On 9 February 2011, Mr. Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, informed the media about the telephone conversation between Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on 8 February 2011.  Gist as follows:

1. Prime Minister Abhisit informed the UN Secretary-General that Thailand had exercised maximum restraint in its negotiations with Cambodia. The recent border incident started as Cambodia had opened fire at a Thai military post, which compelled the Thai side to respond in a proportional manner. He reaffirmed that Thailand had never targeted Cambodian civilian areas.  On the contrary, more than 16,000 Thai civilians residing in Si Sa Ket Province had to evacuate from the area. This demonstrated that Cambodia did not only attack military targets.

2. The Thai Prime Minister asked the United Nations Secretary-General to reconsider the work by UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee regarding the inscription of the Temple of Phra Viharn as a World Heritage site.  It was evident from the recent incident that the inscription of the Temple of Phra Viharn was the root cause of the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia.  To insist on moving forward with the matter would lead to further tension as had happened with the latest clashes between the two troops and the fact that Cambodia had used the Temple of Phra Viharn as a military base to fire upon Thai troops. This should therefore be considered seriously by the UN.  In this connection, the UN Secretary General agreed to discuss further with the Director-General of UNESCO to find ways to resolve the issue.

3. Prime Minister Abhisit informed the UN Secretary-General that in addition to having discussions with Mr. Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia, Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, also met with Mr. Marty M. Natalegawa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, as the current Chair of ASEAN, with a view to finding solutions to the current border issue between Thailand and Cambodia, with ASEAN extending support to the two countries to resolve their differences bilaterally and peacefully. In this regard, the UN Secretary-General would further convey this information to the President of the UN Security Council.

     In addition, the Secretary to the Thai Foreign Minister stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would send a delegation, led by former Ambassador Asda Chaiyanam, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister, who concurrently serves as the Thai Chair of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC), to meet with the Director-General of UNESCO in Paris.  The delegation would explain the consequences of the attempt to push forward with the inscription of the Temple Phra Viharn as a World Heritage site while territorial claims around the area remain in dispute, as it could escalate further the already contentious situation.  Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Kasit would be traveling to New York to brief the UNSC on the current situation along the Thai-Cambodian border.  This would be an opportunity to inform UNSC members and would not imply that the UNSC would intervene in the ongoing bilateral-level discussion between Thailand and Cambodia.

     At the same time, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs would also send delegations to meet with the 21 member states of the World Heritage Committee and explain that Thailand has no intention to obstruct the work of the Committee but that it wishes to see the Committee’s work going forward in a fair and proper manner.

     Mr. Chavanond also informed the press that Foreign Minister Kasit had entrusted him to communicate to the public and the Cambodian side that the Royal Thai Government had had no intention of initiating any clash along the Thai-Cambodian border, and as the incident occurred, Thailand would continue to exercise utmost restraint and remain determined to resolve the problem through peaceful means with a view to returning peace and normalcy to the concerned areas. Furthermore, Thailand hoped that both sides would be able to resolve the situation through dialogue and negotiations so that both countries and peoples could live together in peace and shared prosperity.

     The Secretary to the Foreign Minister added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would dispatch an official to Kantharalak District, Si Sa Ket Province to provide support for the Royal Thai Army as well as coordinate and share information with relevant agencies.