Protesters seek to raise flag near Preah Vihear
A confrontation between demonstrators and soldiers ended peacefully yesterday with an agreement to raise a giant Thai flag inside a disputed section of land along the border with Cambodia near Preah Vihear Temple, although a senior officer later said the
Colonel Thanya Kiatsarn, deputy commander of the Suranaree Command, made the promise in front of the protesters and media, but later Lt-General Jeerasak Chomprasop, chief of the Second Army Area, said the flag would be flown but not in the 4.6-square-kilometre disputed zone.
About 500 nationalists, led by General Preecha Iamsuphan, have been rallying under the banner of the Patriot Thai Group |for the Thai flag to be raised in |the area with overlapping claims to assert Thai sovereignty.
Their show of loyalty was in response to the meeting of the International Court of Justice in Brussels to hear testimony from Thai and Cambodian representatives after Cambodia requested a reinterpretation of the 1962 ruling on the Hindu temple.
TIGHT SECURITY
About 2,000 soldiers, police and security officials were mobilised to the area leading to Preah Vihear National Park on the Thai side to prevent the group from entering the area out of concern that their activities might incite violence.
A sign was put up saying that Kantharalak district, where the national park is located, was under martial law to remind the activists that officials have the authority to break up any gathering.
After the troops promised to fly the national flag in the contested territory, the group dispersed.
