Ex-navy chief of staff wants Thailand to reject Cambodia’s UNCLOS proposal

Former navy chief-of-staff Admiral Pallop Tameesanont has suggested that the Thai government opposes Cambodia’s proposal to seek United Nations’ intervention their maritime dispute via the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) framework.

In his Facebook post today, Admiral Pallop said the UNCLOS approach will pave the way for the international organisation to “dictate” Thai territorial sovereignty issues, noting that Cambodia’s proposal represents the start of a process of compulsory conciliation that should be rejected by Thailand in the first place.

He said that, even though the compulsory conciliation process is not legally binding on the parties in dispute, it may open a channel for the establishment of a conciliation committee, which would consider the maritime dispute and make recommendations on the sharing of the maritime territory even without the participation of Thailand.

Admiral Pallop pointed out that the disputed maritime area does not only cover the international shelf and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but also concerns some maritime areas which are already under Thai sovereignty.

He further noted that, even though Thailand and Cambodia have been in conflict over the overlapping maritime area since 1972, the two countries have managed to co-exist.

He suggested that the Thai government negotiates directly with Cambodia on the maritime dispute.

Meanwhile, it is reported that Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said in Paris that Cambodia’s proposal for UNCLOS to settle the maritime dispute with Thailand will not help address the problem efficiently.

He said Thailand wants a new round of talks with Cambodia to settle their conflict and has no intention whatsoever of avoiding international obligations, as claimed by Cambodia.