Anutin says Cabinet approves abrogation of MOU44

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the Cabinet today approved the abrogation of the memorandum of understanding signed with Cambodia in 2001 to settle their overlapping maritime claims.

He said the negotiations under the document, known as MOU44, over the past 25 years have produced no headway.

He said future negotiations with Cambodia will be conducted in the frameworks of international laws, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Anutin said Cambodia will be formally notified of Thailand’s decision to revoke the MOU.

"Cancelling the deal is not related to the border conflict with Cambodia, but part of my policy. It has been 25 years and there has been no progress,” said Anutin.

Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn expressed regret over the termination and said Phnom Penh "has no option" but to settle the boundary issue under processes outlined in UNCLOS.

Thailand and Cambodia are both signatories to UNCLOS. Cambodia signed the document in July 1983 but did not ratify it until January this year.

Thailand ratified the treaty in 2011. Known as “the constitution of the oceans,” UNCLOS is the comprehensive international treaty establishing the legal framework for all ocean space, activities, and resources.

The Thai Foreign Ministry has admitted that Cambodia’s ratification of the treaty provided Thailand with an impetus to abrogate the MOU.

“Now, we are going to adhere to the same set of principles in negotiating our maritime boundaries and resources,” Director General of the Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs Benjamin Sukanjanajtee said in a media briefing at the Foreign Ministry last week.

“We believe it’s in Thailand’s best interest to terminate MOU44 so that we can start anew based on the framework of UNCLOS,” said Benjamin.

Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkow last week informed his Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhonn of Thailand’s decision to withdraw from the treaty.

MOU44 provides a framework for the negotiations for the delimitation of the maritime boundary and joint development of hydrocarbon resources in the Gulf of Thailand. However, the negotiations have been bogged down by deteriorating relations between the two countries which escalated into bloody border skirmishes last year before a ceasefire was reached.

Benjamin noted that in previous negotiations Cambodia seemed to be more preoccupied with discussing exploitation of the undersea resources than about boundary demarcation. This has led to stalled negotiations and heightened territorial tensions between the two countries.