Cambodian leaders cautiously welcome new Thai government

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.'