Thai Prime Minister says delayed Preah Vihear temple World Heritage Site registration could solve problems

BANGKOK, June 30 (TNA) – Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Tuesday he believes a delay in registering ancient Preah Vihear temple on the Thai-Cambodian border as a World Heritage Site could allow the two countries to be able to solve other border problems.

Mr. Abhisit told journalists that Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Suwit  Khunkitti had briefed Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, held earlier in the day, on his attending the World Heritage Committee meeting held in Seville, Spain between June 22-30, and that he had handed a letter to the Committee that comprised a Thai government request to review Cambodia’s unilateral application for the historic temple to be listed as a World Heritage Site.

UNESCO agreed at the Seville meeting to delay the formal registration of the temple as a World Heritage Site until next February as the organization still has a number of other matters to implement, Mr. Abhisit said.

The delay, said Mr. Abhisit, could give an opportunity to the two countries to solve other problems related to the border.

UNESCO granted Cambodia’s application for Preah Vihear temple to be designated a World Heritage Site in July 2008. Thailand has argued that the action had led to several armed clashes around the temple and urged the world agency to review its approval. (TNA)