A Case Study of the Preah Vihear Temple Dispute
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Policy options for the management of territorial disputes in South-East Asia: A case study of the Preah Vihear temple dispute A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts and Social Sciences in Public Policy at The University of Waikato by Tharita Sattayarak 2013 Abstract The stability of the Southeast Asian region has been affected by a number of unresolved territorial and maritime disputes because most parts of the region were not demarcated after the colonial period. Overlapping claims have led to disputes among ASEAN members for the rightful ownership of those areas. ASEAN, however, does not have the power to resolve disputes among its members or between its members and outsiders. The International Court of Justice (or the ICJ) has played an important role in ending long-standing disputes in the region; the ICJ‟s judgements have normally been accepted. Thailand, which is an ASEAN member, has faced both territorial disputes due to the European colonists‟ treaties over boundary agreements with its neighbouring states as well as maritime disputes due to the announcement of the 1983 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), particularly in the Gulf of Thailand. It seems to be easier to reach an agreement on the overlapping claims in the Gulf of Thailand than to settle disputes over land. Sharing the benefits of fisheries, oil and gas have contributed to Thailand and some claimants reaching an agreement by peaceful means. Territorial disputes are more complicated and sensitive than the maritime ones because they include strategic, ethnic and economic values, thus they are more likely to result in the use of military force which greatly harms the stability and peace of the region. Thailand has had many territorial disputes with its neighbours such as Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia and, particularly, with Cambodia. The rivalry between Thailand and Cambodia has existed since ancient times. One of the most important territorial disputes between the two nations is the territorial dispute over the sovereignty of the Preah Vihear temple which was awarded to Cambodia in 1962 by the ICJ. However, the 4.6 sq km area surrounding the temple has not yet been demarcated by the ICJ, thus the territorial dispute over the temple‟s surrounding area occurred in 2008, and it was seen to be one of the bloodiest disputes in the region. The dispute has not yet ended. The ICJ has finally become involved and Thailand and Cambodia still need to provide evidence to the Court ii in 2013 to claim their rights over the disputed area. This dispute has caused ASEAN to become more concerned about its role and power to maintain peace in the region. ASEAN in the future must have more power to control such a situation so that it does not escalate into the use of military force among its members. This can prevent outsiders‟ involvement and also improve trust among member states as well. iii Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Mark Rolls, whose advice and support has guided me to complete this thesis. Your knowledge and experience has encouraged and helped to push me to complete my study. My sincere thanks to all those in the Department of Political Science and Public Policy, particularly Tutoring Assistants for International Students, Sheeba Devan-Rolls, who always gave me advice and help with my academic writing. I have greatly appreciated your assistance. I would like to thank the University of Waikato in providing necessary materials and information for my Master‟s and an opportunity to gain a great experience of New Zealand life and study. I could never have completed this study without big support of my father Chumpol. Thank you for your love, your advice, your encouragement, and the opportunities that you gave me to study in New Zealand. Thank you for believing in me. iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................ iv Table of Contents ................................................................................................ v List of Figures ................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ....................................................................................................... ix List of Abbreviations …………………………………………………………... x Chapter 1 Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 1.1 Context ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Purpose ................................................................................................. 5 1.3 Research methodology ......................................................................... 5 1.4 Outline .................................................................................................. 6 Chapter 2 Literature Review: Explaining disputes over territory and peaceful attempts to resolve territorial disputes ……………………………... 8 2.1 The development of territory and its meanings ……………………… 8 2.2 A realistic distinction between the two categories of disputes: a boundary dispute and a territorial dispute ………………………...……... 9 2.3 Explaining territorial disputes ……………………………................ 11 2.3.1 Power-political explanations …………………..…………. 12 2.3.2 Normative explanations ……………………..…………… 13 2.4 The development of a dispute over territory into militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) and war ….……………………………………………. 15 v 2.4.1 Territory and the onset of war ……………………………. 15 2.4.2 Territorial disputes and other types of disputes ………….. 16 2.4.3 The main factors explaining the emergence of territorial MIDs …………………………………………………………… 17 2.5 Resolution of a territorial dispute: Peaceful Resolution of Disputes (PRD) methods ……………………….………………………………… 20 2.5.1 Scholars‟ research on territorial PRD methods …………... 25 2.6 Conclusion …………………………………………………….......... 31 Chapter 3 Territorial disputes in Southeast Asia: Unresolved territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea and other resolved cases ……… 33 3.1 Introduction ………………………….……………………………... 33 3.2 An overview of territorial and maritime disputes in Southeast Asia …… ……………………………………………………………... 34 3.3 Territorial and maritime disputes over the Spratly and Paracel Islands ………………………………………………………………….. 39 3.4 Suggested solutions for resolving territorial and maritime disputes over the Spratly and the Paracel Islands …………….………………………. 49 3.5 Resolved territorial and maritime disputes in Southeast Asia; Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan between Malaysia and Indonesia, and Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh between Malaysia and Singapore .…………... 62 3.5.1 The territorial and maritime dispute over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan between Malaysia and Indonesia ………………. 63 3.5.2 The territorial and maritime dispute over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh between Malaysia and Singapore …… 68 3.6 Conclusion ………………………………………...………………... 72 vi Chapter 4 Thailand’s territorial and maritime disputes with other Southeast Asian states ………………………..………………………..…………………. 74 4.1 Introduction ……………………………………….………….…….. 74 4.2 Thailand and its territorial and maritime boundary disputes in the Southeast Asian region ……………………………………….………… 76 4.3 Thailand‟s maritime disputes in the Gulf of Thailand …….……….. 77 4.3.1 Thailand‟s claim in the Gulf of Thailand ….……………... 80 4.3.2 Thailand‟s territorial disputes along its borders ..………… 90 4.4 Conclusion ………………………………………………………….. 95 Chapter 5 A case study of the territorial dispute over sovereignty of the Preah Vihear temple and its surrounding area between Thailand and Cambodia ……………………………..……………………………………….. 96 5.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………… 96 5.2 The territorial dispute over sovereignty of the Preah Vihear temple between Thailand and Cambodia in the 1950s and the 1962 ICJ‟s decision ……………………………………………………………….. 100 5.2.1 Thai-Cambodian relations before the colonial period.…... 100 5.2.2 Thailand-Cambodia relations during the colonial period and the territorial dispute over sovereignty of the Preah Vihear temple …………………………………………………………. 104 5.3 The re-emergence of the territorial dispute over sovereignty of the Preah Vihear temple and its surrounding area from 2008 to 2011 ..….. 114 5.4 Discussion ………………………………………..……………….. 129 5.5 Conclusion ……………………………………...………………… 136 Chapter 6 Conclusion …………………………………….…………………. 138 References ……………………………………………………...……………...145 vii List of Figures Figure 3.1 U-shaped line map claimed by the PRC ………………………. 43 Figure 4.1 Map of overlapping claims in the Gulf of Thailand