Cambodia at the end of its tether ; Cambodia wants World Court to rule on Thai border

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Preah Vihear Temple on Saturday.
Feb 11, 2010

O SVAY (Cambodia) - Cambodia's Prime Minister says his country will complain to the International Court of Justice that Thailand is occupying its land.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday that Thailand had encroached on land around the landmark Preah Vihear Temple, in northern Cambodia, which the court awarded Phnom Penh in 1962. He made his remarks while visiting the disputed territory.

Thailand acknowledged Cambodian sovereignty over the temple, but both countries claim 4.6 square kilometres of nearby land. Their troops have clashed there several times.

"Cambodia has reached the limits of its patience," Mr Hun Sen said on Tuesday during a visit to the disputed territory.

"Cambodia wants to solve this territorial dispute by filing a complaint to the international court at The Hague," he said, adding he would ask the United Nations to help solve the issue.

Nationalist passions have run high at the border since 2008 after Thailand first backed, then opposed Cambodia's bid to name the 11th-century temple a UN World Heritage site.

Cambodia and Thailand share an 800-km land border, part of which was never clearly demarcated because each country relies on different maps.

Meanwhile, Internet giant Google has promised Cambodia it will review a map of Preah Vihear Temple, though it stopped short of saying it would change the document.

The Cambodian authorities accused Google of being "professionally irresponsible" in a letter sent last week, because its Google Earth map depicts nearly half of the Preah Vihear Temple as being in Thailand.

Google, in a letter sent to the government, said it was "carefully reviewing" Phnom Penh's objection but also suggested that it contact Tele Atlas, a mapping company it says provided the border data to the company. AGENCIES