Thai foreign minister to skip world court hearing in April

BANGKOK, January 1 (TNA) - Thailand’s Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul confirmed Tuesday he would not be attending a World Court public hearing in April on a case concerning the temple of Preah Vihear, which has been the centrepiece of intermittent clashes between two Southeast Asian neighbours Cambodia and Thailand for decades. Mr. Surapong said Cambodia and Thailand would each deliver their oral arguments during April 15-19, and then it would take at least six more months before the court could issue its final verdict on the controversial matter. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had appointed Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, to oversee the issue with a team of foreign legal experts. Admitting to worrying about the impact from the court’s verdict, Mr. Surapong said Cambodia and Thailand were two very close neighbours, the people of both countries should be able to live in peace, especially with the ASEAN Economic Community inception due in 2015. The Phnom Penh government in April 2011 asked the court for reinterpretation of its 1962 verdict on the temple ownership, including the disputed 4.6 square kilometre surrounding plot of land. Cambodia also asked the court for an injunction ordering Thailand to withdraw its troops from the disputed area around the temple after relations between the two countries soured in the wake of Cambodia's bid to have the temple listed as a World Heritage Site. The court ruled in 1962 that the historic temple was on Cambodian soil, but its ruling was not clear about ownership of the surrounding 4.6 square kilometre area. Thai and Cambodian troops have clashed repeatedly as each side attempted to assert sovereignty over the disputed adjacent areas. Both Cambodia and Thailand are two very close members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).