Thailand stops fruit export in Cambodia over temple controversy

Thailand stops fruit export in Cambodia over temple controversy
(DPA)

2 August 2008
BANGKOK - Thailand canceled fruit exports this weekend to neighbouring
Cambodia in the latest fallout over joint claims to an ancient Hindu
temple on their borders that had threatened to turn into a military
conflict.

Thailand's Department of Export Promotion canceled plans to ship more
than 10 tons of longan, a fruit grown in northern Thailand, to sell in
two malls in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, the government-run Thai
News Agency reported Saturday.

The Thailand Exhibition scheduled for later in the month with more
than 200 producers planning to show products in Phnom Penh had already
been canceled, the DEP said.

A strong sentiment among Cambodians against Thai products was the
reason, TNA reported.

Last Monday Thai Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag and his Cambodian
counterpart Hor Namhong met to defuse an escalating border spat over
joint claims to portions of the Preah Vihear temple perched on their
common border.

At the meeting the two sides agreed to redeploy more than 2,000 troops
that had been sent to the border between Si Sa Khet and Preah Vihear
provinces in Thailand and Cambodia, respectively. The temple is
situated about 400 kilometres north-east of Bangkok.

Preah Vihear, an 11th-century Hindu temple built on a 525-metre- high
cliff on the Dongrak mountain range that defines the Thai- Cambodian
border, has been the cause of a border conflict between Thailand and
Cambodia for decades.

In 1962, the two countries agreed to settle joint claims to the temple
at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Cambodia won, but
the court stopped short of defining the border in the area.

Thailand claims that a 4.6-square-kilometre plot of land adjoining the
temple is still disputed.

The ancient spat got a fresh start in July when UNESCO agreed to list
Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site. The inscription excluded the
4.6 square kilometres of disputed territory, and Thailand protested
the listing.

The spat escalated from a diplomatic row to a potential military
conflict in mid-July when three Thais were detained for entering the
disputed temple territory.

Although the threesome were quickly released, troops were called in
from both sides to protect their border.
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