KI Media: “Sinatoon: Who needs it?” plus 24 more

Sonthi Boonyaratglin must have armor-plated gonads. How else to explain it? Five years ago, as an army general, he led a military coup that overthrew Thailand's then Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. Now retired and running in the country's July 3 parliamentary election, he presents the coup as a brave and selfless act. "I'm glad we did it," says Sonthi, who commands his Matubhum Party from a spartan Bangkok office. "If we hadn't, Thailand might no longer be a democracy."

Sonthi's presence — a coup general running as democracy's savior — in this critical election shows just how dysfunctional Thailand's politics have become. Thais hope to elect a government with the authority to end years of political unrest, which culminated in May last year with the deaths of at least 90 people during the antigovernment Red Shirt protests in Bangkok. But peace seems unlikely. Once a democratic trailblazer in an authoritarian region, Thailand has become a political basket case.

The party tipped to win the election is Pheu Thai (For Thais), the latest reincarnation of an electoral juggernaut that first swept Thaksin to power a decade ago. The billionaire runs the party from a mansion in Dubai, where he fled to evade a two-year jail sentence for corruption. Its nominal leader is 43-year-old businesswoman Yingluck Shinawatra — Thaksin's younger sister. If elected, she would be Thailand's first female Prime Minister and, presumably, her brother's loyal proxy. "Yingluck is my clone," he said recently.

Pheu Thai's main rival is the incumbent Democrat Party, led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who presided over last year's bloody military crackdown on the Red Shirts. Abhisit's coalition government was cobbled together with military support two years ago after the ruling pro-Thaksin party was dissolved because of vote fraud. Many Thais feel that the Democrats are elitist, beholden to the military-backed royalist establishment and aloof from the problems of the people.

The third force is the rich and resurgent Thai military. Since the coup, defense spending has more than doubled to $5.5 billion. The military has staged 18 coups or attempted coups since 1932. A 19th is possible if Pheu Thai wins power and goes after the generals who ousted Thaksin. Generals have recently lined up to deny the constant rumors of an impending coup. Thais have good reason to doubt them. "There definitely won't be a coup," said Sonthi in 2006, even as he was plotting one.

Coup or no coup, postelection Thailand may prove unstable whoever ends up in power. A Pheu Thai government could reignite street protests by anti-Thaksin groups like the ultraroyalist Yellow Shirts, who occupied the Prime Minister's Office and Bangkok's two international airports in 2008. Another military-backed Democrat government could again spark demos by Pheu Thai's close allies, the Red Shirts, who last year had armed militants in their ranks.

All this raises an important question: Who cares? The Thai economy seems armor-plated too. Last year, despite Thailand's worst political violence in almost two decades, the economy grew faster than it has for 15 years. The country also welcomed record numbers of tourists. Foreign investors seem unfazed by bloodshed: Ford Motor Co. has invested $1.3 billion in Thailand in the past three years.

Yet politics still matters. Years of street protests show that Thais from all walks of life have strong political views to express. Reconciling them requires greater openness and debate, but the country seems to be moving in the opposite direction. This is not only the fault of the military, which always has a hard job distinguishing between dissent and disloyalty. Politicians aren't helping either. Thaksin intimidated opponents, cowed the media and dismantled institutions that might check his authoritarianism. No party led by him can be serious about political reconciliation.

The Democrats don't appear serious either. Their government's record for stifling free expression — it has blocked some 540,000 Web pages in the past 14 months, estimates Freedom Against Censorship Thailand — is worse than Thaksin's. And they still back the military's far-fetched claim that soldiers didn't kill or even injure a single Red Shirt during last year's bloody crackdown.

Thais want a bigger say, and more transparency, in how their country is run. What they're getting is massive censorship, a dangerously resurgent military and an election that will likely be followed by the usual backroom carve-up of money and political influence. This is not just a failure of leadership. It is a recipe for further violence. The stability Thais crave is as elusive as ever.

Fresh from her release from prison in Hanoi, a Vietnamese pro-democracy activist said Friday that she would continue to expose rights abuses in the one-party communist state she calls "hell."

"My first impression [here in the U.S.] was that I just came from hell to heaven, and until now I still can't believe that this is true," Tran Khai Thanh Thuy said in an interview on arrival in the United States.

Thuy, a 50-year-old journalist and novelist, was deported to San Francisco with her teenage daughter on Friday following her release by the Vietnamese authorities on humanitarian grounds.

It is believed to be the first such release in recent years.

Thuy was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in February last year on an assault charge, which she called "a fabrication and total slander."

Her husband, Do Ba Tan was also jailed on a similar charge.

"My passion is writing, I'm a straightforward person. I think honesty is necessary for a society to develop," Thuy said.

"I don't regret and, even if I had a second chance at life, I would still do what I have done," said Thuy, who is affiliated with the U.S.-based opposition group Viet Tan, known as the Vietnam Reform Party.

Viet Tan calls itself nonviolent and pro-democracy, but the communist state calls it a "terrorist group."

Thuy said she would not have left Vietnam if she was not imprisoned for her writings.

"I would want to stay to continue my fight," she said, likening writers able to express their views to "free birds."

Thuy has been active in the dissident community since 2006, when she started organizations to help workers and assist farmers whose land had been confiscated by the government.

She worked for many years in Vietnam's state-controlled media before writing for an online pro-democracy newspaper and publishing a blog.

Viet Tan said she had endured "a violent arrest and a deeply unjust trial" and was denied medical care in prison while her health deteriorated. Thuy suffers from diabetes.

She asked her compatriots to pursue "real freedom and not a fake one."

"Their road will be very hard. Our sacrifice will start a fire desiring freedom and human rights," she said.

PHNOM PENH: Four top leaders of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime are to go on trial for genocide at Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court in a case described as the world's most complex in decades.

The trial, seen as vital to healing the traumatised nation's deep scars, has been long awaited by survivors of a regime that wiped out nearly a quarter of the population during its reign of terror in the late 1970s.

It follows the conviction of a Khmer Rouge prison chief last year in the court's first case.

The elderly defendants - ''Brother Number Two'' Nuon Chea, the former head of state Khieu Samphan, the former foreign minister Ieng Sary and the former social affairs minister Ieng Thirith - are to appear at an initial hearing tomorrow.

They face a string of charges, including genocide, over the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and torture, or execution, during the regime's rule from 1975 to 1979.

The genocide charges relate specifically to the killings of Vietnamese people and Muslims belonging to the Cham ethnic group.

All four deny the accusations and the trial, the tribunal's second, will probably take years.

''It's the most important trial that will ever be heard in this court,'' the international co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley said.

''There hasn't been a case as large and complex as this since Nuremberg,'' he said, referring to the landmark Nazi trials after World War II.

The initial hearing is scheduled to take place over four days and will focus on expert and witness lists and preliminary legal objections.

Full testimony from the elderly accused, who have been in detention since their arrests in 2007, is not expected until August at the earliest.

It is the culmination of years of preparation by the war crimes tribunal, which was established in 2006 after almost 10 years of negotiations between Cambodia and the United Nations.

Prison camp survivors offer prayers as Cambodia prepares to try Khmer Rouge leaders. Andrew Raven reports.

Taipei, June 25 (CNA) - The Taiwan Cooperative Bank said Saturday it is planning to set up a branch in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh as part of its efforts to expand its presence in Asia.

The bank said as Cambodia, which belongs to the booming economic bloc, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has attracted a large amount of foreign investment, and the Phnom Penh branch will be used as a springboard for the bank to penetrate the country's financial market.

The board of directors of the bank has approved the plan to establish the Cambodia foothold, but no information about an exact timetable for the plan was forthcoming.

In 2007, the bank opened its first overseas branch in Hong Kong, kicking off its program for expansion in Asia.

In addition to the Hong Kong branch, the bank currently operates branches in Manila, Los Angeles, Seattle and China's Suzhou.

The Suzhou branch, which opened in December 2010, has built business relationships with several major Chinese banks, bank officials said.

The bank said it is expected to open a branch in Sydney by the end of this year. (By Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang)

Approximately 65 youth leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China (ASEAN- China) gathered here on Saturday to build closer regional friendship relations and cooperation.

Speaking at the opening of the two-day symposium on Saturday, Cambodian Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Im Sethy said the symposium was both timely and significant in terms of commemorating the 20th anniversary of the ASEAN-China dialogue relations.

"The meeting is a great opportunity for youth leaders from both sides to share their prospective and experience for mutual understanding, regional cooperation, and leadership development," he said. "It is also to exchange their invaluable views on achievements, challenges and future direction of ASEAN-China strategic partnership."

Cambodia has been trying its utmost to support and promote the role of youth in furthering national development, he added.

Meanwhile, the minister expressed his appreciation to China for her generous offer to expand the number of exchange students from ASEAN countries to China up to 100,000 by 2020 and vice versa, providing 10,000 government scholarships to students from the ASEAN countries, and at the same time, inviting 10,000 young teachers, students and scholars from ASEAN countries within the next 10 years.

"I strongly feel confident that China remains to set its priority in education and continue to support and intensify this field," he said.

The symposium has been participated in by ten Chinese youth leaders from the China Foreign Affairs University, Institute of International Relations, Guizhou University and Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

"This gathering is an important opportunity for us to have a face to face dialogue with ASEAN youth leaders on regional affairs and China-ASEAN relations," the head of the Chinese delegation Zhu Liqun, vice-president of the China Foreign Affairs University, said in his opening speech.

China fully supported the idea of encouraging exchange and communication among youths, since young people represent the best asset for respective country's common future and the driving force of the societies.

"Young people can be cultivated as harmonizers, and bridge- builders among countries, and between China and our ASEAN partners, " she said. "There can be no right policies without the active participation of youth representatives in the decision-making process, there can be no regional future without having a strategic role to play by the youth."

The ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx7WoY_MTC8

An ancient temple on the border between Thailand and Cambodia is at the heart of a deadly territorial dispute, creating some of the fiercest fighting in southeast Asia for years.

Twenty-seven people have been killed since February in clashes along the border, while many more have been injured and tens of thousands of villagers have been forced to flee.

Both governments claim ownership of the 4.6 square kilometres of land surrounding the temple. But some say nationalism and domestic politics are the real driving forces behind the conflict.

On this edition of 101 East, we go to both sides of the borderline to look at the fight for Preah Vihear.

Who suffers the most from the conflict?

By Ou Virak, the president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights

The hostilities over Preah Vihear and other border temples have become a rallying point for nationalist sentiment in both Cambodia and Thailand. While uncertainty remains as to the cause of the recent clashes, nationalist forces in both countries have used the issue to score political points.

The extents to which both governments have gone to paint the other as the cause of these tensions have been to the detriment of civilians on either side of the border who have borne, and who continue to bear, the brunt of this cynical and politicised conflict.

The clashes, which were previously confined to the area surrounding Preah Vihear temple, spread in pockets in April and May this year along a 150 kilometre stretch of the shared border. Given the fragility of the peace between the two countries, hundreds of thousands of civilians on either side of this stretch of the border now live in constant fear of displacement resulting from any resumption of hostilities.

As the geographical scope of the clashes increased, so too did their intensity and the resulting humanitarian fallout. While a clash at Preah Vihear in April 2009 resulted in the temporary relocation of 1,660 civilians on the Cambodian side of the border, it is reported that as many as 85,000 civilians on either side of the border were displaced as a result of the most recent series of clashes.

Of even greater concern are the nefarious tactics and weapons that have been used. When hostilities broke out in February this year, Cambodia shelled a residential area 10 kilometres inside Thai territory killing one civilian and damaging seven homes and a school. In response to this attack, Thailand fired shells 27 kilometers into Cambodian territory and resorted to the use of cluster munitions – justified, according to Thai sources, on the basis of Cambodia's resort to indiscriminate shelling.

The widening geographical scope of the conflict is such that its consequences are being felt by an ever greater number of civilians. The use of indiscriminate tactics places these people in the firing line. While civilians have returned to their homes, they live in constant fear of a resumption of hostilities. It is only when the Cambodian and Thai governments put their people before politics and resolve this issue peacefully and conclusively that any semblance of normalcy can return to civilian life at the border.

BANGKOK, June 25 (MCOT online news) -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee (WHC) was likely to postpone the consideration of Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple management plan, according to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Mr Abhisit said he was informed by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, who is leading the Thai delegation at the 35th session of the WHC meeting in Paris, that the meeting would delay consideration of the ancient temple management plan proposed by Cambodia.

Now the wording was being adjusted on the draft of joint resolution by UNESCO World Heritage Centre after both Thai and Cambodian versions failed to win each country's approval.

Words in the draft like "restoration" and "repair" of the temple could cause problems in interpretation, Suwit said earlier.

The adjustment was aimed at making the joint resolution more fair for the two countries, so no nation would be at a disadvantage, said Abhisit.

The Thai premier said that all parties had to respect the WHC's resolution.

Mr Abhsit said that the temple management plan should not lead to any problems between Thailand and Cambodia.

The WHC's resolution should also help ease tensions between the two neighbouring countries, he said.

Thailand earlier threatened to resign from membership of the WHC if the joint resolution draft regarding the temple management plan was submitted to the consideration of the WHC, as it would put Thailand at risk of losing territory.

Both Bangkok and Phnom Penh earlier submitted their own versions of the draft agreement.

However, the two countries still disagreed on many points, despite having been allowed to adjust their drafts four times each in the past two days.

Thailand insists the WHC should delay consideration of the management plan until border demarcation work is complete.

Know or listen to those who know.

- Baltasar Gracian

Be obscure clearly.

- E. B. White

Convention on the Rights of the Child
Ratified by UNGA in Nov. 1989, entered into force 1990

Cambodia ratified this Convention on October 15, 1992

I am an Australian who has fallen in love with Cambodia. I spent 3 months there last year volunteering at a small school in Siem Reap which is run by an NGO. I plan to return for another 3 months in October.

I am aware of the many evictions that are taking place in Cambodia and wish that more people in Australia could hear about them. On my first day at the school the directors were told that the homes of about half the children would be razed to the ground and the land taken back. The land had been given to their fathers as compensation for injuries suffered while they were serving in the Cambodian Army. I heard of many other cases where people are relocated from their homes with little or no compensation and often violently.

A Khmer friend of mine has posted a particularly disturbing video on facebook of a violent clash between the police/army (?) over a land grab. I wanted to bring it to your attention in case you have not already seen it. I would like to see it on our news reports here as most Australians do not know what is happening in Cambodia and I believe that they would be horrified to know. Can you please let me know if you have seen the footage and if it has been screened on Australian TV.



As I don't speak Khmer I don't know what is being said or what is written on the signs but obviously you will have much clearer idea of what is going on. I will copy what my friend said when I asked him for some details.

"First of all, some foreigners who were there are the United Nation Investigators. This happened in Kompong Spue Province in Ou Dong District. There were 300 police and only 200 people of 88 family. This fight took more or less about 5 to 10 minutes. The police shot the people and the people use sticks to fight them back. No one died in this fighting but 7 people got seriously injured by the gun shot from the police and 3 police man got injured as well. It happened at around 1 PM on the 16 of June. This is I am pretty sure off. Anyway, This land fighting disputation could happened because there was a private company "and probably has a relation with the government " took their rice land property in many hectors area that use to own by 88 families. But those land the government never give any certificate for ownership and now this company came in and buy the land from the government and after buying from the government successfully, there was a complain from the local people but the court decided to give those rice land property to the local company (corruption) and the company hired the police to drive the people but the people they are struggle and not allow to take their land from their grandfather and many generation ago that is why there was a fighting. In the video, you would see the photos of one man and some writing on the white clothes, that photo is our prime minister and the writing means (no rice land no live) and ( other writing said we dare to lose our live to protect our rice land from our elderly generation)."

I will not give his name as I don't want him to get into any trouble.

Kind regards, Lindy

 

During the 60's, there was a popular political slogan, "Tun Saong Ko Prey, Ah Touch C Tam Touch, Ah Tom C Tam Tom, C Kbae Choeung Phnom, Peuk Tiek Doang Ou."* There was widening gap between the urban and the rural people. Many villagers and farmers distrust the wealthy city people and government officials, whom they see as corrupt and often outright hostile toward them and for mistreating the underprivileged and the destitute. The villagers and farmers, for generations, had always been poverty-stricken. The Royal government has not only turned their cheek, but has also abused their power and disenfranchised these people's constitutional rights. If the government officials were to espy any gesture of anger displayed by these people, it was immediately suppressed and frowned upon. The poor peasants were growing increasingly disheartened towards these wealthy city people and corrupt government officials, but it was all internalized.

The Cambodia's leftist, Hou Yuon, wrote, "The tree grows in the rural areas, but the fruit goes to the towns." The villagers and farmers not only got their necks squeezed like a tube of tooth paste by the government officials for taxes, bought their produce at deflated prices, but the percentage of their produce was also illegally confiscated and went to these corrupt officials. Their irresistible of hatred and accumulated discontent towards the government had equated the level of volcanic eruption. In early 1967, an antigovernment rebellion, led by the Cambodian leftists, Hou Yuon, Hu Nim, and the ill-famed, Khieu Samphan, and the poor peasants erupted in Samlaut, Battambang. Khmer historian, Hin Sithan, has cited the testimony of a former villager who was a witness, painted a vivid picture of the uprising event in April 1967 at Samlaut, Battambang, "...they were furious with provincial officials who, allied with local capitalists, had robbed the local people of their land." The insurrection in Samlaut was initially amplified by a growing frustration demonstrated by the people against the Royal government, and eventually spreading ubiquitously and became inferno, causing civil war in many parts of the country. The Khmer Rouge and the Viet Cong (North Vietnamese), Khmer's archenemy, who had already violated Cambodia's sovereignty and used Cambodia as their sanctuary, took the opportunity to exploit this acrimonious relationship. Khmer Slab!

When the Democratic Kampuchea, led by Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, and Khieu Samphan took control of the country in April 1975, their immediate policy was to evacuate the people from their villages, cities, towns, and provinces that they were living in and forced them to settle in different locations around the country. The Khmer Rouge executed the educators, soldiers, government officials, teachers, and the wealthy people. They abolished monetary and market systems, and destroyed and banned all the usage of machinery and technologies. They shut down educational, hospital, and religion institutions. Family members were separated from one another and sent off to live in different villages or communes. The Khmer Rouge implemented a policy called a "red wedding" (inspired by the documentary film, Red Wedding), in which spouses were separated from one another and single adults were forced into marrying to the persons that they had never known before. The Khmer Rouge implemented this communal system, where everyone was to be treated socially equal and forced to do hard labor and with a bowl of rice gruel to eat. After nearly four years under the Democratic Kampuchea, almost 2 millions Khmer had perished. Khmer Slab!

In January 1979, Socialist Vietnam invaded Cambodia. After the Vietnamese ousted the Khmer Rouge, they were trying to justify their invasion and occupation by memorializing the horrors of the Khmer Rouge. The Socialist Vietnam seized the opportunity to collaborate and installed a puppet government, the Cambodia's People Party. Under this ruling party, the political slogans that have been popular were, "Bong Tom Bonghath Pa-oun Touch Ouy Jes Rok C" and "Tiek Teh." In past elections, the Cambodian People's Party had won their elections by strategizing their political campaign using a double edge sword. The CPP had been holding the people hostage and had forced the people to vote for them. With the "order" made from Bong Tom, the subordinates paid lip service to the people. Their political message to the people was that if the people would like to have roads and water canals and irrigation systems, schools, temples, and hospitals built, and electricity in their villages, towns, cities, provinces, they must vote for the CPP. On the other hand, those individuals, who had money, bought their positions in the government posts. The only requirement to keep their post was their ability to pay Bong Tom. These CPP officials felt no shame to be a wolf wearing the sheep's skin. It did not make any difference to them, if they had to lie-in-wait by the shoulder of the roads on every block to pull the travelers over, detaining the passengers from boarding a plane or leaving the airport because of the deceptive reasons, or trudging and snaking their way through the crowed market places to harass the merchants and vendors, as long as there was a window of opportunity for them to extort bribes. In addition, during the political campaign trails, the CPP officials had also distributed bags of salt, sugar, msg, bottles of soy sauce, used clothes, offered to buy votes, and so on. On the other edge of the sword, the CPP would threaten to jail and/or cut off of government appropriations if they had found out that the people that were living in a village, town, and city, did not support their party. The CPP had also taken this opportunity to carry out "political assassinations" on the opposition party members. Khmer Slab!

After the CPP celebrated their victories, it was their ritual to expect gratitude of the people to whom they have been entrusted to fulfill their promises made during their campaigns. This is where the rubber meets the rut and quagmire of the meandering road. The CPP unleashed their men, who have appeared to be well-fed and dressed in pristine military uniforms and with new equipment that was obtained as the result of the "diplomatic ties" from a country, which has been regarded around the world as the "birth place of democracy." These armed men are better equipped and prepared than our Khmer troops fighting against the Siamese bandits at the Preah Vihear border. They have shields, helmets, batons, boots, and guns. Unfortunately, these armed men have attacked innocent Khmer people, instead. This is where their batons strike the grandmothers and monks' heads. This is where their military boots stomped on innocent people's scrawny and saggy flesh. These men razed the people's houses, villages, and towns. They brought in their bulldozers, tractors, and with their oversized water cannons, they have submerged whole towns and villages with water, mud, and sand. Khmer Slab!

The recent uprising by these poor peasants against the Hun Sen government at the Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang, Kandal, Ratanakiri, and Kratie provinces was the deja vu of the Samlaut rebellion of April 1967. In past elections, the people had cast their votes, hoping that these individual candidates, whom they had elected to office, would roll up their sleeves and carry out their public duties as mandated by law. It is crystal clear that the people now understand the harsh reality of the Hun Sen government. They have been deceived, cheated, and abused by the CPP officials. These officials were not there to represent them, but to benefit themselves and their families. These officials had intentionally misrepresented themselves and failed to either acknowledge or rectify social issues encountered by the people. None of these officials had come forth, in public, to offer any explanation about the land grabbing issues and other immediate social problems. There was not one resolution proposed at the Parliament floor how to handle issues of illegal eviction and land grabbing. All these representatives excelled in doing were to raise their hands on the Parliament floor, agree to, even with a bogus legislation proposed by Bong Tom. The people felt hurt and betrayed. They galvanized themselves en mass to protest against the land grabbers and CPP. They had stood up and were willing to sacrifice their lives to defend their ancestral land. Yeah, bravo!

The people are the heart and soul of a nation. They may not have education but they have powerful weapon. Their weapon is their voices. With political cautionary advice, the people should direct their frustration and anger toward the CPP by voting them out of office. With the senatorial elections are coming up, the people should give serious contemplation of having someone new in a driver's seat and put their current government in the passenger seat. Khmer Live!

Thank you.

06/24/11

Thailand is threatening to resign its membership of Unesco's World Heritage Convention.

It says it will resign from the body if a draft agreement on issues regarding the management plan for Preah Vihear temple, prepared by the Unesco World Heritage Centre, is forwarded for consideration to the World Heritage Committee (WHC).

The draft was suggested by centre director Kishore Rao after both Thai and Cambodian versions failed to win each other country's approval.

However, reading through the draft proposed by the centre, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, who is leading the Thai delegation at the WHC meeting in Paris, also found that it, like the Phnom Penh version, would put Thailand at risk of losing its territory.

Words in the draft like "restoration" and "repair" of the temple could cause problems in interpretation, he said.

Such wording may be used in the future to refer to repairs from being damaged in attacks by Thai troops.

Thailand wants the centre to remove them and use "protection" and "conservation" instead, according to talks between Mr Suwit's team and Unesco director-general Irina Bokova.

Mr Rao informed Mr Suwit that if Thailand and Cambodia could not reach a conclusion on any draft, the centre would forward its draft to the WHC meeting for consideration.

Mr Suwit was against this as it would put Thailand at risk of losing territory if the draft is approved by the WHC.

So Mr Suwit said he informed Mr Rao that if he insisted on doing so, Thailand had no choice but to withdraw from its membership of the World Heritage Convention.

He said he had told Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva about the situation, and the premier gave him the authority to make a decision.

Both Bangkok and Phnom Penh earlier submitted their own versions of the draft agreement.

However, the two countries still disagreed on many points though they have been allowed to adjust their drafts four times each in the past two days.

Thailand insists the WHC should delay considering the management plan until border demarcation work is done.

Mr Abhisit said yesterday he told Mr Suwit to carefully monitor the situation.

Authority over whether to withdraw will rest with him, Mr Suwit said. The cabinet has empowered him to decide.

Meanwhile, Thai and Cambodian troops are worried about renewed border tensions after Bangkok's protest against Phnom Penh's management plan.

The Thai stance has upset Cambodia which told its soldiers to reinforce bunkers along the overlapping border near Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district.

Villagers living along the Thai-Cambodian border say they want nothing more from the next government than for peace to return.

They say they are tired of running for cover from border shelling.

Ieng Chan-ob, 62, owner of a grocery shop in Ban Phum Srol village in Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district, said border fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops, which flared up most recently in April, had badly hurt local businesses. The border skirmishes have driven away customers who are mostly the villagers themselves.

Most residents were uncertain about the border situation although the clashes have ceased for now, she said.

Ms Ieng said her "dream government" after the July 3 poll must be able put an end to the border conflict with Cambodia and restore peace to border villages.

Pensri Senanoi, 52, a farmer at the same village, said she wanted the next government to be formed by other parties, not the existing ones. She would vote for a party that could ensure that border villagers would not have to run away from heavy shelling.

Ms Pensri was putting her faith in the Pheu Thai Party to solve the border conflict with Cambodia.

If the existing parties return to power, many border residents may have no choice but to run for their own safety when fighting erupts, she said.

Thanom Nalasai, 42, who works as a hired hand at Ban Phum Srol village, said he wanted the government to return a normal way of life to residents.

The Democrat-led government's efforts to solve the border conflict with Cambodia had failed, said Mr Thanom.

Many residents have also pinned their hopes on Pheu Thai to put an end to the conflict.

Sumet Palasak, a Mathayom 3 (Grade 9) student at Phum Srol Witthaya school, said though he is too young to vote, he wants the next government to pay more attention to improving the quality of teachers and education in rural schools. The government should be able to solve border problems so children could help their families earn extra income by selling goods to tourists or working as tour guides, he said.

Pornchai Jongkot, 46, a village head in Kap Choeng district of neighbouring Surin province, said the government should solve the border problem through negotiations.

PHNOM PENH, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia reported that as many as 1,793 severe cases of hemorrhagic dengue fever were hospitalized and 11 of them have died since early this year.

In a report filed by Kantha Bopha Children's Hospitals, up to June 20, there were 1,793 severe cases of dengue fever, and 547 of them were hospitalized in Siem Reap Province, 1,247 in Phnom Penh. Of the total hospitalized, 11 have died.

Dr. Beat Richner, the founder and head of the Kantha Bopha Children's Hospitals, who has been operating them since 1992 said the sick children are coming from across the country.

He said the some sick children were hospitalized in private clinics before being sent to his hospitals. They were previously treated in a wrong way so they arrived at the hospital with liver and kidney failures.

Beat Richner said among 100 hospitalized dengue fever patients, only about 30 percent of their families have got Abate to treat the water around their houses. The phenomenon happened not only in local provinces, but also in Phnom Penh.

Kantha Bopha Children's Hospitals are believed to be the most trusted hospitals for children in Cambodia.

Major outbreaks of dengue fever strike Cambodia every 3 to 5 years and the last one occurred here was in 2007, when around 40, 000 people were hospitalized, with over 10,000 in one week.

The Vietnamese-invested Bank for Investment and Development of Cambodia (BIDC) and Cambo Pay Company on June 24 officially launched a new service venture – SMS Banking – in Cambodia.

Vu Thinh Cuong, commercial counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia , BIDC Director General Nguyen Van Hien and Cambo Pay Chairman Tran Tri Manh attended the launch ceremony.

The opening of SMS Banking services tapped a business trend compatible with the Cambodian market, home to some 6.5 million mobile subscribers out of a 14-million population, Manh said, noting that most subscribers also had bank accounts.

Through the BIDC system, customers can gain access to bank services such as checking trade balances, transaction history and forex rates and transferring money at anytime and anywhere by sending messages to fixed numbers, he said.

BIDC, a branch of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), was formed in September, 2009, is the second-largest bank in term of charter capital in Cambodia and was among top five banks in the country with the largest asset and credit loans.

After a three hour trial on 24 June, in Phnom Penh; Sous Chantha, Cambodian union leader and former employee of United Apparel Garment factory was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment for drug distribution. The sentence was reportedly set at seven months plus five days time-served and two months suspended sentence. After some discussion with legal officials, Sous was then released after the prosecution stated its decision not to appeal.

The charges against Sous were reduced during the trial from the initial charge of drug trafficking to the lesser crime of drug distribution for personal use. Presumably this was because of the impossibility of providing any evidence for the charges which are widely believed to be trumped up charges disguising union busting. No real evidence was provided for the guilty verdict. Some 35 people were able to observe the trial including his family while other supporters waited outside along with undercover police.

While we and other supporters of Sous welcome his release we remain deeply disappointed that Sous Chantha was not released unconditionally with the withdrawal of all criminal charges.

Ath Thorn, head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation speaking after the trial stated that; "Obviously we are pleased that Chantha will be soon released, but there remains a very bitter aftertaste". He continued; " Our first concern is for Chantha to get back to work. However this verdict is a clear warning to independant trade union activity in Cambodia – it could happen to any of us. It is a clear case of union intimidation."

Clean Clothes Campaign will continue to work for the reinstatement of Sous and that of the scores of workers dismissed for their participation in the September 2010 strike along with an end to the harrassment of Cambodian unionists and workers.

From 13 September to 16 September 200.000 garment workers from Cambodia went on strike to demand a living wage. The actions were organised by the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Unions (CCAWDU) and the National Independent Federation of Textile Unions of Cambodia (NIFTUC) to demand a living wage of US$ 93: a salary level that can ensure basic provisions such as sufficient nutrition and shelter.

The strike received massive following from workers. While on 13 September about 68,000 workers participated, by Thursday numbers had reached a critical mass of 200,000 workers, which means that a majority of the garment workforce was in fact supporting the strike.

See here for more details: http://www.cleanclothes.org/urgent-actions/cambodia-wages