Preah Vihear claims to World Court to be translated word-by-word for Thais

BANGKOK, March 15 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to hire professionals to translate word-by-word a written petition, filed by Cambodia with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in which the World Court's was requested to interpret its verdict related to the Preah Vihear Temple along the Thai-Cambodian border in 1962. Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul told journalists of the plan on Thursday, after calling a meeting with the government’s legal and consultant teams, led by Thai Ambassador to The Hague Virachai Plasai, on Thailand's preparations for a verbal testimony on the case before the Hague-based ICJ next month. Surapong said that the plan to translate the petition word-by-word is aimed to prevent misunderstanding because the Cambodian complaint filed with the World Court has been available only in the French and English languages via online audio broadcasting, acknowledging, however, that the plan needs to be approved by the Thai Cabinet first as it requires additional budget. Thursday's meeting was a follow-up of an earlier meeting of concerned Thai authorities and foreign legal advisers in Britain to work out the country's final verbal statement to be submitted to the Thai Cabinet on April 2 for the final round of consultations, before it is presented at the ICJ during April 15-19, 2013. The deputy premier noted that the Thai legal team has prepared sufficient evidence and information and will do the best to defence national interest at the World Court, which is expected to rule on the case in October 2013. (TNA)