Thai prime minister visits Cambodia to discuss oil and gas along disputed border

Updated:2006-08-10 01:35:31
Thai prime minister visits Cambodia to discuss oil and gas along
disputed border
AP
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Thailand's prime minister made a one-day
visit to Cambodia on Thursday hoping to reach a deal to jointly develop
oil and gas resources along the two countries' disputed maritime
border.

A Cambodian Foreign Ministry statement said Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra would meet with his counterpart, Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Officials from the two countries were also expected to sign an
agreement for a multimillion dollar (euro) loan from Thailand for road
projects in Cambodia, it said.

It did not mention the oil and gas deposits in the disputed zone in the
Gulf of Thailand. But in a weekly radio address on Saturday, Thaksin
said he would try to find a way to draw up a plan to jointly use the
natural resources.

His visit followed a trip to Thailand on Tuesday by Cambodian Deputy
Prime Minister Sok An, who is also chairman of the National Petroleum
Authority.

State-run television TVK reported that Sok An discussed the offshore
gas and oil with Thai officials.

The dispute over the rival claims to the resources has dragged on since
the early 1970s. In 2001, the two countries signed a memorandum
agreeing in principle to jointly develop gas and oil in the disputed
zone.

But since then, they have been locked in negotiations over how to split
the benefits.

Thaksin said he and Hun Sen would also discuss border demarcation and
the purchase of electricity from Thailand by Cambodia for use in an
industrial zone.


08/10/06 01:34 EDT

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