[Thai] PM backs withdrawal from WHC

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has defended the decision to withdraw Thailand from Unesco's World Heritage Convention, saying its approval of Cambodia's management plan for Preah Vihear temple would put the country at a disadvantage.

At a press conference yesterday, Mr Abhisit said a draft agreement on the management plan proposed by the convention, which sets the criteria for Unesco's list of the world's most important cultural and natural assets, contained some wording from the Cambodian version of the draft.

He said some sensitive words - "restoration" and "repair" - from the Phnom Penh version of the draft had been interpolated into the draft. Such wording could put Thailand at risk of losing territory, he said, because they could be interpreted as apportioning blame for damage to the temple.

Thailand has found the draft unacceptable, prompting it to withdraw from the WHC, Mr Abhisit said.

However, after Thailand withdrew from the convention, the World Heritage Committee meeting was still to proceed with consideration of the management plan.

Mr Abhisit said the decision to withdraw by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, who led the Thai delegation at the Paris meeting, was in line with a cabinet resolution.

Mr Abhisit said the decision was reached after Mr Suwit had raised the issue with him in a telephone conversation on Saturday night.

Mr Abhisit said even though the objectionable phrasing was removed after Mr Suwit walked out, it would have no effect on Thailand's decision, as the draft had yet to be discussed at the full meeting.

Instead it would be left to the next government to follow up with the procedures to formally withdraw from the WHC.

Mr Abhisit insisted any restoration work on the Hindu temple must receive consent from Thailand and that Cambodia must pull troops from the area.

Mr Suwit said the decision to withdraw from the WHC was the right move and was intended to protect Thailand's sovereignty.

Mr Suwit said he had found the WHC's stance on Preah Vihear unacceptable.

Thai people should not be worried about renewed border tensions after the withdrawal, Mr Suwit said, adding that Thailand could always re-apply for membership of the WHC.

The WHC, after hearing from both sides in the dispute, proposed its own draft despite both delegations adjusting their submissions four times over two days.

The WHC's draft follows Thailand's draft in that it proposes to delay a decision on Cambodia's Preah Vihear management plan, but it contained sensitive words like "restoration" and "repair" of the temple, which Thailand worries could cause problems in interpretation.

Thai officials said restoration or repairs could threaten Thai sovereignty as such work may require using territory in the disputed area which Thailand claims. Thailand prefers the draft to use the words "protection" and "conservation".

Members of the Pheu Thai Party yesterday slammed the government's decision to withdraw from the WHC.

Yingluck Shinawatra, the party's top list candidate, said the issue was sensitive and the government should have been more careful. The decision to withdraw from the WHC could affect other World Heritage sites in the country, she said.

Noppadon Pattama, a legal adviser to fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, accused the government of failing to lobby other nations to support it.

Withdrawal will be a blow as Thailand will no longer be able to push for other historic and natural sites to be listed as World Heritage sites, he said.

Chaiwuth Thepho, an academic from Chalermkanjana College in Si Sa Ket, said most of the 74 members of the WHC showed an inclination to support Cambodia. Many of them did not have first-hand information of what actually happened on the disputed border areas.

Col Prawit Hukaew, a spokesman for the 2nd Army, said the situation on the border was normal and there had been no troop reinforcement.

A government source said last night Thailand now would not be able to apply to host next year's WHC meeting.