Thai-Cambodian Dispute

Introduction There have been conflicts between Thai and Cambodia for decades. The very main one was the conflict over the “Prah Vihear” temple. The conflict was brought to the International Court of Justice in 1959 in Netherland. Although it was decided in 1962 that the temple belongs to Cambodia (9-3), the conflict did not stop. There is still a problem, which is that a border dispute still remains over the surrounding areas of land. This is due to the international court only decided to give Cambodia the right for the temple, but not the area around the temple. The fighting in the area in April cause some death and injuries of over ten thousand people. Although both side withdrew the troops from the dispute area in 2011, it only “darkened” the relationship between the 2 countries. They started the conflict with the reason of claiming the temple and the land around it. What is the cause of this conflict that led to this many long lasting problem?

This is the original map of the Thai-Cambodia border that the French had redrawn in the past century. The map shows the line which the French has recklessly drowned over the border of Thai and Cambodia. Though there is still a space left where it doesn’t belong to either country. This visual source is in fact very useful. Anything can’t go wrong since this is the very first map that shows the border line of Thai, Cambodia and the location of the conflict. This is just a map, so there isn’t any written information. This map is very hard to understand compare to the old maps. I have studied how to look at maps (from ROTC), but this is still very confusing. There may be more hidden information the temple and the area not registered in any country, but from my knowledge and investigation, this map is plenty to show the border and the area around the temple.

cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=3&k=46&case=45&code=ct&p3=5 This website is the very own official website of the International Court of Justice. The website contains every single thing about this “Thai-Cambodian Temple of Preah Vihear case”. All of the PDFs in this section of the website are all real papers from the time of court itself. Of all the results about the judgment of the conflict, this one is the very original. The author of the source is the International Court of Justice of that time. This source is very useful for providing reliable information. This is the very first source that holds the power of right and wrong for this conflict, meaning everything written in this website is therefore “correct”. Although, this is a very useful website, it is very hard to understand and the context is very long, making it impossible to finish and understand it in a short period of time.

D=44664&Cr=cambodia&Cr1#.UnZH_BB0eD4 This written source is different from the previous one. The previous one was about the judgment made from the last century, but this is an article about the conflict that happened recently. This website is in fact one of the most reliable website in the world. There is no specific writer, but it can be assumed that the writer is UN itself. The article lacks detail, but it is useful and direct for readers to catch up to the situations.

The picture is the proof that The International Court of Justice for the “Preah Vihear” case really took place. This is where voting took place. It is where they decided on the judgment of giving Cambodia the temple. There is no information on the person who took this picture. This photo is helpful in terms of it being the proof that the international court were being held. The picture also shows all the judges who gave votes and decision. Because the picture is blurred and there wasn’t enough technology back then, it is difficult to specify any of the judges. Although it is claimed that this is the picture of the International Court of Pheah Vihear case, there isn’t any proof.

Conclusion After reading some part of the ICJ’s judgment and interviewing my mother, I came to find the answer of the question: “What is the cause of this conflict that led to this many long lasting problem?” The very answer is “nationalism”. Although it is not a fact, but after giving it some thoughts, this is the best answer. Why nationalism? The conflict shows that both need the Preah Vihear for their country’s. Both countries did not deign for each other. This led to the path where neither side back down. Although the International Court of Justice already decided that Cambodia has the right to claim the temple, up till now, Thailand haven’t back down on claiming the area around the temple. From many of the quotes of the Thai government of that time, they were all about (legally) taking back the Preah Vihear that which belongs to Thailand. Although the conflict was put to stop 2 years ago, there is no telling what will happen when the judgment was decided for the area around the temple. This conflict can be refer as one of the conflict where nationalism is the cause of all violence.