Cambodia looks forward to new start with Thai premier's visit

Sep 15, 2011, 5:56 GMT

Phnom Penh - The Cambodian government said it expected Thursday's scheduled visit by Thailand's new prime minister to lead to significantly improved relations.

Yingluck Shinawatra, whose Pheu Thai party won Thailand's July ballot, is scheduled to meet her Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen during her stopover in Phnom Penh.

Koy Kuong, a spokesman for Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Phnom Penh expected the visit would 'restore our bilateral relations and cooperation in all fields.'

'The government led by the Pheu Thai party in Thailand has the same goal as the Royal Government of Cambodia - that we hate war, we don't like to use violence as a means to solve our problems,' he said. 'We love a peaceful solution.'

Yingluck has already visited Brunei and Indonesia as part of her regional trip.

Relations between Cambodia and Thailand, both part of the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), plunged under Yingluck's predecessor Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Abhisit became prime minister in 2008 following the military's 2006 ousting of Thaksin Shinawatra, who is Yingluck's brother and the force behind Pheu Thai.

During Abhisit's tenure, troops from the neighbouring nations clashed several times along their border, worrying ASEAN and drawing in the United Nations Security Council to broker a solution.

Media reports have suggested the two sides will discuss removing troops from the disputed area near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple that stands on Cambodia's northern border.

Another area of common interest is the stalled effort to resolve disputes over offshore oil and gas deposits in the 27,000-square-kilometre Overlapping Claims Area.

It has been a decade since the two countries started efforts to reach agreement on carving up revenues from the deposits.

On Thursday Phnom Penh again scotched recent media speculation that two Thai nationalists currently in jail in Cambodia would be released as a consequence of Yingluck's visit.

Koy Kuong said they must serve at least two-thirds of their sentences before being considered for parole.

In January a Cambodian court jailed Thai political activist Veera Somkwamkit for eight years on charges of spying, crossing the border, and illegally entering a military base. His secretary, Ratree Taiputana, was sentenced to six years on the same charges.

The rocky relationship between the two countries worsened after Phnom Penh appointed Thaksin as a government adviser in 2009, a post he no longer holds. Thaksin, who has been living in Dubai to avoid a two-year jail term for abuse of power, is due to visit Cambodia on Friday.

However, Phnom Penh has stressed that Thaksin has no authority to negotiate on behalf of the Thai government, adding that he would visit to deliver two speeches, meet his Thai supporters and play golf with Hun Sen.

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