BANGKOK, Oct 21 — Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow has voiced optimism that the latest meetings of the General Border Committee (GBC) and Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) will yield meaningful progress in resolving outstanding boundary issues with Cambodia.
Discussions under both mechanisms are expected to proceed smoothly, with the JBC special session in Chanthaburi province starting today and the GBC meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday (October 23) likely to produce detailed work plans and consensus on key boundary matters.
He said the GBC discussions concerning the joint declaration on Thailand-Cambodia relations, to be signed on the sidelines of the 47th Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur, are also proceeding as planned.
“We are confident that comprehensive work plans can be finalised and that both sides will be able to hold constructive discussions and reach agreements,” Sihasak told the press after the Cabinet meeting at the Government House today.
Meanwhile, former Thai ambassador to Phnom Penh Prasas Prasasvinitchai and Cambodia's State Secretariat of Border Affairs Minister Lam Chea co-chaired the Special Meeting of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary today.
Both sides also reviewed the 2003 Terms of Reference (TOR) concerning the production of orthophotomaps using LiDAR technology, and identified priority areas for boundary demarcation where agreement has already been reached.
Tensions between the two neighbours over their 817-kilometre border escalated into a military confrontation in late July. Hostilities ceased following a ceasefire agreement brokered by Malaysia, in its capacity as Asean chair, in Putrajaya on July 28.
