Bangkok Post 6/01/13
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| Chaiwat Sinsuwong [google] |
The petition will be lodged with the court on Monday,
Jan 14, said political campaigner Chaiwat Sinsuwong, leader of the Khon Thai
Rak Chart Raksa Pandin (Thais who love the nation and the land) group.
The move came after Foreign Minister Surapong
Tovichakchaikul cautioned people to be prepared for any outcome, including a
loss, when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) makes its decision on the
temple in October. He suggested the court case was a “no-win'' situation for
Thailand.
"If we lose the case, we lose [territory]. Even
if we don't lose the case, it goes back to square one. That is, the temple
belongs to Cambodia and the area surrounding it remains as it is," Mr
Surapong said.
Critics of the government have interpreted Mr
Surapong's remarks as a concession of defeat to Cambodia in the decades-old
border dispute near the ancient Khmer temple.
Mr Chaiwat said on Jan 21 his group will organise a
demonstration that will involve a march to military bases to submit petitions
to leaders of the armed forces, urging them not to accept the jurisdiction of
the ICJ. The march was likely to start from
Makkhawan Rangsan bridge on Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue.
Mr Chaiwat, one of 36 People's Alliance for Democracy
figures wanted over the 2008 airport seizure, said his group had collected
570,000 signatures to back its cause and expected the number of supporters
would reach one million by Jan 21.
The ICJ will hear oral arguments from Thailand and
Cambodia from April 15-19 in The Hague. It took up the case at the request of
Cambodia, which sought an interpretation of the 1962 ICJ ruling that confirmed
the temple was on Cambodian soil.
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