Read more news at bangkokpost.com T H E N E W S P A P E R Y O U C A N T R U S T FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011 ✦ 30 BAHT

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Kate, William thank all: Page 8

William andKate’s big dayRoyal fans have come from farand wide and no distance or dis-comfort is too great to gain primeviewing of today’s wedding ofBritain’s Prince William and KateMiddleton.

About 200 people were alreadycamped out yesterday on the streetacross from London’s WestminsterAbbey where the couple will tiethe knot. Dozens of tents havepopped up and some fans are mak-ing do with just mats to sleep on.

City officials expect up to600,000 people will line the pro-cession route the couple will takefrom the abbey to BuckinghamPalace after the wedding service.

VisitBritain, the national tour-ism agency, said 1.1 million visitorswould be in London today, with40% coming from abroad.

An estimated 8,000 journalistshave arrived in London to coverthe ceremony, and hundreds ofmillions across the world willwatch on television.

Tomorrow, pick up our specialedition wrap-around of the wed-ding, which will feature spectacularphotographs of a spectacularevent. Or visit www.bangkokpost.com/news/britain-royal-weddingfor updates.

Ceasefire brings calm to borderAbhisit, Hun Sen maymeet at Asean summit

Suthep slates foreign analysis: Page 3Where angels fear to tread?: Page 3Behind the News: Page 3

BANGKOK POSTAND REUTERS

An uneasy calm settled over the Thai-Cambodian border yesterday after thetwo countries agreed to a ceasefire fol-lowing a week of clashes which left 15people dead and forced 48,200 villagersto flee the area.

The ceasefire agreement came hoursafter another heavy battle at the borderbetween Surin’s Kap Choeng districtand Oddar Meanchey province of Cam-bodia.

Both sides agreed to stop the exchangeof gunfire as of noon yesterday, saidcommander of the Second ArmyThawatchai Samutsakhon after a40-minute meeting with Lt Gen CheaMon, chief of the Cambodian FourthRegion Army at a casino at the ChongJom-O Samet checkpoint in Surin’s KapChoeng district.

‘‘The fighting has apparentlystopped,’’ he said, adding that the armywas closely watching the situation toensure the agreement was not broken.

Clashes began last Friday at Surin’sPhanom Dong Rak district beforespreading to Kap Choeng and alsoKantharalak district in neighbouring SiSa Ket.

Despite promises to end the fighting,Lt Gen Thawatchai insisted on movingforward on the Thai position that theborder dispute be resolved bilaterally.The involvement of a third country maycomplicate the issue and the intentionsby both countries to quickly solve theproblem, he said.

Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ochasaid fighting would not recur as long asCambodia refrains from firing shots.

The Thai army claimed Cambodiantroops had opened fire on its troopsfirst during the latest border skirmishes.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva saidthe government would monitor the situ-ation to make sure the fighting hadreally stopped.

‘‘The army chief says that the signsare good. But we still have to be prudent.I understand the talks are at the field-level but the skirmishes have eased, ’’the prime minister said. ‘‘We have tosee how things go. There is still moretime for things to change until May 7-8[the date of the 18th Asean summit inJakarta],’’ he said.

In Phnom Penh, Cambodian gov-ernment spokesman Phay Siphan saidThailand and Cambodia would honourthe agreement and had agreed to reopenborder checkpoints shut during theskirmishes.

‘‘We will abide by the ceasefire fromnow on and local commanders will meetregularly to avoid misunderstandings,’’he said.

On the diplomatic front, Foreign Min-ister Kasit Piromya yesterday held talkswith his Indonesian counterpart MartyNatalegawa on the sidelines of the AseanMinisterial Meeting on society and cul-ture in Jakarta.

Mr Kasit said from the Indonesiancapital that he had updated Mr Marty,Asean’s current chairman, on theskirmishes.

He and Mr Marty also discussed theterms of reference for sendingIndonesian observers to the Thai-Cambodian border, he said.

The draft terms of reference are beingfinalised and will be submitted for con-sideration to the Cabinet at its meeting

next Tuesday.Thailand and Cambodia agreed at a

Feb 22 Asean Foreign Minister’s meetingon Jakarta’s proposal to send Indonesianobservers to the Thai-Cambodian borderafter the first round of the border fightingtook place near Preah Vihear templebetween Feb 4 and 7.

About 15 unarmed Indonesian ob-servers will be deployed on each side ofthe border for six months.

The border conflicts between Thai-land and Cambodia are expected to betaken up during the summit of Aseanleaders in Jakarta next month.

It is expected that Mr Abhisit and

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Senwill use the opportunity to hold talkson the dispute over the overlappingland border.

Acting government spokesmanPanitan Wattanayagorn said Mr Abhisitand Hun Sen had not yet scheduledtalks.

Meanwhile, the border clashes earlyyesterday were reportedly the heaviestof the past week.

Sounds of sporadic gunfighting andshelling near Ta Muen Thom templewere heard through Wednesday nightand yesterday morning.

It was reported the army reinforced

troops and artillery tanks in PhanomDong Rak district in Surin on Wednesdaynight. The fighting left one Thai sub-lieutenant dead and 11 Thai soldierswounded.

The front line office of the SecondArmy Region yesterday reported thatThai troops had not detected any move-ment of Cambodian soldiers during thepast three days, but spotted womenand children in Cambodia’s militarybases.

More than 100 BM21 multiple rocketshad landed on Thai villages since thefighting began, the office said.

Two Thai men were detained yester-

day for questioning after they madenumerous suspicious phone calls toCambodia during heavy shelling.

Serm Pochailert was detained in BanDon Tan in Phanom Dong Rak district.The other man, Sanit Pimkao, was de-tained in Ban Non Ma Yan near TaMuen Thom temple.

A preliminary investigation showedthat they had made numerous calls toCambodia during the fighting.

Christopher Riess, the chief executive officer of WAN-IFRA, presents an image of the Bangkok Post ’s front page to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday at the PublishAsia 2011 international conference at the Shangri-La Hotel. Witnessing the presentation are Akapol Sorasuchart, the president of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau,and M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula, the chairman of Post Publishing Plc. PATIPAT JANTHONG

Govt waits to see if agreed truce holdsATIYA ACHAKULWISUT

The government is adopting a wait-and-see approach regarding the Thai-Cambodian border fighting, PrimeMinister Abhisit Vejjajiva saidyesterday.

If the ceasefire agreed by militarypersonnel at the local level holds,both sides can then begin to talkspecifics in terms of military deploy-ment and a return to normalcy, thepremier said.

‘‘We are hopeful that there will bepeace and calm over the next fewdays to allow people to move back totheir communities. We have to waita day or two to make sure that it issafe for them to go back,’’ Mr Abhisitsaid at a meeting with Asian editorsduring the annual WAN Ifra PublishAsia event.

He insisted the truce was a stepforward as both sides will immediatelycontact each other if there are anydevelopments. Such contact clearlyhad been missing during the pastseveral days of border fighting.

‘‘We hope that Cambodia will nowstop, talk and get back to the table.We have got so many bilateralmechanisms that can work,’’ Mr Abhi-sit said.

Mr Abhisit remained non-committal about meeting CambodianPrime Minister Hun Sen at theupcoming Asean summit in Jakarta.

‘‘I expect him to be there. We willsit in the same room but I haven’tscheduled a bilateral discussion withanyone. But I have always been opento talking,’’ he said.

Asked why Thailand has appearedto be reluctant in allowing Asean to

become involved in settling the con-flict, Mr Abhisit replied: ‘‘What is thereluctance of Cambodia to resolvethe issue in bilateral ways? Who knowsthe problems better than Thailandand Cambodia?’’

Regarding Indonesian observers,who have not yet been deployed, MrAbhisit said that Thailand has ac-cepted the principles of the issue andonly a few technical issues need tobe worked out.

‘‘You have to be careful not to letthe observers issue become a sparkfor a new conflict,’’ he said.

‘‘We have to agree exactly wherethey will be placed. Cambodia startedtalking about placing their group ofobservers in the disputed area. Thatis a non-starter because we will dothe same and they will be in the sameplace.’’

Mr Abhisit, however, confirmedthat the government shares the sameprecondition with the army that Cam-bodian troops must be pulled outfrom Preah Vihear temple area beforeinternational observers can bebrought in.

He said that in his opinion, thearmed clashes have occurred becausethe border issues have becomeinternationalised.

‘‘Trouble spots are aroundtemples,’’ Mr Abhisit said, implyingthe heightened sensitivity occurswhen nationalism is brought into theborder conflict.

‘‘Why aren’t the two countriesallowed to solve their own problems?The more new mechanisms arecreated [to mediate in the conflict],the more complicated the conflictwill become.’’

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