SpicyTricks

As the sun sank over the tree-lined Kampong Bay River, Kampot, a town on Cambodia’s southern coast, stirred to life. The locals, who’d spent much of the day hiding from the heat in their homes and shaded alleys, emerged into the atmospheric streets, where sun-stained, mustard-colored French colonial shop houses provide the backdrop to the rhythms of daily life.

Old men with fedoras and graying sideburns gathered at a corner cafe to play chess, triumphantly thwacking hand-carved pieces against thick wooden boards. Small groups of boys fished on the banks of the river with homemade bamboo poles, while groups of teenagers with mussed and shaggy haircuts and wearing glittery T-shirts yelled “Hello!” and giggled at strolling tourists, who are a small but growing presence in this largely unexplored corner of Southeast Asia.

My wife and I had come here to escape the grit and bustle of Phnom Penh, where we live, and to show my visiting mother-in-law a slice of authentic provincial life. With crumbling historic architecture, largely unspoiled countryside and specialty regional cuisine, Kampot and Kep, seaside towns separated by a 30-minute car ride, are unlike anyplace else in Cambodia.

Wednesday, May 04, 2011: SRP High Officials, Mr. Kong Korm, MP Tioulong Samura, MP Mu Sochua and MP Yim Sovann meet with HE Hans Dahlgren, Ambassador for Human Rights from Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs to talk about a comprehensive picture of the human rights situation in Cambodia and to prepare for the upcoming bilateral dialogue on human rights between Sweden and Cambodia.

SRP MPs ask Prime Minister Hun Sen about changing Hor Namhong, Minister of Foreign Affair and International Cooperation from his position. The request is based on the failing of diplomatic relations with Thailand about border conflict.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa was asked last week whether he would try to arrange for the Thai and Cambodian premiers to meet at the Asean Summit to be held here later this week. His prompt response was: "No, I don't want to wait that long. The sooner the better."

The bilateral, top-level meeting between Abhisit Vejjajiva and Hun Sen has yet to materialise after a series of military skirmishes. Whether they will sit down and hold serious talks here later this week remains to be seen.

On the eve of the Asean Summit, the Thai-Cambodian armed conflict threatens to seriously undermine the regional grouping's credibility. The "Asean Option " to resolve conflicts between member countries may prove to be ineffective. The lack of an effective dispute settlement mechanism, despite the existence of the much-heralded Asean Charter, will continue to weaken the regional grouping.

Foreign Minister Natalegawa told a group of Asian editors from the Asia News Network (ANN) here last week: "As the host, we don't want the summit to be a single-issue gathering about the Thai-Cambodian confrontation. That's why I am pursuing peace aggressively for both countries. We have several other issues to consider at the summit, including those of Burma and the South China Sea."

There is a general feeling here that this week's summit of the 40-year-old regional grouping will be held under a dark cloud of cynicism over its future as a cohesive organisation.

Rizal Sukma, the executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, wrote in the Jakarta Post last week: "Asean would be hard-pressed to gain international respect if it cannot even gain respect from its own members. It is, therefore, absolutely imperative for both Cambodia and Thailand, and also Indonesia as the 'facilitator', to immediately implement the Jakarta agreement. Not doing so would bring about greater risk - not only to the conflicting parties, but also to Asean as a whole.

"Even without territorial disputes and border conflicts, it has already been difficult for Asean to realise its plan to become a regional community. If the conflict and the loss of life continues, the ideal "we-feeling" among Asean states and the absence of the use of force as the main characteristic of a security community would be harder to create. Consequently, the international community would look at the ideal of an Asean Community as just imagination.

"If the conflicting parties cannot seize the opportunity to settle the problem using the 'Asean option' there is the possibility that the United Nations Security Council (or some of its members) would come to the conclusion that regional arrangements had failed to address the problem. It doesn't serve anyone's interests if the UNSC concludes that the skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia would pose an international peace and security threat and therefore require the involvement of the UNSC."

While insisting that his task would be a "relentless pursuit of a diplomatic solution" to the Thai-Cambodian problem, Foreign Minister Natalegawa said it's not a question of Cambodia trying to bring the issue back to the UNSC. "It's already on the UNSC's agenda. Cambodia doesn't have to refer the matter back to the UN. The genie is out of the bottle."

He said despite the difficulties caused by the military skirmishes on the Thai-Cambodian border, "I hope both sides can be encouraged to return to the negotiating table … to have the ceasefire re-established and stabilised to enable the deployment of the observer teams and the resumption of diplomatic negotiations."

If Indonesia fails to convince both members to go back to the negotiating table, Asean's standing in the international arena will take a severe beating. The Indonesian foreign minister didn't really say that in so many words but he did hint at that scenario when he told me:

"What if Cambodia takes the issue back to the UN Security Council? Well, we will have to see. It really depends on our capacity to solve the problem regionally. But then again, I don't want to suggest that there is a clear difference between what is regional and global, because they are mutually reinforcing to create conditions conducive to bilateral solutions. So, what is bilateral, regional and global - they are actually supporting one another."

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told reporters here last week: "We have to respect and honour the role and involvement of Indonesia. Thailand is not in a position to embarrass the Indonesian government."

That's all the more reason why Kasit and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Nam Hong will have to convince their respective leaders to hold serious talks here on the side of the Asean Summit, not only to avoid "embarrassing" Asean's current chair, but, more importantly, to refrain from further weakening Asean as a whole.

The brief flare-up of fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops that killed 10 people last month was largely portrayed as a dispute over which country rightfully controls a Hindu-Buddhist temple that has stood along the border between the two for nearly a millennium.

Close observers of the region, however, explain that the recent troop buildups and violence are actually the product of a primarily manufactured conflict driven by nationalists scrambling to maintain a hold on power in both countries.

"Basically what you have here is a war of convenience between two governments that would both benefit from a skirmish that has almost no potential to escalate into a full-blown war," says Ernest Z. Bower, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic International Studies in Washington.

Bower, who spoke with Trend Lines earlier this week, said the situation is being driven by domestic politics, predominantly in Thailand, where the government is "trying to appease the military because of recent political tensions."

An ongoing divide in Bangkok has "Yellow Shirt" nationalists supportive of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva pitted against the country's "Red Shirt" pro-democracy activists.

The military, meanwhile, is the "final arbiter of who will run Thailand," said Bower, noting that Vejjajiva is expected over the coming days to announce a schedule for Thai elections in July.

In the interim, the prime minister is not only using the border tension to "give the military a nail to hit," he's attempting to exploit it as a means of unifying politically divided Thais.

"The Red Shirts, who significantly outnumber the Yellow Shirts, may win an election if there's nothing interesting going on, so a war against Cambodia certainly helps the current government, which is part of the Yellow Shirt establishment," he said.

Similar motivation -- albeit driven by entirely different circumstances -- is at play in Cambodia, where President Hun Sen is keen on using the military action to advance the prospects of his son, Hun Manet, a Cambodian army general overseeing the troop buildup.

"Hun Manet is a West Point-trained military officer, and Hun Sen is grooming him as a successor," said Bower, who added that "[seeing] Thais kill Cambodians on the border enrages Cambodians and really helps unite them as a people. It also battens down any opposition to Hun Sen."

While such reasoning might quell fears of a wider conflict between the two countries, it has done little to keep other regional players from feeling on edge. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose rotating presidency is currently held by Indonesia, has attempted to exert diplomatic pressure on both countries to stop sending more troops to the disputed border region. The pressure may be superfluous though, as Bower notes that neither country "is interested in a prolonged conflict at the border."

"I think the end game is the Thai election," he said. "Although there will be continued disagreements, I think the violence will end after July or August, and we'll see this issue disappear from the headlines by the end of the year."

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva indicated yesterday he had no intention of holding talks on the border clashes with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Asean Summit in Indonesia.

"Don't forget that I met Hun Sen four times late last year, and then in February clashes erupted," Mr Abhisit said.

"And I insist that each clash is not an accident. It is an intention to internationalise the issue."

The clashes are part of Cambodia's strategy in dealing with territorial disputes, according to the premier.

He also doubted Cambodia's claim that the fighting continued because in part it could not control its troops.

Mr Abhisit said Thailand was making preparations to face Cambodia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has asked Thailand and Cambodia to give statements on May 30-31.

Cambodia has asked the court to interpret its 1962 verdict on the Preah Vihear temple and issue an urgent ruling, including an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Thai troops from the land surrounding the temple and a ban on Thai military activity in the area.

In the 1962 verdict, the court said: "Thailand is under an obligation to withdraw any military or police forces, or other guards or keepers, stationed by her at the temple, or in its vicinity on Cambodian territory."

Cambodia wants the ICJ to interpret the term "vicinity" mentioned in the ruling.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said the Thai team to the ICJ will be led by Thai ambassador to the Hague, Virachai Plasai.

It will comprise three lawyers from France, Canada and Australia, chief of Treaties and Legal Affairs Department Ittiporn Boonpracong, and legal officials who will act as secretaries.

"The special legal committee will go to the Hague a few days before the court hearing to meet the three foreign advisers and prepare a statement for Mr Virachai to deliver to the court.

"They will have only three or four hours to clarify the Cambodian complaints with the 15 ICJ committees," Mr Kasit said.

"We think the court will make a decision after the New Year as at least five of 15 ICJ committees' terms will end and there will be changes in their members," Mr Kasit said.

Meanwhile, the House committee on foreign affairs yesterday voiced an objection to the government's plan to face Cambodia in the ICJ.

Pheu Thai MP Torpong Chaiyasarn, head of the committee, said the government should instead opt for negotiations to resolve the dispute or let a new administration handle the issue.

Mr Kasit hit back at Mr Torpong for making the suggestion.

"The suggestion is misleading because the public may think the government has done something wrong, and, therefore, has to go to the ICJ. The committee should not talk about this issue to the media directly.

"If it has any questions, it should ask the government for clarifications first," Mr Kasit said.

In a statement issued today, the Press and Quick Reaction Unit of the Office of the Council of Ministers accused Thailand of threatening peace and stability in the region with its war-like stance, and damaging Preah Vihear.

"For that reason, all neighbouring countries together with the international community should make joint efforts to put an end to this dangerous policy so that we can enjoy a lasting peace and stability in Southeast Asia," it said.

"Thai leaders should know that the world of the 21st century needs a new vision, a vision of peace rooted in justice, a vision of a world bound together in intentional community dedicated to the well-being of all people.

"Peace rooted in justice requires the nurturing of a culture of peace in homes, communities, nations and across the world," the statement said.

The International Court of Justice is likely to hold a hearing on the Preah Vihear temple issue in a matter of weeks, an official there told VOA Khmer Tuesday.

Cambodia has petitioned the court to re-interpret a 1962 decision that gave Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia but left both Thailand and Cambodia claiming adjacent land.

Cambodia hopes a hearing will clarify the decision, which officials here say should include the land. Both sides claim a 4.6-kilometer stretch of land near the temple.

The disputed land has been at the center of a military standoff since 2008 that has killed dozens of people in a series of skirmishes over the years, including the deadliest clashes over the last week and a half. At least 18 have died in fighting that began April 22.

On April 28, Cambodia filed a request to the international court to clarify its 1962 decision, requesting “urgent” action to protect Preah Vihear temple, as Cambodian and Thai troops exchanged rocket and artillery fire along the border.

Biris Heim, a spokesman for the International Court of Justice, said the court will now “fix a date with all parties” so that they can appear before the court with arguments.

“It will be an oral hearing, and it can be between a few days and a few weeks,” he said.

Both Cambodia and Thailand have been notified of the case, he said, but the court will not send investigators to the field.

“Parties will provide evidence,” he said. “The court can only make an interpretation by hearing from both sides.”

Thailand, meanwhile, has begun preparing a group of experts to respond to the court, according to Thai media.

Cambodia has asked the United Nations’ highest court to order Thailand to withdraw troops and halt military activity around a temple at the centre of a decades-old border dispute that has flared into deadly military clashes.

PHNOM PENH, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Ministry of Defense on Sunday afternoon issued a statement condemning Thai troops for their ten straight days of armed attacks into Cambodian territory at the 13th century Ta Mon temple and Ta Krabei temple in Oddar Meanchey province.

"The repeated invasions of Thai troops into Cambodia have caused gradual damage to Cambodia, it is an unacceptable act," said the statement. "The Royal Cambodian armed forces (RCAF) strongly condemn this latest series of the attacks on Cambodia."

"We'd like to appeal to Thai troops to keep their repeated promises of ceasefire in order to avoid further costing human lives--either soldiers or civilians."

The statement was issued after the latest round of sporadic clashes between the two countries' troops overnight Saturday- Sunday over the border disputed areas at Ta Mon temple and Ta Krabei temple, marking the ten straight days of the skirmishes.

The fighting had killed at least eight Cambodian soldiers, seven Thai soldiers and one Thai civilian, and forced some 100,000 villagers of both sides to flee homes for safe shelters.

However, Lt. Gen. Chhum Socheat, spokesman of Cambodia's Ministry of National Defense said on Sunday that following renewal of acts of aggression on the part of the Thai military on Saturday night through Sunday morning, one Cambodian soldier was killed and another was wounded.

"Again and again, the acts of aggression on the part of the Thai military continue to cause damage for Cambodia despite the agreement reached between Cambodian-Thai military commanders at military Region levels and frontline commanders at Division levels, " Chhum Socheat said.

"This is the tenth times that the Thai military violated the ceasefire agreement and promised, and spin doctored the situation and alleged against Cambodia while we are stationing on our sovereign territory," he added.

The two countries' border has never been completely demarcated. The conflict has occurred just a week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008.

The International Court of Justice awarded in 1962 that the 11th century Preah Vihear Temple belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square- mile) surrounding area.

BANGKOK — Fighting appeared to subside on the Thai-Cambodian border on Sunday, allowing some evacuees to return home after more than a week of heavy clashes which left 17 people dead, officials said.

There were some clashes overnight Saturday-Sunday involving grenades and mortar fire, in which one Cambodian soldier died, but the front line has been quiet since then, Cambodian defence ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat told AFP.

The two neighbours have been exchanging artillery shells along their disputed jungle frontier in their bloodiest conflict in decades, forcing more than 85,000 civilians to flee on both sides.

As a tentative calm returned to the border area, some of the more than 37,000 Cambodian civilians displaced by the violence were starting to go home.

"Since the situation today is quiet, around 10 to 15 percent of the evacuees have returned home," Nhim Vanda, deputy president of Cambodia's National Committee for Disaster Management, told AFP.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva described the easing of tensions as "a positive sign".

He added: "We will monitor the situation for the next couple of days, before allowing people to return home."

The two countries have come under increasing international pressure to stop the violence, but an attempted truce announced on Thursday after local-level military negotiations proved short-lived.

Ties between the neighbours have been strained since the 900-year-old temple Preah Vihear was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.

The World Court ruled in 1962 that the 900-year-old temple belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square-mile) surrounding area.

On Friday Cambodia said it had asked the World Court to clarify that ruling.

The most recent deadly clashes have been mainly centred around two temple complexes about 150 kilometres (90 miles) west of Preah Vihear.

Seven Thai troops and nine Cambodian soldiers have died since the fighting began on April 22, and Bangkok has said a Thai civilian was also killed.

The border clash came at a sensitive political time for Thailand, with Abhisit preparing to dissolve the lower house of parliament for elections he has said will be held by early July

When the Asean leaders meet for the first time later this week in Jakarta, new challenges await Indonesia as the chair. The ongoing Thai-Cambodian conflict, the status of the 2014 chair, the membership of Timor Leste and the common platform for Asean beyond 2015 are key issues that can make and break the 44-year organisation. In contrast, myriad other problems related to the realisation of an Asean Community in 1,328 days need to be managed without exchanges of vitriol, bullets and mortar fire.

From the beginning, Indonesia has fixed a very high bar as the 18th Asean chair.

By breaking with the Asean tradition of the chair's rotation system -swapping with Brunei - the world's third largest democracy wants to ascertain other upcoming chairs of major summits, including the G-20, will not face future disruption.

The successful chairing of Asean this year will set a new compass for the country's diplomacy and help to define its role in the region and international community at large.

However, the unexpected eruption of border skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia in early February and late last month has threatened to derail Indonesia's grand strategy. It has zapped the host's overall energy away from the agenda of an "Asean community in a globalised community of nations." After the UN Security Council referred the border conflict to Asean in mid-February, Indonesia moved quickly to display leadership by facilitating dialogue between the two neighbours and serving as observers to monitor the border and establish a permanent ceasefire.

During the past five weeks, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has been hard at work to have the 30-member Indonesia Observers Team, 15 on each side, on the ground ahead of the upcoming Asean summit. His aborted trip last Monday to Bangkok and Phnom Penh indicated the complexity of facilitating any resolution of intra-Asean conflict. Unknowingly, Marty has entered on a new and untested Asean turf in conflict resolution and reconciliation.

The remaining eight months are crucial to set the Asean house in order. Any spill over to the next chair, Cambodia, would have adverse effects on Asean, as the chair would be a conflicting party. A general election is scheduled in Cambodia next year as well.

For the past 14 years, Asean has been unable to assert any peer pressure on the pariah regime of Burma. It was a bit odd that President Thein Sein would have the audacity to ask their colleagues to rubber stamp his legitimacy by permitting the new administration to host the 2014 chair. As of last week, Naypyidaw had not yet responded to the grouping's overture to dispatch a team of Asean senior officials, headed by the chair, to assess the country's readiness.

Several members have reiterated that the 2014 chair is not automatic and should be further deferred until Burma has agreed to the appeal and fulfilled the Asean charter. The often asked question is: Will Asean put its last stick to good use?

An equally divisive issue is the 11th membership of Asean. Timor Leste informed Asean in early March that it wanted to join the club now — a big jump from the 2015 deadline. Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand support the inclusion this year while Singapore would like to postpone it for a few years. The lack of consensus raises the spectre that Indonesia's chair has been linked to the speedier admission. The region's most impoverished nation was part of Indonesia until its independence in 1999. Lack of English-speaking human resources and poverty have been cited as key obstacles. Singapore fears it would further delay the Asean economic integration and realisation of the Asean Community.

Timor Leste, the supporters argue, should be integrated soonest within the Asean family despite all the shortcomings. Leaving this young nation alone would be precarious and subject it to non-Asean influence that could be detrimental to the grouping's interest in the future. For good for worse, Asean has already lived through years of ups and downs with old and new members in various Asean cooperative schemes. Some of the new members contend that no conditions should be placed for admission of a new member. Quite unique, however, has been the attitude of Thailand, which sees Timor Leste, a young democracy, as an inspiration for Asean's people-centred community.

More than Asean's leaders would like to admit that Timor Leste's membership could be a test case of new Asean leadership. Ironically, Dili's status will be the weathervane to where the grouping's real leadership is heading. For decades, Singapore was the prime mover and shaker in Asean's pivotal schemes, covering all aspects of activity. However, since the 2003 summit which gave birth to the Bali Concord II, Indonesia, along with its burgeoning democracy, has expanded its vision and influence on the organisation where it used to be a puller.

The outcome of Timor Leste's deliberation will to a certain degree impact on the current chair's ambitions beyond the Asean Community 2015. Indonesia's foreign policy in the past decade has been focused on finding solutions, building understanding and fostering consensus. Jakarta believes that Asean will be able to maintain its creditability and centrality through the establishment of an Asean common platform on global issues. Throughout its history, Asean's members could be quite inflexible when it came to issues that involved their national sovereignty. Asean still has a long way to go concerning collective sovereignty and responsibility. Climate change, nuclear energy and territorial disputes could serve as litmus tests whether the Asean members could adopt common positions and policies on global issues.

The jury is still out whether Indonesia will be able to carry through such a broad and ambitious agenda

Bangkok/Phnom Penh - In the absence of credible information on why Thai and Cambodian forces started fighting along a disputed stretch of the border last week, the rumour mills are working overtime, but the message seems aimed at domestic audiences.

Since Friday, at least 14 people have been killed and more than 50 injured in on-and-off clashes near several disputed temples.

One question is the timing. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva plans to dissolve parliament in early May and call an election, fuelling speculation that some political faction might try to gain from the conflict. Another is that the military wants to control the poll's outcome and the fighting is their way to be in charge. And those are just the least outlandish takes on the situation from Bangkok.

Lawmaker and political observer Kraisak Chohoven said he believes motives other than election considerations had to be behind the conflict. But as so often in recent years, Thai domestic politics muddy any examination of the border strife.

Thaksin was toppled in a 2006 coup and lives in exile to avoid a Thai jail sentence for corruption. Last year, he served as an advisor to Hun Sen's government, which ignored Thai extradition requests.

Thaksin's supporters say Abhisit's government has no legitimacy because it was not elected, and hope to return to power.

The People's Alliance for Democracy, a nationalist movement, has vowed to topple Abhisit for his poor handling of the border crisis. In December, seven nationalists were arrested for illegally crossing into Cambodia. The tussle about their release further soured bilateral relations.

The Thai Foreign Ministry insists the current situation benefits no one in Thailand and accuses Cambodia of having kicked off the most recent spat.

The main conflict surrounding Preah Vihear, an 11th-century Hindu temple, goes back decades. A spat in 1958 prompted the suspension of diplomatic ties, but can be traced back to 1904 when France demarcated the border and put Preah Vihear inside its colonial territory.

Back then Thailand had more pressing concerns, such as not being colonized itself. But many Thais never accepted a 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice that said the temple compound belonged to Cambodia.

Bangkok says UNESCO escalated the conflict in 2008 by designating Preah Vihear a world heritage site, over its objections.

'Thailand's national elections are coming soon and the government would want to get the border issue in order before the election, because doing so would mean a likelier chance that the current government would win,' said Chhaya Hang, executive director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy, a non-governmental organization.

On the domestic front, the ruling Cambodian People's Party regularly trumpets that it brought peace to the country after years of war.

But too strong a focus on the borders could backfire. Cambodia is currently demarcating its eastern border with Vietnam, and some farmers claimed to have lost their land in the process.

Indonesia, as the current chair of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), has failed to mediate between the neighbours.

Chhaya Hang said it was difficult to say whether that lack of leverage would damage the body, but suggests ASEAN should at least be able to employ a 'red card' should a member stand in the way of a solution.

'And if cancelling membership isn't (in the charter), then something for the agenda of the next ASEAN meeting could be: How much should we ASEAN members put up with this?'

With tensions high and rhetoric being ratcheted up over the past days, Chhaya Hang believes the situation remains dangerous.

'One can only hope it won't be more serious than at present because that will have a huge impact on people on both sides, and we don't want that,' he said.

As the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia over the Preah Vihear temple spirals out of control, with fighting now spreading to new locations, outside observers have desperately been trying to cool tempers. Not only Indonesia but also other ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, have been putting pressure on the two sides to back off from the brink. China apparently has applied pressure as well. ASEAN as an organization fears that the continuing dispute will only make it look more feckless than it is often perceived to be – and so Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva apparently will discuss the conflict with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in May in Jakarta.

Do not expect any miracles. Key constituencies in both nations are benefiting too much from the border dispute to allow it to die out completely now. As I mentioned yesterday, the Thai army clearly sees the dispute as a way to rally nationalist sentiment and also, most importantly, to entrench the armed forces at the center of national security and political life. In the run-up to what is expected to be a hotly contested national election, keeping in the center of politics will be crucial for the military, and so they are unlikely to abandon the dispute.

Cambodia’s key constituencies have just as much reason to prolong the dispute, even though citizens may suffer. (But then, having citizens suffer has never been a major problem for policymakers in Cambodia.) The dispute allows Hun Sen’s oldest son, Hun Manet, to play a larger role in military policymaking, potentially positioning him one day to take over running the country from his father. And the dispute, by fanning nationalist flames in Cambodia as well, distracts from other pressing problems, such as the pending eviction of thousands of poor Cambodians from central Phnom Penh to make way for a development given to a close associate of the prime minister. With Cambodia’s domestic troubles unlikely to disappear, the Preah Vihear dispute probably will not either

Shaken and emotional, at least 30 medical staff and 20 patients were forced to flee to a nearby bunker.

Shelling occurred at least 100 meters from the hospital.

One Thai villager was killed in the latest clashes bringing the number of dead to at least 14.

Over 50,000 people have been moved to evacuation centers.

Talks between Thai and Cambodian defense ministers to end the border dispute were abruptly cancelled.

Many experts say the fighting over territory and sovereignty is fueled by political interests.

Sovereignty over the ancient stone-walled Hindu temples and the land surrounding them has been in dispute since the 1950s when France withdrew from Cambodia.