BANGKOK, 1 June 2011 – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ensured that the Thai legal team did the best to elaborate with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Preah Vihear Temple dispute after Cambodia sought an interpretation of the ICJ’s 1962 ruling on the temple case.
According to Secretary to the Foreign Minister Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, the Thai delegation, led by Thai Ambassador to the Netherlands Virachai Plasai, told the ICJ that Cambodia has hidden agenda in this temple row, especially in regard to Thai-Cambodian border skirmishes.
As for the Cambodian request asking the ICJ to issue a temporary injunction ordering Thailand to withdraw troops from the disputed zone while the verdict interpretation is in process, the Thai side insisted that the ICJ has no authority to do so, and the request should be dropped.
The result of the request will be concluded in the next three to four weeks. For the time being, both Thailand and Cambodia must present written information about detailed losses from border clashes such as fatalities and evacuation plans, to the ICJ within 18.00 hrs of 7 June 2011.
The ICJ then will forward the submitted information to both conflicting countries for acknowledgement, after which it will allow both sides to make objections in writing and return clarifications within 18.00 hrs of 14 June 2011. The ICJ then will issue the date to read the court’s verdict which will be informed via the Thai embassy.
After elaborating the details, Mr Chavanond stressed that the Thai delegation has performed the best in explaining the temple row with the ICJ. He believed that Cambodia will not be able to take any further action once the ICJ has pronounced the verdict.
