BANGKOK, Sept 27 — Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said his government will propose a referendum on whether to revoke two agreements on the demarcation of its border with Cambodia as part of a plan to address a simmering dispute with its neighbour.
Thailand and Cambodia have bickered for decades over undemarcated points along their 817km land border.
Tensions exploded into a deadly five-day conflict in July — the worst fighting between the two countries in over a decade — that killed at least 48 people and temporarily displaced hundreds of thousands on both sides.
For years, the two countries have relied on an agreement signed in 2000 that provides a framework for joint survey and demarcation of the land boundary.
Another agreement, signed in 2001, provides a framework for cooperation and potential resource-sharing in maritime areas claimed by both countries.
But both agreements have come under public scrutiny in Thailand over the past decade, particularly following the latest clashes, which ended with a ceasefire brokered in Malaysia on July 28.
"In order to avoid further conflict, the House of Representatives has already set up a committee to study the matter, while the government policy will be to propose holding a referendum on the issue," he told the press yesterday.
Anutin added that a referendum would provide a clear mandate on the matter.
The two agreements were relatively successful in the past but have now become problematic for relations between the two countries, said Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University political scientist Panitan Wattanayagorn.
"Their revocation may not be a direct solution to the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, because it could create a vacuum.
"The government must make clear what will replace them, and this has to be agreed by Cambodia as well," he said.
