PPRP announces opposition to 2001 MOU framework

PPRP announces opposition to the 2001 MOU framework, preparing to submit an open letter, urging the Prime Minister to cancel it immediately before losing territory, arguing with "Phumtham" that Koh Kood is in Cambodia's heart, saying "Uncle Pom" told it himself, every time there was a negotiation, he always mentioned it, until it had to be postponed. The Palang Pracharath Party, led by Mr. Chaimongkol Chairob, MP Sakon Nakhon, along with Mr. Thirachai Phuwanatnaranubala, the party's academic chairman, and M.L. Kraisiwat Kasemsri, the party's executive committee, jointly held a press conference at the parliament opposing the negotiation of petroleum benefits under the 2001 MOU framework. Mr. Chaiyamongkol said that from the Palang Pracharath Party meeting, chaired by General Prawit Wongsuwan, the party leader, there was a detailed discussion and lesson learned regarding the 2001 MOU case. Therefore, there was a common opinion that the 2001 MOU would lead to the loss of Thai territory. Therefore, the Palang Pracharath Party would like to express its position that the party will maintain national sovereignty and will not allow any person or group to seek benefits in terms of natural resources or territory. It is preparing to sign a name to write an open letter to the Prime Minister to stop negotiations on sharing petroleum gas and oil with Cambodia because it is improper. It is necessary to talk about the territory clearly first. Thirachai said that the text in the MOU 2001 document, along with the attached map, showed that the two countries had accepted that there was a joint development area in order to negotiate the sharing of petroleum benefits. However, the western boundary of the area used the maritime border line announced by Cambodia in 1972, starting at the line passing through Koh Kood. After examining the evidence, it was found to be in conflict with the Siamese-French Treaty of 1907. Therefore, it was believed that the joint development area as specified in the MOU 2001 was in conflict with the treat y, which would make the entire MOU 2001 document illegal. 'I do not object to the government negotiating to find investment with Cambodia, but I do object if the government uses the 2001 MOU as a framework for negotiations because, in addition to seeing it as illegal, it may also cause Thailand to lose territory.' Mr. Thirachai also emphasized that if Cambodia accepts that Thailand truly has complete and exclusive rights to Koh Kood, Cambodia must accept that Thailand draws a line 200 nautical miles from the coast of Koh Kood according to international rules, not drawing a line through Koh Kood. The fact that Thailand accepted the line through Koh Kood in the 2001 MOU means that Thailand gives Cambodia half of the rights to Koh Kood, which is a clear loss of territory for Thailand. As for Mr. Phumtham Vejjayachai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, who said that there was no need to worry about the 2001 MOU because Cambodia was not interested in the Koh Kood area, Mr. Thirachai said that Genera l Prawit had told him that when he was Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Thai Technical Committee, during the negotiations with Cambodia, which did not last long, Cambodia mentioned Koh Kood every time. Therefore, General Prawit ordered the negotiations to be postponed, which resulted in the negotiations not being successful. However, it is clear that Koh Kood is definitely in Cambodia's heart. Therefore, we must place our hopes in General Prawit so that he can help preserve Thai territory. While ML Korkasiwat talked about the differences that must be carefully considered in the overlapping areas of Thailand and Cambodia, comparing them to the overlapping areas between Thailand and Malaysia and Thailand and Vietnam, which can comply with international law, but there are still overlapping areas, but negotiations have been held. While Thailand and Cambodia negotiated the maritime border in 1970, Thailand adhered to the Geneva Conventions of 1958. During the negotiations, Cambodia announced the border i n 1972, which did not follow international law to protect Thailand's rights. Therefore, a royal decree was issued to determine the continental shelf of Thailand on the Gulf of Thailand side in 1973, which showed that the line that Cambodia announced was an intrusion into the royal territory, causing the negotiations to end. But just 2 months into the Thaksin Shinawatra government in 2001, the government brought this issue up in a hurry, began negotiations on 21 April 2001, and agreed to sign the 2001 MOU on 4 June 2001, for a total of 44 days of negotiations. Thailand changed its position from its original position of not upholding Thailand's rights according to international law, to accepting Cambodia's line as marking the territory of the Kingdom of Thailand for the first time, resulting in a very large overlapping area of ??26,000 square kilometers, even though this area was originally not recognized by law. Therefore, the government's claim of joint petroleum development obscures the essence of Thailand changing its status from being in the right because it adheres to international law to being at a disadvantage immediately because it allows Cambodia to bring in areas that were obtained without international law recognition to negotiate, which is clearly different from the case of Thailand and Malaysia. The Palang Pracharath Party therefore called on the Prime Minister to revoke the 2001 MOU as soon as possible, because the map attached to the 2001 MOU included Cambodia's internal waters of Trat Province, Koh Kood, and Thailand's territorial sea, putting Thailand at a disadvantage and likely to lose territory, just like with Preah Vihear, similar to the case of France seizing Siamese territory as hostages in negotiations. Mr. Chaimongkol concluded by saying that whoever says we are nationalistic, we do not care. We will not bow to those who seek overlapping benefits and do not want to kneel to those who seek benefits from the Thai land. We will protect this land, even if we are the last one, we will accept it. We will fight both inside and outside the parliament. As for submitting the disclosure letter to the Prime Minister, there will be another appointment. When asked if he had talked to other political parties about this matter, Mr. Chaimongkol said that he was ready to talk to all political parties and all citizens who wanted to protect the country's interests. As for if the submission did not receive a response from the Prime Minister outside the parliament, he would make the citizens understand that it was time to rise up and protect the land. As for the parliament, he would proceed according to the process. Source: Thai News Agency