Five Proposed Conditions for Bilateral Talks with Thailand

Youk Chhang has suggested conditions for talks with Thailand. Supplied

#Opinion

In my humble opinion, here are five conditions to enter “bilateral talks” with Thailand:

1. Thailand must recognise in writing the terms of the prior ceasefire agreement as a non-negotiable baseline, and the entirety of these agreements are made public;

2. ⁠A demonstration of good faith, such as release of Cambodian soldiers to remedy violations of prior ceasefire agreements.

3. ⁠Insist on detailed, written public commitments from bilateral negotiations (nothing should be secret);

4. ⁠Acceptance of a joint monitoring body composed of parties, plus neutral third parties, which have the authority to investigate incidents of noncompliance, publish findings and recommend corrective measures;

5. ⁠Nothing in the negotiations or any outputs will reflect Cambodia’s waiver of rights or claims, including recognition of international cases, and the right to bring suit against Thailand;

If the Cambodia delegation has certain issues they want, they can put down the relevant human rights laws or conventions as additional “non-negotiable baselines”.

Frankly, I don’t think the Thai military wants this. I am serious about the Thai military seeing Cambodia as a country that is ripe for conquest. Maybe not occupation, but destruction of the state!

Youk Chhang is director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam).

-The Phnom Penh Post-