Thailand will not hold talks with Cambodia at the Regional Border Committee (RBC) level unless Cambodia has a definitive plan to evacuate its people encroaching on Thai territory in Ban Nong Chan and Ban Nong Ya Kaew in Sa Kaeo province.
Lt-Gen Worayos Luanhgsuwan, the newly-appointed commander of the First Army Region, said today that he has notified his Cambodian counterpart that the Thai delegation will not attend the RBC meeting, scheduled for October 10 through 12 in Cambodia, unless Cambodia includes the evacuation plan for Cambodian settlers in the meeting’s agenda.
He added that he has suggested to his Cambodian counterpart that the meeting be postponed, for now.
The RBC meeting is a follow-up to the General Border Committee (GBC) meeting on September 10, held to discuss mine clearance along the Thai-Cambodian border, scam operations in Cambodia and the management of border areas.
The Ban Nong Chan and Ban Nong Ya Kaew villages, in Khok Sung district, have recently become flashpoints between Thai border forces on one side and Cambodian settlers and troops on the other.
Thailand claims that the two villages have been Thai territory for a long time and were used to house Cambodian refugees during the civil war in Cambodia more than four decades ago. Although the war ended long time ago, many Cambodian refugees have refused to return to Cambodia and have settled there.
It is reported that Thailand’s Second Army Region, which is in charge of border areas in the northeast, and the Navy’s Chanthaburi-Trat Task Force, which is responsible for border areas in the two eastern provinces, have adopted the same approach as the First Army Region, which means no RBC meetings will be held unless the encroachment problem in Sa Kaeo province is included in the meeting’s agenda.
The Cambodian settlers have been given the deadline of October 10th to evacuate by Sa Kaeo’s governor or face arrest and legal action by Thai police.
An informed military source said that, without the RBC meetings taking place, the General Border Committee (GBC) meeting, between Thai Minister of Defence Nattaphon Nakpanich and his Cambodian counterpart, will not be possible.
