Activists fear that Pheu Thai-led govt will concede to Cambodia’s claims in Gulf
Thai nationalists and royalists rallied outside the Royal Thai Navy headquarters on Wednesday, calling for the Navy chief to actively protect Thai territorial waters from unilateral claims by Cambodia.
Members of the People’s Network for Thailand Reform and People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy also submitted a petition addressed to Navy commander-in-chief Admiral Adung Phan-iam.
In the petition, they raised concerns that the Pheu Thai-led government, which they say is under the influence of the Shinawatra family, might trade national interest for the interest of the Shinawatra clan when negotiating the overlapping claims area (OCA) in the Gulf of Thailand.
The protesters alleged that Cambodia had previously unilaterally drawn its continual shelf line to claim half of Koh Krude island in Trat, even though the entire island belongs to Thailand.
They said the areas claimed by Cambodia should belong to Thailand in line with the 1907 Franco-Siamese Treaty.
They alleged that the government of then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has close personal ties with former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen, had signed a memorandum of understanding (known as MOU44) in 2001. The memorandum allegedly acknowledges Cambodia’s claims of territories that overlap Thai territories in the Gulf of Thailand.
The groups say that if the Thaksin government had adhered to the 1907 treaty, it would not have signed the MOU44.
The government has announced that it will soon resume talks on the OCA.
The groups said Adung must stand up and protect the national interest as they fear the government would concede to Cambodia’s demands due to Thaksin and Hun Sen’s mutual interests.
