VZCZCXRO3216
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0840 2841140
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 101140Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9989
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 000840 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, P, D 
NSC FOR L. PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KTIA MOPS TH CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA PREPARING FOR DOWNGRADED THAI VISIT; 
STILL FOCUSED ON BORDER ISSUES 
 
REF: PHNOM PENH 814 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Cambodian officials learned late October 10 that 
the Thai Prime Minister has postponed his official visit to 
Cambodia originally scheduled for October 12-13. 
Nonetheless, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) is 
awaiting the visit of Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign 
Minister Sompong Amornvivat, who was apparently delegated by 
the Thai PM to make the visit. MFA note verbales from the RGC 
announcing official arrival times of the Thai PM's delegation 
had already been issued when the news of the official 
postponement arrived.  The Thai embassy's first secretary had 
just received the word himself and could only speculate that 
internal Thai matters had detained the PM at home. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Senior Minister and RGC Chair of the Joint Border 
Commission Var Kimhong told A/DCM that RGC Deputy Prime 
Minister Hor Namhong would receive his counterpart the 
morning of October 13 and that the RGC planned to raise 
bilateral border issues.  No follow-on meetings had yet been 
planned; Var Kim Hong noted any detailed talks on the 
Thai-Cambodian border would depend on what transpired between 
the two foreign ministers. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The talks come as both sides begin again to ramp 
up troop presence along Cambodia's northern border with 
Thailand in several patches of disputed territory along the 
Dangrek Range.  The most prominent of these disputed areas is 
near to the ancient Khmer Preah Vihear temple awarded to 
Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962 and 
designated a UNESCO World Heritage site last July 7.  A brief 
clash on October 3 and the serious injury of two Thai 
soldiers from mine blasts on October 6 have contributed to 
tensions along the border.  (NOTE:  In 2007, 357 Cambodians 
suffered casualties from mine blasts and the vast majority of 
these occurred in the northwestern and northern provinces 
which were heavily mined by Khmer Rouge forces up until their 
surrender in the Preah Vihear area in 1998.  Tourists to 
Preah Vihear who wander off into the surrounding landscape 
have also suffered mine injuries, due to lack of knowledge by 
RGC authorities of Khmer Rouge mine fields and incomplete 
clearance of old mines.  END NOTE.) 
CAMPBELL