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Preah
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Preah Vihear Conflicts:
As Senior defense officials from Thailand
and Cambodia met Monday to try to stabilize the
mounting escalation and Thai and Cambodian
troops faced off over the Preah Vihear Temple,
there are political gains to be capitalized upon
on both Samak Sundaravej's image within his
country and PM Hun Sen's up coming election bid.
The International
Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the 11th
century Preah Vihear temple belonged to
Cambodia--indisputable evident as to whom the
temple belongs to, so why are we having this
silly conflict? Samak and his ruling People
Power Party are closely aligned with Thai's
Ex-leader, Mr. Thaksin. Thailand's ousted Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is planning to build
a 'modern city' in Cambodia, complete with a
financial district and port, and with all the
modern infrastructures, in which Cambodia sorely
needs.
The deal was the
result of a chummy behind the scene agreement
among PM Hun Sen, Thaksin, and Samak Sundaravej
that was estimated to have worth in the hundreds
of millions--the details of the deal is still
unknown to all accept among those who are
involved (In Cambodia, governmental transparency
is considered as "stupid" by all officials
because why leave the paper trails of all your
crimes!?!).
The former Cambodian King
Norodom Sihanouk and a staunch CPP opposition
leader, Sam Rainsy, have both been strong
critics and expressed concerns over widespread
corruptions and the latest behind the scene
dealings with the Thais. Mr. Sam Rainsy is also
running his campaign on the argument that the
top three CPP leaders have sold the nation of
Cambodia, and added that, "the worst crook of
them all is the one in the middle".
So why are we even
having this conflict with Preah Vihear now?
Well, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra is dealing with
corruptions charges; Samak Sundaravej's PPP is
facing overwhelming opposition's protests,
accusations, and a possible cue; and of course,
we all know that this is an election month in
Cambodia. With mounting political problems,
uncontrollable inflation heights, charges of
widespread corruption, and the upcoming
election, this generated hype over Preah Vihear
is a little too fishy for me to digest.
Who benefit from this
conflict? Well for starter, both PPP and CPP
leaders will come out looking like patriotic
protectors of their beloved lands, and what
better way to divert attention away from the
real problems--which are many. Why start
worrying about the potential thief from the left
while the one on the right has been stealing
from us for the past 29 years, and the one in
the middle just allows it all to happen right in
front of our eyes.
Country for Sale
