Thai PM Abhisit Says Easing Tensions With Cambodia 'Main Goal' This Year

4 January 2011 -- NNT

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says his main goal for this year is for the relations between Thai and Cambodia to no longer be strained and the tension to ease off.

According to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, his policy on the relationship between Thailand and Cambodia for the year2011 is to ease the tensions between the two countries, which have been at odds over the ancient temple. He hopes the Phreah Viharn dispute will not become a thorny issue in the two countries' efforts to mend fences; which is understandable as both sides are duty-bound to protect their own interest.

Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia Sok An will meet with Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Suwit Khunkitti later this month to thrash out the two countries' differences. Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have risen in the wake of Cambodia's arrest of seven Thais, one of them an MP from the ruling party, for trespassing on its territory last week.