BANGKOK: The Thai Foreign Ministry clarified on Thursday (Feb 8) that the upcoming talks to jointly explore gas and oil in the overlapping claims area (OCA) in the Gulf of Thailand between Thailand and Cambodia must take place along with boundary demarcation talks.
Chatchai Viriyavejkul, director-general of the ministry’s East Asian Affairs Department, said that energy cooperation talks could not be separated from the boundary negotiations.
Earlier, the Thai Energy Ministry had proposed that the talks on joint exploration of oil and gas resources in the OCA in the Gulf of Thailand should be separated from boundary talks fearing the latter would bog down the progress of cooperation in energy exploration.
But Chatchai said on Thursday that Prime Srettha Thavisin and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet agreed not to separate the boundary disputes from the joint energy exploration.
Chatchai noted that the two prime ministers signed five memorandums of understanding when the Cambodian prime minister visited Thailand on Wednesday to tighten ties and cooperation and one of the MoUs was aimed at upgrading the bilateral ties to a strategic partnership.
Chatchai said the two leaders agreed not to use the term “dispute” in future talks but would opt to use the term “cooperation” instead.
According to Chatchai, the two prime ministers agreed to resume boundary talks in accordance with the Thai-Cambodian 2001 MoU on the OCA, which was signed by the Thaksin Shinawatra government.
The OCA is a 27,000-square-kilometre section of the Gulf of Thailand believed to hold significant reserves of oil and gas.
Energy, boundary talks with Cambodia to go together: Thai Foreign MinistryA maritime boundary dispute, stemming from differing interpretations of a 1907 treaty, prevented exploration and development in the area.
The 2001 MoU was signed by Thailand and Cambodia to establish a framework for joint development of the OCA.
The MoU also aimed to resolve the dispute through cooperation and shared benefits.
The negotiations based on the MoU have made little progress due to political tensions between the two neighbouring countries and mainly due to disagreements on land border demarcations, particularly around the Preah Vihear temple.
In 2009, the Thai Cabinet resolved to scrap the MoU but later reversed its decision.
On Wednesday, the two prime ministers agreed in principle to set up a joint technical team for exploration of the OCA soon. - The Nation/ANN
