Cambodia, Thailand agree on more border talks

[Coventina]

Source: Reuters

PHNOM PENH, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Monday to more talks to resolve a dispute over a stretch of land at their border near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple that spilled over into fighting last year.

"This is another step forward. We must show our restraint," Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong told reporters after a two-hour meeting with his Thai counterpart, Kasit Piromya.

The two countries agreed in November to pull out troops from the disputed area and follow up with joint demarcation of the heavily mined frontier. However, the fall of the Thai government in December delayed implementation of the plan.

Kasit, who was a prominent member of the royalist Thai protest group that stirred up last year's bad blood over the temple, said it was important to resolve the long-running dispute through peaceful means.



Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKBKK41727320090126

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Glad to see positive movement on this...

[marshall]

1. The Thai/Cambodia border is very volatile

Crossing from Cambodia to Thailand was the most harrowing in my otherwise wonderful trip to southeast Asia.

[Coventina]

2. Where did you cross?

I crossed at Poipet (from Thailand to Cambodia). Not a super scenic location, but the process didn't seem so bad. Probably the worst part of the whole experience was all the posters on the Thailand side that seem to indicate that going to Cambodia is highly dangerous and that Thailand is washing its hands of you and your safety.

However, when I crossed it was before this latest outbreak of tension, so maybe it's a more hair-raising process now.

[marshall]

3. I crossed at Poipet

We rode a taxi from Siem Reap to Poipet--that was horrible. The road is in extremely poor condition, and we drove almost the entire way on at least one flat tire. There were times when my head was ping-ponging against the roof of the car.

At the border itself the officials were okay, but then some kids were following me and ending up stealing some CD's and DVD's out of my backpack. Luckily they were copies I'd made because I thought better than to travel with the originals, but it was still upsetting to have been robbed.

I was also separated from my mother during the crossing on foot at the border and I didn't find her for two hours. She is 70 years old and I was frantic wondering what had happened to her.

We also crossed by land from Vietnam to Cambodia--another fiasco. It took us and seven or eight Irish men and women longer than expected to get our visas and the bus left without us. It stopped three or four miles down the road for a pre-planned meal stop. Rather than drive the bus back for us the driver's assistant paid some locals to carry us on the back of their mopeds. I don't mind riding a moped but it was all so rushed and frantic and I ended up losing my hat and sunglasses. Those Irish people were amazed that my mother had no problem with the moped--she had been in Saigon for several months and routinely hired a moped taxi rather than a car to run her errands.

[Coventina]

4. Wow! You did have an adventure!

We went by road from Poipet to Battambang, and yes, the roads are pretty bad! We went from Battambang to Siem Reap by boat which was much more pleasant, although the boat broke down at one point, in the middle of nowhere, and it took the crew an hour or so to fix the problem. I had visions of becoming a "castaway" in the wilds of Cambodia!

:-)

But I loved Cambodia, I really did. I would go back in a heartbeat....