The Thai army presented reports of the ASEAN observer teams (AOT) in Thailand and Cambodia today, confirming that the latest landmine explosion in Si Sa Ket province on Monday was caused by a new landmine.
The army’s move was to counter yesterday’s report by Bernama, Malaysia’s national news agency, which misquoted Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan as saying that the incident was not caused by new landmine, said Army Spokesman Maj-Gen Winthai Suvaree today.
He said that Bernama had, however, corrected the mistake in its report today. The amended version of the same news story quoted Mohamad as saying: “…but the ASEAN observer teams in Thailand and Cambodia have reported that they were new landmines. I just got off the phone with the Thai foreign minister. My hope is for both sides to calm down and to continue the peace talks.”
It is reported that Cambodia news media, such as ‘Cambodianess’, quickly capitalised on Bernama’s inaccurate reporting with a banner headline which read: “Malaysia Confirms Landmines were Old, Ready to Facilitate Cambodia-Thailand Border Talks.”
Maj-Gen Winthai also said the Thai army will take the ASEAN AOT team in Thailand to visit Huai Ta Maria, in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket, and ban Nong Ya Kaew, in Sa Kaeo province, today.
Cambodia has accused Thai troops of firing at Cambodian civilians, killing one and injuring three others in Ban Nong Ya Kaew. The Thai Army explained that the Cambodian troops opened fire first, to provoke the Thai border force.
Meanwhile, the Thailand Mine Action Centre (TMAC) reported yesterday that, since October 30th, it had cleared 33,485 square metres, or 12.46% of the 235,172 square metres designated for mine clearance in Ban Nong Chan village. Two PMN landmines and one POMZ landmine have been found and defused.
