when cyclones and typhoons strike is predictable.

"If we can translate that information to an understandable language for local communities then this will make a big difference," he said. "We must strengthen the institutions related to disaster management and make sure that early warning is a priority and reaches the communities," Thanongdeth Insisiengmay, senior project manager for the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, said.

Efforts to do just that are under way, with the country's first national disaster management plan for 2012-2015 being drafted by the NDMO, with financial and technical support from UNDP and the World Bank.

The NDMO was established in 1999 to work on disaster preparedness, mitigation and response. It functions as the secretariat for the National Disaster Management Committee, an inter-ministerial body responsible for formulating policy and coordination.

"We need to build the NDMO as an institution and the new disaster plan will help to formalize disaster preparedness planning as a cross-sector approach that includes all government ministries," Vilayphong Sisomvang, NDMO's deputy director, said.

Moreover, an empowered NDMO would be able to advise and influence different sectors to be better prepared, Sherani added.

"For example, they can improve their work with the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology. The department is studying the weather but is not mandated to [disseminate] that information to communities"

Insisiengmay said this is the gap that needs to be plugged. "If the typhoon starts in the Philippines, for example, then people need to be prepared for that in three or four days it could come to Laos."

Irin News Agency

Flooding brings freight to a halt

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 07:14 AM PDT

Children play yesterday in floodwaters in Siem Reap town, where some residents have been forced to abandon their homes. Photo by: Jessica Lim

Thursday, 15 September 2011
Phak Seangly
The Phnom Penh Post

Nearly 12,000 hectares of rice fields in Kampong Thom had been flooded by torrential downpours that had forced officials to temporarily suspend heavy freight in the province and were expected to continue until the end of this month, officials said yesterday.

Preah Vihear and Battambang provinces were also inundated yesterday, with water levels on the Sangkae River reportedly rising to 13.3 met-res, the news website Cambn reported last night.

National Road 5 and the Phnom Penh-to-Poipet railway line in Battambang province were both under water, the Cambn report said.

Mao Lang, director of the Kampong Thom public works and transportation department, said yesterday heavy vehicles had been suspended from travelling on National Road 6 because officials feared it could be seriously damaged if they continued.

"Heavy trucks must stop using the road until the flooding subsides, to avoid severe damage," Mao Lang said.

Buses would be allowed to continue using the road provided they drove carefully in areas where the surface had been damaged, he said.

Kampong Thom governor Chhun Chhorn said seven districts in Kampong had been affected by floods that had inundated 11,899 hectares of rice fields, 40 kilometres of road, two pagodas and 19 schools.

"About 350 families have also been affected by the floodwaters," Chhun Chhorn said, adding that so far there was no evidence to suggest that rice crops in the province had been affected by the flooding.

Upstream in Thailand, government spokeswoman Titima Chaisang said about five million people had been affected by flooding across the nation. "The situation right now is that 23 provinces are facing a flood problem. The dams are still okay, but we will have to take good care of some of them," she said. Cambodian government officials have expressed concerns that Thailand will have to open the floodgates on some of its dams, releasing a surge of water that would flow downstream into Cambodia through the Mekong River and inundate parts of Banteay Meanchey province.

But Titima Chaisang said that although Thai authorities remained concerned about the situation at some dams, there was no immediate plan to release water from them into Cambodia.

Yingluck's agenda set

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 07:05 AM PDT

Thursday, 15 September 2011
David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will seek to resolve a spate of long running disputes with Cambodia over oil reserves, the Preah Vihear border and the imprisonment of two Thai nationals for spying after arriving in Phnom Penh today, a spokesman has said.

Conflicting reports circulated through the media and government channels from both countries yesterday, suggesting jailed Thai pair Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipattanapaiboon would be pardoned from Cambodian prison terms when Yingluck arrived.

Thai government spokeswoman Titima Chaisang said yesterday this was news to the Thai PM's delegation, but confirmed a range of agenda items that would be discussed during her visit with Prime Minister Hun Sen.

A key agenda item, she said, would be disputed oil and natural gas deposits in a 27,000 square kilometre Overlapping Claim Area in the Gulf of Thailand.

"This is a hot issue – the declarations Cambodia has shown us a couple of weeks ago about the oil," Titima Chaisang said, but did not elaborate on details of any such documents.

"The secret meeting between Sok An and former Thai deputy prime minister [Suthep Thaugsuban] – we need to prepare for this topic also if they raise this one," she said, referring to a series of talks the pair reportedly had about the OCA.

She said the Yingluck administration was examining the constitutional legality of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2001 between the neighbouring countries on the OCA that was cancelled by ousted Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in 2009.

Abhisit cancelled the MoU in protest over Cambodia's decision to appoint his political opponent, fugitive former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra, as an economic advisor.

Yingluck would also discuss facilitating the removal of troops from an International Court of Justice demarcated demilitarised zone around the disputed Preah Vihear temple area and the fate of imprisoned Thai nationals Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipattanapaiboon.

The two yellow shirt nationalists were handed eight and six year sentences respectively by a Cambodian court in January last year for spying.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said yesterday a report in The Nation newspaper claiming the pair would be released today was completely untrue.

"It is baseless information. It is fabrication. It is not real information. I saw this news on The Nation online, but I don't know where this newspaper got this information," he said.

The Bangkok Post reported yesterday that Yingluck had also denied any release of prisoners would take place.

Titima Chaisang said Yingluck would try and lobby on behalf of the pair as she would any other Thai citizen, but respected the authority of the Cambodian judicial system.

Thailand was also keen to develop investment opportunities in the area of Preah Vihear and would push to find a way to get its troops out of the DMZ near Preah Vihear so that agreed ASEAN border observers could enter and further the peace process.

An unfortunate prelude to Yingluck's visit was apparently averted on Tuesday when Thai troops reportedly attempted to cross a barbed wire fence near Ta Moan temple in Oddar Meanchey province, near the border.

May Mao, the deputy commander of military region 41 near Ta Moan temple, said yesterday the situation had been mollified without any shots being fired after dozens of Thai troops were pushed back by Cambodian forces.

"The Thai soldiers decided not the cross the wire fence after they were prevented by Cambodian soldiers, thus the military situation has returned to normal," he said.

Sunisa Lert, an assistant to Thailand's Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Thanatip Sawangsaeng, denied any incident had occurred on the border.

Cambodian Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said Cambodia had an agenda for talks tomorrow with Yingluck, but he was unable to elaborate on what that agenda was.

Yingluck's brother Thaksin is scheduled to arrive in Phnom Penh on the following day.

Lake families left out of deal petition envoys

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 07:02 AM PDT

Thursday, 15 September 2011
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
The Phnom Penh Post

More than 50 residents living around Boeung Kak lake yesterday submitted petitions to numerous embassies requesting intervention for about 70 families excluded from a recent compensation deal.

The petition ­– sent to the embassies of France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and the European Commission in Cambodia – stated that while villagers were pleased with the deal, they were concerned about families that had been prevented from receiving land titles.

Families from villages 6, 22 and 24 have been denied land titles they were promised within a 12.44-hectare relocation site that was set aside by Prime Minister Hun Sen last month for 756 families forced to make way for a real estate development.

"We submitted the petitions today in order to ask for intervention from ambassadors to help push municipal authorities to give land titles to all of us," said 54-year-old Heng Mom, a villager living in village 22 in Daun Penh district's Srah Chak commune.

The Boeung Kak lake dispute has raged since Shukaku Inc, a company owned by ruling party senator Lao Meng Khin, was awarded a 99-year lease in 2007 to develop 133 hectares of land at the lake for a real estate project.

Chea Sok Choeun, 32, another villager who has not yet received a land title, claimed that local authorities and district land officials had colluded to issue land titles to Shukaku within the 12.44-hectare zone. "They did not give land titles to our 70 families and other villagers," she said.

"On Tuesday, Srah Chak commune officials told us to negotiate a price with the company [Shukaku], saying that they could not make a land title for my family but I refused," Chea Sok Choeun said. "I told the officials that I needed the land title from the beginning."

Politician’s widow files appeal in land case

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 06:58 AM PDT

Thursday, 15 September 2011
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
The Phnom Penh Post

A lawyer for the widow of deceased Funcinpec secretary of state Ho Sok said yesterday she had filed an appeal late last month after the municipal court did not charge an official allegedly involved in a land dispute with her client.

"I believe the Appeal Court will find justice for [Ho Sok's widow Chea Kim]," her lawyer Lin La Nin said yesterday.

Lin La Nin previously filed a complaint to the municipal court in June accusing Ros Roeun, under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Social Affairs, of posing as a representative of 32 people in an attempt to appeal against a 2007 provincial court verdict awarding 13 hectares of land in Kandal province to Chea Kim.

The municipal court did not file any charges against Ros Roeun after he was summoned for questioning in relation to the case in July.

In an April decision, the Supreme Court awarded the land in Sa'ang district to former Kandal deputy governor Prak Sav-uth, reversing the decision in favour of Chea Kim.

Previously, Chea Kim has claimed that the land belonged to Ho Sok, an Interior Ministry official who was killed during factional fighting between Funcinpec and the Cambodian People's Party in 1997.

Ros Roeun was one of 29 officials accused by Chea Kim in May of involvement in the dispute. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Appeal Court prosecutor Ouk Savuth said he had not yet received the appeal.

Thai PM Visits Cambodia Seeking to Mend Frayed Relations

Posted: 15 Sep 2011 06:53 AM PDT

Thursday, September 15th, 2011
Voice of America

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra visits neighboring Cambodia Thursday in hopes of normalizing relations after a series of deadly border clashes.

Ms. Yingluck, who took office last month, is to hold talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen after a welcoming ceremony in Phnom Penh, and then proceed to Khemarin Palace to meet King Norodom Sihamoni.

Both governments say they are interested in restoring peace after border clashes this year killed 28 people and displaced thousands of villagers. Relations have improved dramatically since Ms. Yingluck came to office replacing the former government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The Bangkok Post newspaper Thursday quoted Ms. Yingluck saying economic issues could be discussed if the atmosphere is positive. Cambodia has proposed the joint development of oil and natural gas reserves in disputed waters in the Gulf of Thailand.

Thai officials also said Ms. Yingluck would press for the release of Thai nationalist Veera Somkwamkid and his secretary, who were convicted on espionage charges after crossing illegally into Cambodia earlier this year. Veera was a legislator with Mr. Abhisit's party at the time of his arrest.

Ms. Yingluck's elder brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, is also expected to seek their release when he visits Phnom Penh on Friday to deliver a lecture. Mr. Thaksin, who was ousted as prime minister of Thailand in a 2006 coup, served as an economic adviser to Mr. Hun Sen and enjoys a warm relationship with him.

Ms. Yingluck said she will not see or speak to her brother, who was convicted on corruption charges in Thailand while his political opponents were in office. Oppositions politicians say the government is obliged to try to bring him to justice.