The scrap of land on which our future lies Over a hundred years ago, Thailand was forced to demarcate itsborders with two imperial powers, Britain (which ruled Burma andMalaya) and France, which had colonised Indo-China, includingCambodia.
Some maps helping define the borders between Thailand and statesunder protection of those imperial countries were drawn up.However, these were not officially accepted by Bangkok, especiallythose covering the border between Thailand and Cambodia.
While Cambodia continues to use the French maps, Thailand has itsown versions and has used them as its border references. Andbecause they use different maps, the two countries claim differentborderlines.
Along the 800km territorial border between Thailand and Cambodia,there are at least 15 areas awaiting agreement from both sides.
But the issue does not stop there.
According to Vice-Admiral Pratheep, the border line was drawn downto the sea. From the 73rd kilometre territorial border peg in thedistrict of Khlong Yai, in Trat province, France had drawn theboundary line cutting through part of Thailand's Kud island, whileThailand drew a different line close to Cambodia's Kong island.
This resulted in the different marine maps showing different seaboundaries. Typically, a marine border extends out 12 nauticalmiles, or about 22km, from a country's coastline.
The sea territorial boundaries play a crucial role in determiningexclusive economic zones, where countries can claim naturalresources, including those under the seabed.
Exclusive economic zones usually extend out to 200 nautical miles,Vice-Admiral Pratheep said. Because the two countries claimconflicting territorial boundaries, their claimed economic zones inthe Gulf overlap by about 20,000 sq km.
Besides marine resources, those problematic zones also house hugepetroleum deposits, which both countries thirst for, he said.
So, if the French-drawn maps were accepted, much of the areacontaining oil and gas deposits would go to Cambodia, Vice-AdmiralPratheep said.
"What is foreseeable is that the disputed territorial areas on landcan be a model for the overlapping sea boundaries, because they arebased on the same French mapping principle.
"The problem comes from the same root, which is mapping based onunequal treatment by powerful countries in the past," he said.
Over the past few weeks, Vice-Admiral Pratheep has teamed up withother senior officers, including Gen Pathompong Kesornsuk, toawaken the public to the implications that the loss of the 4.6 sqkm of overlapping land near Preah Vihear would have on theoverlapping sea territory.
Gen Pathompong, who is a chief adviser to the Supreme Command,previously raised his concerns about the ramifications of theFrench maps, writing letters to high-ranking military officials, aswell as Privy Council president Gen Prem Tinsulanonda.
The general cited the lack of continuity and integration of work byThai officials, from policymakers to officials at implementationlevels.
Thailand and Cambodia formed the Joint Technical Committee in 2001to work on the matter, but little information has been released,triggering suspicions of conflicts of interest by the politiciansinvolved.
According to Vice-Admiral Pratheep and reports from Cambodia, theCambodian government has already granted permission to some US oilcompanies to explore petroleum resources in the disputed waters.
In November 8 last year, Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sok An,who is chairman of the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority(CNPA), declared a "breakthrough" regarding the petroleumexploration by Chevron Overseas Petroleum (Cambodia) Ltd, whichobtained permission from Cambodia to explore petroleum resources in2002.
The speech delivered by Mr Sok An that day noted that Chevron haddrilled up to 15 wells in Block A, which covers about 6,200 sq kmand is around 200km off the coast of Cambodia.
The company has found some evidence of oil deposits.
The CNPA now has other petroleum agreements signed with variouscompanies for six offshore blocks.
Mr Sok An's speech further noted, "We remain committed to resolvingthe matter of the Overlapping Claims Area in the Gulf of Thailandwith the Royal Government of Thailand.
'The overlapping area covers around 27,000 sq km that is thought tobe highly prospective for petroleum accumulations."
