Thailand, Cambodia to solve border dispute through GBC: Thai defence minister

PHNOM PENH, Sept 24 (MCOT) - Thai Defence Minister Gen Yutthasak Sasiprapa said Thailand and Cambodia agreed to solve its prolonged border dispute through the existing framework and that the Thai government is prepared to seek the release of two Thai activists now detained in Cambodian jail on charges of espionage. The Thai defence minister made his remarks as he returned from the visit to the neighbouring country on Friday and met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Cambodian counterpart Gen Tea Banh to boost bilateral ties between the two kingdoms. Gen Yutthasak said both countries will plan to hold talks on the arrangements for the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) upcoming meeting. The Committee from both sides will lay out the agenda and the framework of...

Read more »

Posted in: news

China boasting lack of ASEAN concensus to confront China?

ASEAN's united front against China does not exist September 26, 2011 Global Times (China) The Philippines convened a regional meeting Thursday in Manila, pushing ASEAN countries to form a united front against China over the disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Philippines has lost its cool over the territorial disputes. It clamors for a united ASEAN front to blunt China, which appears to be a diplomatic illusion. On significant issues concerning territory and sovereignty, China will not scale back its claims and submit to external pressure. During the meeting, maritime legal experts neither endorsed the plan for joint South China Sea development, nor confirmed the legal basis for the Philippine proposal. Two ASEAN members, Cambodia and Laos, did not even send delegates to...

Read more »

Posted in: International News

Director Sees Potential in Wide Range of Cambodian Art

Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer | Washington Suon Bunrith,...

Read more »

Posted in: news

Trouble Brewing in Thailand?

By Tim LaRocco With news breaking this week that a Cambodian solider was killed on the border with Thailand, the site of a dispute that was recently adjudicated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), it’s worth looking at how serious this development could turn out to be. The Phnom Penh Post reported that Cambodian military officials claimed that Thai soldiers initiated the hostilities from their side of the border: ‘Pok Sophal, a Royal Cambodian Armed Forces commander for Oddar Meanchey’s Trapaing Prasat district, about 100 kilometres from the Preah Vihear temple, claimed that Thai soldiers had opened fire on the soldiers. ‘”We had an appointment for the meeting (between...

Read more »

Posted in: news

Police identify brokers

Monday, 15 August 2011 15:02 Sen David Photo by: Meng Kimlong Migrant worker Nouv Vuthy (left), 21, holds hands with his mother on returning to Cambodia from Malaysia last month after escaping from a fishing vessel. Police say they have discovered the identities of all the brokers responsible for the trafficking of seven Cambod-ian men, who were forced into slave labour aboard Thai fishing boats.Last week, police revealed they had made one arrest and were tracking three more suspects following the return of the fishermen to the Kingdom on July 29.The victims were rescued in May and early June during raids carried out on a plywood factory in Malaysia after they swam to shore to escape the boats. They described...

Read more »

Posted in: news

Yingluck: No plan to get Thaksin a new passport

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday that giving a diplomatic passport back to her brother, fugitive ex-premier Thaksin, was not one of her government's plans. Yingluck said that she would not get involved in the process and the matter would depend on Foreign Ministry regulations and procedures. Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul yesterday dismissed media reports that the government planned to reissue a diplomatic passport to Thaksin, because he was a former prime minister. The new foreign minister said he had not investigated the feasibility of reinstating a "red passport" or diplomatic passport to the former premier, as he had not officially startedwork at the ministry....

Read more »

Posted in: news

Children step in to cover for Indian priest shortage

By Zubair Ahmed BBC News, Mumbai Some 700 children are training to be priestsIn a crowded neighbourhood building in the western Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay), 30-odd teenagers are chanting Hindu scriptures and singing religious songs. These children, along with several hundred others, are training in batches to become priests for the city's biggest religious festival. The 10-day Ganesh Utsav - when the elephant god is worshipped - begins this month and there are not enough priests available to handle the rush of ceremonies: More than 12,000 in different neighbourhoods, and several...

Read more »

Posted in: news