Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia

World Association for Triple Helix and Future Strategy Studies (세계트리플헬릭스미래전략학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Coping with Violence in the Thai-Cambodian Border: The Silence of the Border

  • von Feigenblatt, Otto F. (Political Science at Millenia Atlantic University)
  • Published : 2011.10.31
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The recent listing of Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage Site has awakened a longtime simmering border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over a few square kilometers surrounding the ancient Khmer Temple. While the listing of the site by UNESCO was expected to revive the economy of the impoverished border towns near the temple due to the increased tourism and funding for the preservation of the archeological site, it has had the opposite effect due to the sharp increase in violent conflict carried out by the armed forces and nationalist activists from both sides. Military skirmishes and violent protests have brought the local economy to a halt in addition to causing considerable physical damage to the local infrastructure and to the local transnational network of ethnic Kui, local business owners, Khmer and Thai villagers. This paper shows how the dispute is viewed and undertaken by three distinct communities involved in the conflict, the militaries, the metropolitan political elites and activists, and the local villagers. The three communities represent three different cultures of conflict with different interests and most importantly with differential access to the media and official representations of the dispute.

Keywords

References

  1. Asia: ASEAN and the temple of doom; South-East Asia. (2008). The Economist, 388(8590).
  2. Asia: Whose Angkor Wat?; Cambodia v Thailand. (2003). The Economist, 366(8309), 57.
  3. August, R. (1995). Public International Law: Text, Cases, and Readings (Paperback ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
  4. Bowman, G. (2001). The violence in identity. In B. E. Schmidt & I. W. Schroder (Eds.), Anthropology of Violence and Conflict (pp. 25-46). New York: Routledge.
  5. Chan, P. C. W. (2004). Acquiescense/Estoppel in International Boundaries: Temple of Preah Vihear Revisited. Chinese Journal of International Law, 3(2), 421-439. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.cjilaw.a000527
  6. Cuasay, P. (1998). Borders on the Fantastic: Mimesis, Violence, and Landscape at the Temple of Preah Vihear. Modern Asian Studies, 32(4), 849-890. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X98002893
  7. von Feigenblatt, Otto F. (2009). The Thai Ethnocracy Unravels: A Critical Cultural Analysis of Thailand's Socio-Political Unrest. Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences, 1(3), 583-611.
  8. von Feigenblatt, Otto F. (2010a). Human Security in the Asia Pacific Region: Security Challenges, Regional Integration, and Representative Case Studies (Hardcover ed.). Jaipur: YKING BOOKS.
  9. von Feigenblatt, Otto F. (2010b). The Human Security Theory of Integrative Negotiation for Sociopolitical Conflicts: The Thai Color Divide as a Case Study Asia Pacific World, 1(2), 61-82. https://doi.org/10.3167/apw.2010010205
  10. von Feigenblatt, Otto F. (2010c). International Policymaking: The Case of the Norm of the Responsibility to Protect. Entelequia: Revista Interdisciplinar, Spring 2010(11), 267-272.
  11. von Feigenblatt, Otto F. (2010d, April 09, 2010). Thailand's Struggle over Legitimacy. UPI Asia.com, pp. 1-3. Retrieved April 9, 2010, from http://www.upiasia.com/Politics/2010/04/09/thailands_struggle_over_legitimacy/2024/
  12. von Feigenblatt, Otto F., Suttichujit, V., Shuib, M. S., Keling, M. F., & Ajis, M. N. e. (2010). Weapons of Mass Assimilation: A Critical Analysis of the Use of Education in Thailand. Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 1(2), 292-311.
  13. Gallis, A. (2009). Symposium: International Commercial Arbitration: Fifty Years after New York Convention: UNESCO Documents and Procedure: The Need to Account for Political Conflict When Designating World Heritage Sites. Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, 38(Spring), 1-27.
  14. Heidhues, M. S. (2000). Southeast Asia: A Concise History. London: Thames & Hudson.
  15. Hinton, A. (2006). Khmerness and the Thai 'Other': Violence, Discourse and Symbolism in the 2003 Anti-Thai Riots in Cambodia. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 37(3), 445-469. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463406000737
  16. Jackson, P. T., & Nexon, D. H. (2009). Paradigmatic Faults in International Relations Theory. International Studies Quarterly, 53(4), 907-930. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2478.2009.00562.x
  17. John, R. B. S. (1994). Preah Vihear and the Cambodia-Thailand Borderland. IBRU Boundary and Security Bulletin(January ), 64-68.
  18. Kershaw, R. (2001). Monarchy in South-East Asia: The Faces of Tradition in Transition (First ed.). London: Routledge.
  19. Mulder, N. (1996). Inside Southeast Asia: Religion, Everyday Life, and Cultural Change. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.
  20. Nanuam, W. (2011). Keep your talismans close, boys: Army says troops need protection against Khmer black magic. [Electronic Version]. Bangkok Post. Retrieved February 12, 2011, from http://www.bangkokpost.com/lite/topstories/221185/keep-your-talismans-close-boys
  21. Nordstrom, C. (1997). A Different Kind of War Story. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  22. PAD vow to reclaim Thai soil at miniature Preah Vihear [Electronic. (2009). Version]. Prachatai. Retrieved October 12, from http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/1422
  23. Schroder, I. W., & Schmidt, B. E. (2001). Introduction: Violent Imaginaries and Violent Practices. In I. W. Schroder & B. E. Schmidt (Eds.), Athropology of Violence and Conflict (pp. 1-24). New York: Routledge.
  24. Singh, L. P. (1962). The Thai-Cambodian Temple Dispute. Asian Affairs, 2(8), 23-26.
  25. Stuart Sim, B. V. L. (2005). Introducing Critical Theory. London: Icon Books.
  26. Tagliacozzo, E. (2001). Border Permeability and the State in Southeast Asia: Contraband and Regional Security. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 23(2), 254-275. https://doi.org/10.1355/CS23-2D
  27. Thayer, C. A. (2009). Cambodia: The Cambodian People's Party Consolidates Power. Southeast Asian Affairs, 2009, 85-101. https://doi.org/10.1355/SEAA09F
  28. Ungpakorn, G. J. (2007). A Coup for the Rich: Thailand's Political Crisis. Bangkok: Workers Democracy Publishing.
  29. Ungpakorn, G. J. (2010). Thailand's Crisis & the Fight for Democracy. London: WDPress.
  30. Vaughan-Williams, N. (2008). Borders, Territory, Law. International Political Sociology, 2(4), 322-338. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-5687.2008.00054.x
  31. Wyatt, D. K. (2003). Thailand: A Short History (Thailand ed.). Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.