Phnom Penh - Cambodian foreign affairs officials on
Wednesday welcomed the ascent of a new government to power in
Thailand but said it needed to take immediate action to resolve an
ongoing border dispute between the two countries.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Kuy Kung said the new
government was likely to improve relations between the two South-East
Asian neighbours despite Thai prime minister-designate Abhisit
Vejjajiva's history of strong rhetoric over the Preah Vihear temple
dispute.
'We continue to have a good relationship with Thailand, and this
will improve with the appointment of Abhisit Vejjajiva as prime
minister,' Kuy Kung said.
'We are waiting until Thailand has a new Parliament to resume
negotiations about the border issue, but we believe the new
government will end delays in negotiations and bring about a fast
resolution,' he said.
Tensions over border demarcation at the 11th-century temple
escalated into a military standoff in July after UNESCO added the
site to its World Heritage List.
Abhisit in July called on the Thai government to take a stronger
stance on the dispute to ensure Thailand maintained control over the
area.
He is the leader of the opposition Democrat Party, which put
together a coalition government after the former ruling People Power
Party was dissolved this month on a court order that found it guilty
of vote buying.
Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanarith told the Phnom Penh
Post newspaper the appointment of the new Thai government would end
months of anti-government protests in Bangkok by the People's
Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which he said had stalled negotiations
over Preah Vihear.
'The border demarcation is purely a technical problem,' he said.
'The PAD politicized it, not the Democrat Party.'
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