Thailand to seek referendum on Cambodia border demarcation

Thailand's prime minister said on Friday that 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 817-km (508-mile) 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 on joint survey and demarcation of the land boundary.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

Indian women take part in centuries-old fertility ritual by eating from temple floor

Another agreement, signed in 2001, provides a framework for cooperation and potential resource-sharing in maritime areas claimed by both countries.

Both agreements have come under public scrutiny in Thailand, however, 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," Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters.

A referendum would provide a clear mandate on the matter, he added.

The two agreements were relatively successful in the past but have now become problematic for relations between the two countries, said Panitan Wattanayagorn, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

"Their revocation may not be a direct solution to the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, because it could create a vacuum," he said.

"The government must make clear what will replace them, and this has to be agreed by Cambodia as well," he said.