Thailand not to engage in Cambodia’s new ICJ border dispute case as it reaches the Court

Thailand has officially expressed the country’s position, adhering to existing bilateral mechanisms, including the JBC, while rejecting the ICJ’s jurisdiction as it has always done since 1960. Cambodia, meanwhile, has not backed down from its intention and handed over its submission of the case to the ICJ today

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs today has issued a statement expressing the country’s official position in response to Cambodia’s submission of a letter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) related to the border disputes in four areas of the Emerald Triangle (Mom Bei), Ta Moan Thom, Ta Moan Tauch and Ta Krabei temples. 

According to the statement, Thailand has not accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice since 1960, and this is a position that 118 other Member States of the United Nations have also taken.

The statement further notes that Thailand reaffirms its strong commitment to the peaceful settlement of international disputes, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law. 

Thailand’s decision not to accept the ICJ’s compulsory jurisdiction reflects Thailand’s considered position that “any means to resolve differences between States must be exercised with due regard to the specific context of each matter, the nature of the situation, and the sovereign interests at stake”.

“Thailand is of the view that recourse to a third party may not always be conducive to the preservation of amicable relations among States, particularly in sensitive matters involving complex historical, territorial, or political dimensions. Instead, Thailand supports a flexible, consent-based approach to resolving any differences, which allows States to engage constructively in accordance with their specific circumstances and mutual interests,” reads the statement.

According to the statement, the country reaffirms its position, as stated on many occasions, that current boundary issues should be addressed through the existing bilateral mechanisms in place, among others, the JBC, RBC and GBC, as well as other bilateral forums.

The statement also addresses its regrets towards the recent decision made by Cambodia at the JBC meeting (Read: JBC wrapped without discussions over ongoing border dispute/ MFA’s reversed reaction following Cambodia’s alleged false post-meeting statement)

It says: “Thailand regrets that, despite the close relations between Thailand and Cambodia, both at the Leaders and people-to-people levels, Thailand and Cambodia have not thoroughly discussed our differences regarding the areas in question at appropriate bilateral meetings.”

Team Thailand

Early in the day, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called for a meeting with high-ranking national security officials to assess the outcomes of the JBC meeting held in Phnom Penh over the weekend and Cambodia’s decision to submit the case to the Court.

At the press interview and in her FB posts, she held a stronger stance against the mounting pressure imposed by Cambodia, reiterating that Thailand will not accept the ICJ’s jurisdiction as it has always done since 1960 and will not enter legal procedures of the Court because the government trusts in bilateral mechanisms and genuine intentions of the two countries; that these will help resolve the issues they have efficiently and successfully.

The government has appointed a new ad-hoc panel called Team Thailand and chaired by the Deputy Minister of Defence, to take care of the issue in all dimensions, from litigation to communication, she said.

PM Paetongtarn also rebuked Cambodia’s former PM Hun Sen and PM Hun Manet for instigating chaos by communicating through social media platforms that she views as “informal”. This practice, she said, is not professional and has caused negative outcomes to both countries. Thailand has refrained from communicating informally in public because it respects bilateral talks and never provoked public sentiments through such an approach, she said.

She said she will no longer allow anyone to bully, slander, or threaten the country, as Thailand has its dignity and integrity. It’s also a country with strength, she said.

“We will let people know (by our mature practices) that anyone who disrespects the rules will never be accepted by the international community,” said PM Paetongtarn, adding that she has just finished her discussions with Cambodia’s PM and proposed him to engage in other bilateral mechanisms including the Regional Border Committee (RBC) or the General Border Committee (GBC) to settle military confrontations.

FMA’s Director-General of Treaties and Legal Affairs, Benjamin Sukanjanajtee, said so far Thailand has not received any confirmation from Cambodia or the Court about the submission of the case yet, so the ministry has not learned much about the details of the complaint and the legal bases Cambodia uses to file the case.

However, the ministry’s legal team is now studying all legal aspects and scenarios to prepare itself to deal with the case. Principally, he noted, a complaint could be forwarded to the Court only when the two sides accept the Court’s jurisdiction, which is not the case for Thailand.

The Court, he added, normally considers a case by taking into account the specific context of a matter, the nature of the situation, and the sovereign interests at stake, and as such bilateral talks often comes as decided interventions. 

He said the 2000 MOU, under which the JBC is its key mechanism, clearly addresses in its Section 8 that any disputes between the two countries shall be consulted with and resolved by both countries. Cambodia has just skipped steps, he added.

“We still have an effective means to solve our disputes, so we should rather go back to it,” said Mr. Benjamin.

Dispute hand-over

Cambodia, meanwhile, has not backed down from its proposal. PM Hun Manet posted on his Facebook page again this afternoon, revealing that Cambodia’s Ambassador to the Embassy responsible for the Netherlands has travelled to the Hague and handed over the country’s official submission letter of the case to the ICJ. 

PM Hun Manet said his Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Prak Sokhun, reported to him that at 11:30 am in the Hague or around 4:30 pm in Phnom Penh time, Cambodia’s official letter to the ICJ was handed over by Ambassador of Cambodia to the Netherlands, Kim Sour Sovannary, to the ICJ’s Registar, Philippe Gautier. 

PM Hun Manet said Cambodia does not back down from using the legal mechanism through the ICJ to seek solutions to the Cambodia-Thai border issues in Taman Thom Temple, Taman Toch Temple, Tak Krobey Temple and Mumbai areas. 

“The government will continue to do this with commitment and high responsibility to protect the sovereignty of the land, as well as the national interests and the Khmer people,” said PM Hun Manet.

Background: The tensions

Tensions in the areas erupted following a military clash on May 28, when the two sides exchanged fire near the Emerald Triangle (Mum Bei area in Cambodia), resulting in one Cambodian military officer’s death.

The issue has been re-ignited in Cambodia by the Cambodian leaders, including former PM Hun Sen, now Cambodia’s Senate President. 

According to Thailand’s military, Cambodian troops in the areas have made unusual moves since early this year, including building a trench in the areas claimed by both countries following their use of different maps.

Cambodia sticks to the 1 : 200,000 map produced under the Franco-Siamese treaties of 1904 and 1907, upon which Thailand claims that it’s not in line with the international watershed divide principle. Thailand uses the 1 : 50,000 map, which adheres to the watershed divide principle addressed under the two treaties.

The Thai Sala Tri Mook pavilion, built by Thai architects at the Triangle, had also been burned down earlier. Some senior Thai military officers have also revealed that the Cambodian troops have violated the 2000 MOU over 400 times since it was enacted.

As the issue has escalated and the National Security Council (NSC) decided to impose the border control measures on June 7, one day later, on June 8, Cambodian authorities reached out to propose coordinated troop “repositioning” near those sensitive areas.

But on June 12, ahead of the JBC meeting, PM Hun Manet announced new countermeasures against what he called “a lot of news circulating on social media recently involving threats by some Thai extremist groups to cut electricity and internet to Cambodia”. Those include stopping the purchase of electricity and internet from Thailand. The Cambodian government has also called on Cambodian labourers to return to Cambodia from Thailand, without Thailand forcing them to return home.