Phnom Penh: Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, President of the Senate of Cambodia, has urged his fellow citizens to maintain their composure regarding the ongoing issue of Koh Kut, an area of overlap between Cambodia’s Koh Kong province and Thailand’s Trat province. The call for calm was made during the opening ceremony of the 32nd National Congress of Buddhist Monks, held at the National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh.
According to Agence Kampuchea Presse, Samdech Techo Hun Sen recounted past negotiations with former Thai Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan concerning a joint oil drilling initiative at Koh Kut, which did not progress. Despite a memorandum of understanding signed in 2001, detailed discussions have been absent for the past 23 years. In light of recent provocations by an extremist group inciting protests against the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) to escalate the Koh Kut issue to the International Court of Justice, Hun Sen questioned the motives behind such actions, which th
reaten to disrupt peace.
The Senate President speculated on the necessity for the Royal Government or legislature to consider labeling the provocateurs as a terrorist group due to their potential to incite armed conflict between Cambodia and Thailand. He referenced the lingering wounds from past conflicts at Preah Vihear Temple and Ta Moan and Ta Krabey Temples, underscoring the shared losses endured by both Cambodian and Thai people.
Emphasizing the importance of continued negotiations, Hun Sen insisted that all avenues for bilateral talks have not yet been exhausted. In a related event, during a graduation ceremony at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet reaffirmed the RGC’s composed stance on the Koh Kut issue, emphasizing the government’s political maturity and responsibility in safeguarding territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Prime Minister Hun Manet criticized attempts to resolve the border dispute on social media platforms, highlighting that th
e official resolution mechanisms remain the Cambodia-Thailand Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) and Joint Technical Committee (JTC). While sea border negotiations have yet to achieve resolution, agreements have been reached on 42 of the 74 land border markers along the 805-kilometer boundary, grounded in the French-Siamese Treaty of 1907.