The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Preah Vihear watches, waits” plus 9 more

In Sra Em town, amid the shadow of Preah Vihear temple, life went on as normal yesterday.

The market bustled with locals, people ate in restaurants, and the pick-up trucks carrying tourists to the 11th-century UNESCO World Heritage Site continued to wind up the series of switchbacks leading to Pouy Tady mountain, where the temple's ruins are situated.

However, the normalcy that blanketed Sra Em yesterday concealed an undercurrent of deep-seated concern – concern that today's ruling by the International Court of Justice on who owns the disputed 4.6 kilometres of land in the temple's vicinity might prompt a repeat of the shelling and rocket fire that have previously broken out around the temple.

Sra Em resident Siv Sophaly said yesterday that he had already fled fighting around the temple once, and was well-prepared to do it again if the need arose.

"I have prepared my property already. If I hear the sound of a bullet, I will flee, because I don't want fighting to occur like it did the last time – it makes me hopeless," he said.

While Cambodia is committed to peace, Sophaly said, he could not be so sure about Thailand.

"I hope that war between Cambodia and Thailand will not happen," he added.

Oum Ouy, who has lived near the top of Pouy Tady mountain for some 10 years, said that he too had prepared a few things, but for him, picking up and leaving was old hat.

"For my family, we have to wait to see," he said. "If I hear shooting, I will leave, but I heard from a soldier that this time the war is bigger than before."

In 2008, Ouy's shop was riddled with bullets during fighting around the temple. He and his late wife fled the border, to nearby Preah Vihear town. Fleeing the fighting, he said, was an expensive proposition that he was not eager to relive, but it did give him experience, freeing him from the need to make as many preparations this time around.

"I get enough experience living along the border," he said.

Like Ouy, fellow Sra Em resident Chhai Hokthon fled in 2008, and while she said she was worried, she wasn't getting ahead of herself now.

"It is not easy to flee home, so I have to wait and see the situation," she said.

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The fear of violence is still prevalent in spite of repeated government appeals for calm, and assurances that both the Cambodia and Thai governments have reached an agreement to maintain peace and stability, whatever the court's ruling.

"There's a commitment between both the governments, in Phnom Penh and Bangkok, that whatever the verdict is, we will implement it and keep calm," government spokesman Phay Siphan said. "It's a new chapter between Cambodia and the Thais, and a new era of friendship and cooperation in that area. It's very historical.

"We have no such plans to deploy, or to reinforce around there. We don't want to [provoke]," Siphan continued, referring to Thai media reports of Cambodian troop movements. "We have complete trust from government to government. We don't move anything. We know that only negotiations will solve anything – negotiations and the rule of law."

Ou Narin, deputy commander of the 3rd Division, which oversees Preah Vihear, was part of a Cambodian military contingent that met with Thai military leaders yesterday morning to discuss the situation. Allegations of Cambodian troop movements also arose during that meeting, but were quickly quashed, he said. "Related to the troop movements, we already explained to the Thai side that we did not move troops as they accused," he said. "They are confused. We only brought gifts to Cambodian soldiers and villagers who were victimised by flooding."

The two sides had also agreed on three main points, he said: Troops must remain stationed in their normal positions, the two sides must respect the ICJ's ruling, and the two sides must extend a measure of trust to each other.

However, an agreement between militaries might be only a half-measure.

The conflict around Preah Vihear has been cast by some analysts as primarily being an outgrowth of the increasingly volatile Thai domestic political situation. In 2008, Thailand's support of Cambodia's bid to list Preah Vihear as a UNESCO World Heritage Site prompted vociferous protests among Thai nationalists.

Relations between the two countries subsequently devolved to the point that multiple border clashes erupted in the vicinity of the temple.

The reaction to today's decision will be further complicated by the Thai reaction to a near-universally unpopular amnesty bill in Thailand, which many – especially those opposed to former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – see as absolving leaders of their responsibility for deaths that have occurred during Thai political upheavals since 2004.

The bill has already passed in Thailand's lower parliamentary house, and activists have given parliament until today to scuttle the law, or face mass street protests.

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"For Thailand, the ICJ decision on Preah Vihear comes at a critical juncture," said Thai political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak via email. "Any change in the status quo would play into the hands and perhaps become the key catalyst of the anti-Thaksin/anti-government protesters in Bangkok. They are against the amnesty this week and could well be for a government overthrow next week if the ICJ rules against Thailand."

In a position paper in late September, Chulalongkorn Uni­versity professor Puangthong Pawakapan suggested that backlash from nationalists over the ruling might be so great as to force the government's hand, and that "another border clash is, therefore, likely to take place". Earlier this month, Thai media reported that the Thai army's top general had instructed protesters to avoid the area around the temple.

In 1962, when the ICJ first ruled that the Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia, the area was sealed against protesters, and vociferous calls for an attack on Cambodia were ultimately overruled.

On Facebook yesterday, current Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra – Thaksin's youngest sister – urged citizens to have faith in the government, and reminded Thais that the government had been "fully and continuously" representing its claims at the ICJ.

"The two countries need to maintain relationships between each other as well as the promotion of stability and prosperity in the ASEAN region," Yingluck said in an unofficial translation of her statement.

She went on to ask that Thai citizens "believe that any action of the government will follow the steps of the law and [be] in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Thai Kingdom," and assured citizens that the government would be "ready to listen to comments and suggestions of the people before they take any action to the benefit of the country".

Meanwhile, however, security at the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok was simultaneously stepped up, according to reports in the Bangkok Post.

"[Both] governments are desperate to transcend and get past the ICJ decision," said Thitinan, the political analyst. "One of the worst things that could happen for the Thai government is for the Cambodian government to be seen as conniving in cahoots with the Yingluck government in the event the ICJ rules against Thailand."

It was just such a perception that led to mass protests over the temple since 2008, but sitting at the base of the ancient stairs that lead down from the temple proper to a border outpost below, 13-year border police veteran Hong Bunheng said he wasn't sure how he would deal with any civilian unrest.

"I don't know how to take measures against people protesting," said Bunheng, his hands folded on his knees. "I just wait to listen to my boss' orders."

Bunheng's house sits on land claimed by Thailand, and as he gazed at Thai officials milling around the area where troops from both sides keep watch some 200 metres away, he said that the Thais had begun regular helicopter flyovers in recent days. But more so than politics, he said, it would be his own experience protecting the border that ensured the peace was kept.

"Even though they will announce the verdict on November 11, I'm not worried at all, because I have enough experience to protect the territory, and I think it is that simple," he said coolly.

Crowds in the capital celebrated the 60th anniversary of Cambodia's independence from French colonial rule on Saturday, in an event marked by the conspicuous absence of opposition politicians, who have yet to take their seats in parliament.

About 2,000 people attended the ceremony presided over by King Norodom Sihamoni, who used the occasion to call for unity to further economic development amid ongoing political deadlock since July's disputed general elections.

"It is a historic day and of the highest value. We must remember about gaining independence and freedom from the French under the royal crusade of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk," the King said in his speech.

"On this occasion, I would like to call on all Cambodian people to be united under the roof of the constitution and state laws in order to contribute to defending and building the nation in all domains, particularly the economy, as the country has full peace and political stability."

At Independence Monument, the King laid a wreath and lit a torch that will burn for three days.

Opposition lawmakers did not attend the ceremony, according to opposition spokesman Yim Sovann, because, having not taken their seats in the National Assembly, the 55 elected MPs had not been issued the appropriate uniforms for such an occasion.

"We have not [had a] swearing-in [ceremony] at the National Assembly yet, and we have no official uniforms, so we did not celebrate Independence Day," he said.

Speaking to the crowd at Saturday's ceremony, Prime Minister Hun Sen said the July 28 election had been free, fair and transparent.

"The fifth mandate of the government was established by the Cambodian people and belongs to the Cambodian people; [we] will sacrifice for the supreme interest of the nation and people," he said.

The late King Father Norodom Sihanouk led the country to independence from the French protectorate on November 9, 1953, after 90 years of French rule.

A top UN official has issued an urgent appeal to international donors and the Cambodian government to commit sustainable funding to the Khmer Rouge tribunal.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said on Thursday that donors had an obligation to Cambodians to hold Khmer Rouge leaders to account and ensure the court does not fail.

"We all agree that there can be no impunity for crimes which tear at the very fabric of our common humanity. But we have to do more than agree – and more than speak out," he said at a New York pledging conference for the court.

"Words do not pay the bills. If we do not pay the bills, we will fail to live up to our noble declarations. We will let down the millions of Cambodians who watched their relatives die, who survived atrocities, and who still live with a burning desire to see justice done."

Eliasson said the court's budget for next year reflected a "streamlined and scaled-back approach" to meet the financial constraints of donors.

Noting a stop-work strike by unpaid national staff in September, he called on Cambodia and donors to address the "chronic and increasingly disruptive financial crisis" the court is facing.

Last month, the government contributed an additional $1.8 million to cover staff costs on the national side of the court through the end of 2013.

"This additional financial support should not be a one-time occurrence. It should be sustained into the next year of the court's operation and beyond," Eliasson said.

Last week the Open Society Justice Initiative – a New York-based court monitor – called on donors to stop "dribbling out funding" to the court if they are willing to fund it through the second trial of Case 002.

Closing statements in the first trial – Case 002/01 – wrapped up on October 31.

The court has repeatedly said that despite funding woes, the second trial, which will hear charges relating to genocide, S-21 and work cooperatives, is not optional, given an order from the Supreme Court chamber to start evidentiary hearings as soon as possible.

Cambodians in the northern provinces are preparing for the remnants of super-storm Typhoon Haiyan, though forecasts now predict it will only mildly affect the Kingdom.

In a warning issued on Friday, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology said high winds and heavy rainfall would likely hit Kratie, Mondulkiri, Oddar Meanchey, Preah Vihear, Ratanakkiri and Stung Treng provinces.

"[The typhoon] moved north, so we expect it will hit Cambodia a little bit, but it's always changing, so we will watch it carefully," said ministry spokesman Chan Yutha.

Authorities in northeastern Cambodia called on villagers to strengthen the foundations of their houses so the roofs and walls do not cave in during the storm. Fishermen are also advised to take particular care.

"We have been affected many times already by storms this year that caused damage to hundreds of houses, so we have to inform the people in advance to prevent damage from this typhoon," said Nuth Sophorn, Preah Vihear town governor.

He said officials are prepared to intervene to help villagers evacuate to a nearby pagoda if necessary.

Forecasts by the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System predict the storm will mildly affect Cambodia, as passage through the South China Sea is expected to temper the Category 5 monster typhoon.

Some are now taking a more come-what-may attitude to the typhoon, which has ravaged parts of the Philippines.

Uy Sam Ath, director of disaster management at Red Cross Cambodia, said that as of yesterday, the organisation had taken no steps to prepare for the impending storm.

"Cambodia is safe, don't worry. [The typhoon] will hit Hanoi, not here," he said.

Officials reached at the National Committee for Disaster Management declined to comment yesterday on what steps had been taken to assure residents' safety.

Last Thursday, Typhoon Krosa left three people dead and destroyed more than 100 houses in Kampong Chhnang province, authorities said.

Five inmates awaiting trial in Ratanakkiri province for crimes ranging from robbery to murder remained on the loose yesterday evening after an early-morning prison break.

During an interrogation of the one escapee caught by prison officials, authorities were told the six men hid two pieces of jagged steel in their shoes, slowly filing down the bars to their cell over the course of an undetermined number of nights, said provincial deputy prosecutor Ros Saram.

"They used a sawlike piece of metal to grind the bars little by little between the hours of 10pm and 3am," Saram said. The six worked and slept in shifts and took turns hiding the pieces in their shoes, he added.

Escaped prisoners still on the lam include Nov Sokna, 48, charged with murder; Vann Vichet, charged with sexual assault of a minor; Kim Boran, charged with drug trafficking; and Phern Ton and Hum Khau, each charged with robbery, Saram said.

Phai Vet, who is charged with sexual assault, escaped with the other five, but guards caught and re-arrested him, Saram added. Penalties for breaking out of prison range from an additional year to a life sentence.

A jailbreak in Battambang last year sparked a Ministry of Interior investigation into possible staff complicity. In that case, five inmates – three of whom were serving time for murder – broke out of Battambang's provincial prison after staff there moved them to a low-security room reserved for the sick.

Earlier that year, a convict escaped a hospital unit in Preah Sihanouk Provincial Prison, sneaking by two guards as they slept.

"It shows that the prison guards are careless," Chhay Thy, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said of yesterday's escape. "Most of the escaped inmates were on trial for serious crimes; the jailbreak could cause panic and fear among nearby residents."

Adhoc will investigate the escape, Thy said.

Non Ngen, Ratanakkiri's provincial prison chief, could not reach for comment yesterday.

Police are still searching for the prisoners, said Pen Dyna, a Ratanakkiri deputy provincial police chief.

The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy could be dismantled in the coming National Assembly session and a new ministry of "handicrafts" created, a ruling party lawmaker has said.

Cheam Yeap, a senior Cambodian People's Party lawmaker, said yesterday that the government would seek approval from parliament to split the ministry into a Ministry of Mines and Energy and a Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts.

"As the [scale] of natural industries and handicrafts [grows], the focus on industries changes, so the National Assembly has to approve [the changes] in accordance with the government's request," Yeap said.

He added that it was not immediately clear which post the current Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, Cham Prasidh, would assume if the planned changes went ahead, a decision that would ultimately be made by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The move is unlikely to meet opposition in the next National Assembly session, which starts tomorrow. Ruling CPP lawmakers took their seats in parliament a few weeks ago, but the 55 elected Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers are maintaining a boycott of proceedings.

Yeap claimed that the splitting up of the huge Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy would enable officials to focus their efforts and get more work done, but the opposition said it would only help entrench the power of the CPP and create more bureaucracy.

"[Strong industries] are important for the national interest, therefore we have to ensure the government is working effectively," Yeap said.

Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the CNRP, said yesterday that creating the new ministries would do little to benefit industry, while going a long way towards increasing government red tape.

"It is useless. This is just extending bureaucracy, corruption, wasting the national budget and [increasing] partisan power-sharing," he said.

Also on the table at the upcoming National Assembly session will be the 2014 draft budget law, which allocated more than $6 million to the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on the Ministry of Information to accelerate the drafting of a long-awaited freedom of information law that could see more transparency in the Kingdom's government.

According to a press release issued by the Council of Ministers after a cabinet meeting on Friday, Hun Sen asked the ministry to host a forum with journalists, civil society groups and other relevant stakeholders to help draft the law.

He also urged ministers and officials to abide by an inter-ministerial prakas signed into effect last year to appoint media officers and spokespeople in all government institutions.

Freedom of information laws have long been called for by civil society groups and legal experts, with the former Sam Rainsy Party having prepared several drafts that were rejected by the National Assembly.

Monitors have said that such laws could help crack down on corruption.

Opposition spokesman Yim Sovann said yesterday that previous freedom of information laws drafted by the opposition had been rejected "for political reasons".

"Before we submitted the draft to the National Assembly, we talked to the UN, civil society and all the stakeholders because we wanted the law to meet international standards," he said.

"Everyone has to have access to public documents, [including] ordinary citizens, not only the press and political leaders.… [There should be] nothing to hide except for national security."

Sovann added that the opposition would not comment on the government's decision to consult for a new draft law as any law approved by the current parliament – which his party is boycotting – should be considered "illegitimate".

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said yesterday that the draft law could be "similar" to such laws in the West.

Civil society groups welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement with caution.

"I want the law on access to information to be approved, [but] the process of approval of this law must involve participation from the public and civil society," said Pa Nguon Teang, director of the Cambodian Center for Independent Media. "And when [civil society] gives ideas, the government must apply that [to the law]. They should not act as in the past, allowing civil society groups to give recommendations but [then] not accepting them.

"The government always makes laws to protect the government and not laws to protect the public interest."

An abbot in a Kampong Chhnang pagoda learned last week that money can indeed be an illusion after he was allegedly duped into accepting a fake US$1 million bill, a mistake that cost him almost $10,000, local authorities said yesterday.

Abbot Chey Pho, 60, used his own money, that of his pagoda's and even took out a bank loan to pay a man for the bill, which he was tricked into believing was printed in 1928 and could fetch a $40,000 reward from the US embassy if handed in.

Snor village chief Lun Kong said a series of meetings had culminated in a man auctioning off the "million-dollar note" inside Pho's pagoda in Boribo district on Friday.

Two suspects – the auctioneer and a man identified as Sary, whom Pho believed was a fellow bidder – are wanted by police over the incident.

Sary had outbid the abbot, but convinced him to pay $10,000 to the auctioneer for the note and keep the remaining $30,000 reward money from the US embassy to renovate the pagoda.

Boribo district police chief Cheang Sovann Rith said police had identified two suspects – the second being a man named Ly Kim Chhay – and confiscated the fake bank note at the centre of the case.

"We have not received a complaint yet from the pagoda commission or from the victim," Sovann Rith said. "But this was caused by greed. If he had not wanted that much money, he would not have been cheated."

The fallout caused by the abbot's $10,000 mistake has not been kind on his family. Pho has already begun selling his personal belongings to pay back the money and faces losing a house owned by his relatives, authorities said.

Pho could not be reached, while police are seeking the two men's arrest.

A wounded female Irrawaddy dolphin was found dead in the Mekong River in Kampong Cham on Saturday.

The 130-kilogram dolphin was discovered by residents in Kampong Siem town, significantly south of the species' protected area, according to fishery administration officials.

Authorities have not yet determined the cause of death, though the dolphin was transferred to a fisheries office in Kratie for further examination.

"We saw that before the dolphin died, it drifted from further up the Mekong … and was found dead at the river bank with fishing net and a wound on its head," said Phoung Tina, a deputy director of the Kampong Cham Fisheries Administration.

The Irrawaddy dolphin is considered critically endangered. A 2010 survey by the conservation NGO WWF estimated the population at between 78 and 91 dolphins.

The death of a female was a particular blow to the species' breeding potential, said Gerry Ryan of WWF-Cambodia.

Better organised and decidedly more creative, Thailand outplayed Myanmar 2-0 in the final of the 2013 Mekong Region Youth Football Tournament for the BIDC Cup at the Olympic Stadium yesterday.

A sixth-minute stunner from midfielder Wanit Jaisaen, whose long ranger brushed the inside of the cross bar before entering the net, gave Thailand an early lead.

A timely substitution late in the second session helped Thailand double that lead as Chotinan Veerapatarapong was at the right place at the right time to nod in following a goal mouth melee, and that was his first touch after getting on to the pitch.

Myanmar tried desperately hard in the last 20 minutes but were a tad unlucky as Shine Thura's angular shot was parried by Thai goalkeeper Tossaporn Srirueng while Nyein Chan Aung's drive hit an upright.

The Myanmar camp had one good shout for a penalty when Than Paing was pushed to the ground inside the box by two Thai defenders but referee Thong Chanketya was not convinced that the action deserved a penalty.

"That is our level. We are a very young team. Thailand are better and stronger. We didn't play well at all in the first half. Second half was much better, we created chances but could not convert them," Myanmar coach Gerd Friedrich Horst told the <i>Post</i>.

Thailand coach Pairoj Bovonwatanadilok said the side was happy to avenge the defeat by Myanmar in the previous edition.

"The players hadn't had much time training together. The team was put together at the end of the league season. But I am happy they combined very well," he said.

On the way to the final, however, Thailand survived a scare of sorts when Cambodia stretched them to their limits.

The hosts suffered a 112th minute hammer blow after a heroic late equaliser by defender Rous Samoeun which had sent Friday's semi-final into extra time.

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A relatively turgid first half was punctuated only by an early chance which came off the post for Cambodia as well as the bizarre sight of two pass backs to defence for either side hitting the corner flags and staying in play, one remarkably from a throw on.

It wasn't until the 75th minute that the tie sprang to life, with Thailand's Jirawut Saranan escaping the offside trap to poach a goal from some calamitous defending.

Cambodia coach Lee Tae Hoon made his now customary tactical manoeuvre of introducing supersub Chan Vathanaka to help breathe some life into his squad. The almost completely partisan crowd rose to the occasion, willing on their team's advances up the field in search of a leveller.

And they were richly rewarded as from seemingly nowhere, Rous Samoeun, Boeung Ket's winger turned left back by coach Lee, waltzed through numerous challenges before unleashing an unstoppable drive into the top corner.

The game was finally settled in the second session of extra time as Thailand's Anon Sanmand was given time at the edge of the box to crack a stunning drive into the roof of the net, as the stands were silenced.

In Friday's other semi-final, Shine Thura's goal midway through the first half was enough to put Myanmar into the final at the expense of Malaysia, even though the victors had defender Aung Hein Soe Oo sent off in the 52nd minute.

The awards ceremony that followed the close of play last night saw the Thai team collect a cheque for $20,000, while runners-up Myanmar went home with $10,000. There was no play-off for third place.

The Player of the Tournament was named as Thailand playmaker Jirawut Saranon, while his team-mate Tossaporn Srirueng took best goalkeeper award.

Top scorer was Laos's Khonesavanh Sihavong on three goals. All three players received $1,000.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY DAN RILEY