Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk dies, aged 89

The National 

Cambodia's former King Norodom Sihanouk - a revered figure in his country - has died aged 89, BBC reported Monday.

He died of a heart attack in China’s capital, Beijing. Sihanouk came to the throne in 1941 and led Cambodia to independence from France in 1953.

Despite long periods of exile and his abdication in 2004 due to ill health, he remained an influential figure.

Sihanouk was born in 1922, the eldest son of King Norodom Suramarit and Queen Kossamak.

Educated at French schools in Saigon and in Paris, the Nazi-controlled Vichy government in France crowned Sihanouk king of Cambodia in 1941, bypassing his father in the hope that the 18-year-old could easily be manipulated.

However, after the war Sihanouk embarked on an international campaign aimed at ensuring independence for Cambodia.

It was achieved without bloodshed in 1953 - after nearly a century of French rule. Two years later Sihanouk abdicated in favour of his father and became both prime minister and foreign minister of his country.

Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge brought death and starvation to millions of Cambodians He tried - but failed - to keep the country from the Cold War conflict that engulfed south-east Asia in the 1970s, striking an ill-fated deal with the emerging Communist force, the Khmer Rouge.

The brutal regime - which ruled the country in 1975-79 - was responsible for one of the worst mass killings of the 20th Century.

It claimed the lives of more than a million people - and some estimates say up to 2.5 million perished.

Sihanouk later condemned the Khmer Rouge for the deaths of the Cambodians, including of his own children.

However, Sihanouk and the Khmer Rouge had a common enemy in the face the Vietnamese-installed government, the BBC’s Jill McGivering says.

When the UN in 1991 persuaded the Vietnamese to withdraw and set Cambodia on the road to democracy, Sihanouk returned again as king.

His role was increasingly as broker between Cambodia’s warring political factions as his health steadily worsened, our correspondent says.

Despite being criticised for being autocratic, volatile and elitist, she adds, for the people of Cambodia he was a much-loved father figure, a rare point of constancy through decades of instability and bloodshed.

forex dara thai

dara thai fore

thai dara

Exclusive New Track from Khmerican artist, Jeff 'JL Jupiter' Lek

Preah Vihear - a matter of shared responsibility

Tuesday, August 02, 2011 3:49 PM

In this photo taken on July 6, 2011, a Cambodian police officer stands near the 11th century Hindu temple of Preah Vihear.

Vitit Muntarbhorn
Bangkok Post

Any discussion of the recent decision of the International Court of Justice on the request for provisional measures concerning a dispute surrounding an ancient temple, which has been a bone of contention between Thailand and Cambodia for ages, is likely to raise emotions and passions in this region.

While some will debate on the question of "who won", "who lost", the preferred way ahead is to aim for greater rationalisation and see the issue as a matter of shared responsibility for all.

The dispute dates back to the World Court's decision in 1962, with the presence of 12 judges voting as follows:

"The Court, by nine votes to three, finds that the Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia;

"Finds in consequence, by nine votes to three, that Thailand is under an obligation to withdraw any military or police forces, or other guards or keepers, stationed by her at the Temple, or in its vicinity on Cambodian territory;

"Finds, by seven votes to five, that Thailand is under an obligation to restore to Cambodia any objects of the kind specified in Cambodia's fifth submission which may, since the date of occupation of the temple by Thailand in 1954, have been removed from the Temple or the Temple area by the Thai authorities."

Basically, the Court repudiated Thailand's claim over the temple. The Court found that the country was "estopped" by its own conduct from rejecting a map dating back to colonial times; the Court viewed this map as indicating that the temple belonged to Cambodia.

In retrospect, it is interesting to note that the Court's decision was three-pronged, as seen in what is known as the three "operative clauses/paragraphs" above. Interestingly, these covered the last three of the five submissions, rather than all five submissions, originally put by Cambodia to the Court and which read as follows:

"May it please the Court:

1. To adjudge and declare that the map in the Dangrek sector (Annex I to the Memorial of Cambodia) was drawn up and published in the name and on behalf of the Mixed Delimitation Commission set up by the Treaty of 13 February 1904, that it sets forth the decisions taken by the said Commission and that, by reason of that fact and also of the subsequent agreements and conduct of the Parties, it presents a treaty character;

2. To adjudge and declare that the frontier line between Cambodia and Thailand, in the disputed region in the neighbourhood of the Temple of Preah Vihear, is that which is marked on the map of the Commission of Delimitation between Indo-China and Siam (Annex I to the Memorial of Cambodia);

3. To adjudge and declare that the Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Cambodia;

4. To adjudge and declare that the Kingdom of Thailand is under an obligation to withdraw the detachments of armed forces it has stationed, since 1954, in Cambodian territory, in the ruins of the Temple of Preah Vihear;

5. To adjudge and declare that the sculptures, stelae, fragments of monuments, sandstone model and ancient pottery which have been removed from the Temple by the Thai authorities since 1954 are to be returned to the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia by the Government of Thailand."

Basically, therefore, the Court's judgement did not delve into the first two submissions of Cambodia. It did not declare that the disputed map established the frontier line between the two countries.

In international law, it is to be noted that in regard to contentious proceedings between states, the World Court has jurisdiction over a dispute only where both parties consent to use the Court; the Court has no power to compel a state to use the Court. Both countries above consented to the Court's jurisdiction in the temple case. However, once consent by a state is given to the Court in regard to a particular case, the Court retains the power to interpret its judgement in regard to that case, even subsequently without a time limit.

This is witnessed by Article 60 of the Court's Statute which provides that "in the event of dispute as to the meaning and scope of the judgement, the Court shall construe it upon the request of any party".

It is thus this context which has led to the recent request by Cambodia to the Court to interpret the 1962 judgement and also to indicate provisional measures, pending the Court's interpretation of that judgement.

The recent case in 2011 related to the provisional measures, while the request for interpretation of the 1962 judgement has yet to be dealt with by the Court. Generally, the Court will only order provisional measures if there is a risk of irreparable harm to one of the parties.

Even though Thailand asked the Court to dismiss the request for provisional measures, the Court proceeded to decide as follows, with 16 judges voting, two of whom were ad hoc judges chosen by the two countries specifically for the case:

"The Court,

(A) Unanimously,

Rejects the Kingdom of Thailand's request to remove the case introduced by the Kingdom of Cambodia on 28 April 2011 from the General List of the Court;

(B) Indicates the following provisional measures:

(1) By eleven votes to five,

Both Parties shall immediately withdraw the military personnel currently present in the provisional demilitarised zone, as defined in paragraph 62 of the present Order, and refrain from any military presence within that zone and from any armed activity directed at that zone;

(2) By fifteen votes to one,

Thailand shall not obstruct Cambodia's free access to the Temple of Preah Vihear or Cambodia's provision of fresh supplies to its non-military personnel in the Temple;

(3) By fifteen votes to one,

Both Parties shall continue the cooperation which they have entered into within Asean and, in particular, allow the observers appointed by that organisation to have access to the provisional demilitarised zone;

(4) By fifteen votes to one,

Both Parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more difficult to resolve;

(C) By fifteen votes to one,

Decides that each Party shall inform the Court as to its compliance with the above provisional measures;

(D) By fifteen votes to one,

Decides that, until the Court has rendered its judgement on the request for interpretation, it shall remain seised of the matters which form the subject of this Order."

The Court thus took a proactive approach in imposing on the parties a map with the provisional demilitarised zone. It also underlined in its reasoning that its orders on provisional measures have binding effect, creating legal obligations. It even cited to support its rationalisation earlier cases decided upon by the Court in regard to disputes between other countries, such as a case between Germany and the United States on access by nationals to consular protection ("Lagrand case") and another case on armed activities between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. However, the Court has no power to sanction against parties that fail to abide by the Court's order. This will depend upon other international channels, particularly the power of the United Nations Security Council.

----------------

Vitit Muntarbhorn is a Professor at the Faculty of Law, Chulalongkorn University. He has helped the UN in a variety of capacities, including as an expert, consultant and Special Rapporteur. All views expressed in this article are personal. This is the first of a two-part article, the second of which will be published tomorrow.

…them dames is sexy as hell

Elly Tran Ha - Vietnamese model pictures

Elly Tran Ha-Vietnamese model pictures

A chance encounter on Facebook reunites two friends ripped apart and long thought dead in the perilous killing fields of war-torn Cambodia

By Jennifer TorresRecord Staff Writer
STOCKTON - The Facebook account was his wife's idea.
"I never thought about it," said William Buth, who teaches math at Cesar Chavez High School. "But my wife thinks that this is a good idea - to share her pictures so that friends and relatives from all over the country can see. ... She explained to me how to open an account, how to set it up."
Earlier this summer, soon after registering, Buth received a message from another Facebook user - someone he didn't recognize at first.
"I did not know what was going on," he said. He ignored it.
But two days later, there was another message: "I'm so sorry, but you look really familiar, like my friend since 1974. Sitha Buth."

It was a name William Buth hadn't used in decades.
The messages had come from Sonan Samreth, who had been Buth's friend when the two were teenage classmates in Cambodia. They were separated when Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge forces took over the country in 1975. Each came to believe the other had died in the subsequent years of forced labor, starvation and execution that killed nearly 2 million Cambodians and sent thousands more fleeing.
"He said my original name," Buth said. "All of a sudden, I was crying. Sitha Buth."
Buth was about 15, and Samreth about 17 when they were students together at Tuol Svay Prey school in Phnom Penh. The Khmer Rouge would eventually convert the campus into a now-infamous prison and torture center.
After graduating, Buth moved with his parents to Battambang in northwestern Cambodia. In the early years of the Pol Pot regime, he said, it was safer than the capital. Still, Buth said Khmer Rouge officials tested him three times, trying to discover whether he could read - citizens who were educated and who were members of the middle and upper classes were targeted for execution.
He held the pages upside-down and pretended confusion.
"We survived during the Pol Pot reign for about three years," Buth said. When the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in late 1978, the family fled to Thailand on foot. It took them 10 days to reach the border.
At a refugee camp in Thailand, Buth's parents bartered what little jewelry they had escaped with to pay for him to take English lessons. "Just enough to learn how to write to the U.S. embassy and beg the embassy to take us to the United States," he said.
Finally, on Dec. 15, 1981, the family landed in San Francisco.
"We had lived just like you would live in the forest," Buth said. "We didn't see any lights for five or six years. Then we saw lights, we saw buildings, and in my mind, I thought, 'I live again now.' "
An uncle brought the family to Stockton, where Buth enrolled at San Joaquin Delta College and later earned a scholarship to attend University of the Pacific. He got married, became a teacher, changed his name.
It was a picture of Sophaline and William Buth on their first wedding anniversary - posted to Sophaline's Facebook profile - that convinced Samreth his old school friend was alive.
"I saw William Buth, but I didn't pay attention," Samreth said. "Then I looked again. He didn't change much. 'Maybe,' I thought. 'Maybe.' "
Buth had been about 16 when Samreth last saw him. Thirty-seven years had passed. "Still, I recognized him," he said. "We studied together, played sports together. A lot of things."
Samreth did not escape Cambodia until 1983.
"My people died," he said. "Most of the people who were educated were killed."
He fled to Thailand and then to Houston, where a brother and sister were living. In 1987, with a wife and young children to support, he moved to Long Beach, where he had heard there were more jobs.
Samreth studied at Long Beach City College and now works as an aviation mechanic. When he joined Facebook this summer, he began seeking out classmates from Tuol Svay Prey.
For the refugees who were scattered across the United States in the years following the Vietnam War, informal word-of-mouth networks and community organizations have offered the best means of finding lost friends and relatives, said Pang Houa Moua of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.
Samreth had tried over the years. "I couldn't find any classmates," he said. "I thank Facebook for the opportunity to find my friend."
Buth froze when he received Samreth's message.
"I've never seen a man cry like that," Sophaline Buth said. She encouraged her husband to contact Samreth.
"No," he said. "I kind of hesitated. It's all too much. ... We never thought he could be alive."
Finally, he responded. "Yes, I'm Sitha Buth."
The men met in Long Beach a few weeks later.
"We spent time just talking about being in class together, and about how things would be in our country if we did not have the war," Buth said. "Everyone in the classroom would have a good job and maybe ... ." His voice tapered. "It's so sad, because all of us, we had no choice. The important thing is that we are here and we never forget the history."
The friends speak weekly over the telephone.
"It's unbelievable," Samreth said. "We talked about the past, the time we studied together, about suffering. Life was full of hardship. We talked about that. He cried. Me too. We were so happy to be together again."

Thai Gripen Starts Operational

18 Maret 2011

Thai Gripen base in Surat Thani, southern Thailand (all photos : SAAB Group)

First Flight for Thai Gripen

The Royal Thai Air Force has now commenced flights from the new Gripen base in Surat Thani in southern Thailand.

The first flight on the morning of 15 March was completed by Squadron Commander Jackkrit Thammavichai, with Claes Wikström from the Swedish Air Force sitting in the rear seat of the Gripen D.

The first flight from the new Gripen base in Surat Thani in southern Thailand was completed by Squadron Commander Jackkrit Thammavichai from the Royal Thai Air Force, and Claes Wikström from the Swedish Air Force. Photo: Swedish Armed Forces.

The first six Gripen C/D fighters arrived to the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) and their new home base at Wing 7 in Surat Thani in southern Thailand on 22 February.

The six Gripen fighters are part of an intergovernmental business transaction where FMV, the Swedish Defence Material Administration, representing the Government of Sweden, supplies an integrated air-defence system based on products manufactured by Saab. The new air-defence system consists of Gripen, the Airborne Early Warning system Saab 340 Erieye AEW and a command & control system.

In preparation for the delivery of the Gripen fighters, pilots and ground crew from the Royal Thai Air Force have been trained in Sweden during 2010.

(SAAB Group)