PAD TEMPLE PROTEST WAS BLATANT PROVOCATION

       The government must stop its ally from causing any more trouble at disputed border site The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) should have learnt a lesson after its clash with local residents over the weekend near the disputed temple of Preah Vihear on the Cambodian border. The PAD's protest at the site was wrong. It was no way to protect Thailand's national sovereignty.
       Blood should not be spilled over this stupid demand to have sovereignty over the disputed territory. It remains unclear to which country the temple actually belongs. It is embarrassing to see Thai people fighting each other in this area, even though Thailand and Cambodia are at odds over the historical site.
       The nationalist elements of the PAD made a silly and unnecessarily provocative move to protest at the Pha Mor Ee Daeng site on Saturday and Sunday, demanding the removal of a Cambodian community from the disputed area of 4.6 square kilometres.
       The area adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple is claimed by both Thailand and Cambodia. But the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in 2000 to leave the site free from occupation until the boundary demarcation is finished and agreed upon.
       It is true that Cambodia has built up a settlement, temple and military outpost in the disputed area since 2004. But the PAD should be well aware that the Thai Foreign Ministry has lodged a series of diplomatic protests over the Cambodian construction.
       The Cambodian action might be regarded as a violation of the 2000 memorandum of understanding, but it is wrong for Thai people to try to remove the settlers from the area by force. We must be civilised in solving the problem by negotiation through the proper diplomatic channels.
       Instead of helping to solve the problem, the PAD action has simply made the issue more complicated. The protest degenerated into clashes with local residents in Si Sa Ket's Kanthalalak district, who have lived there for generations.
       Local residents in many sub-districts in the area around Preah Vihear and the Phra Viharn National Park view the PAD protesters as troublemakers. The PAD caused the closure of the temple.
       Many Thai people in the area rely on the Preah Vihear temple for a number of reasons. Some are traders who rely on tourists who visit the World Heritage site; some need to travel through the area to get to their farms; some gather food and other items from the forests; others are relatives of people in the Cambodian community in the disputed area. Sovereignty over the boundary is meaningless for local people. They are able to get on with their daily lives even with the blurred boundary line.
       The clash over the weekend between the local villagers and the PAD protesters, who mostly came from elsewhere, was not the first time that such trouble has flared, but the second. The history of conflict between the two groups began last year when the PAD protested to Cambodia over the World Heritage inscription proposal. The PAD protest forced the authorities in Cambodia to shut Preah Vihear to tourism. The military on both sides have set up security outposts throughout the area, blocking local residents from travelling freely.
       It is understandable that local people blame the PAD for creating trouble. An angry mob attacked PAD protesters in July last year when the PAD rallied at the site shortly after the World Heritage Committee announced Preah Vihear's inscription as a heritage site. Many people were injured in the clashes and ugly pictures were televised as Thais used flagpoles to beat each other.
       Unfortunately, the PAD has not learned a lesson from the bloodshed last year, and has simply repeated the same mistake this year. The thousands of PAD marchers clashed with the same group of villagers in almost exactly same place, Ban Phumsarol. At least five people on both sides were injured this time. The most serious case was an injury to a protester's right eye, and some villagers were reportedly shot at by unknown gunmen.
       Nobody is taking responsibility for the incident, as leaders of both sides have filed lawsuits for criminal damage against each other. Such actions will consequently create more conflict between the two groups of Thais.
       The PAD leader of the demonstration, Veera Somkwamkid, says he will not give up national sovereignty over the disputed territory and will stay the course in the fight. The local residents are unlikely to throw the towel in either. The rift will go on.
       The government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has underestimated the level of conflict between the PAD and the villagers. It made no serious effort to prevent either the protest or the clashes. Minor injuries in Si Sa Ket might mean nothing to those in power who once agreed with this nationalist agenda - especially as a tactic against their political rivals - but people should not be scarified in this unnecessary conflict. Nobody will gain anything from such thoughtlessness.
       Thailand will not benefit from this PAD protest over the boundary demarcation with Cambodia. The government must step in to stop any further provocation by its closest ally before the dispute degenerates into worse bloodshed.