Thailand cancels a 25-year-old maritime energy agreement with Cambodia, prompting a sharp rebuke from Phnom Penh.
BANGKOK: Thailand cancelled a 25-year-old agreement with neighbour Cambodia on overlapping maritime claims and energy exploration on Tuesday, the Thai prime minister said, drawing a sharp rebuke from Phnom Penh.
The Southeast Asian nations have disputed the demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) land border, a legacy of the French colonial era, as well as maritime territories, for decades.
They signed a memorandum of understanding, known as MoU 44, in 2001 to establish a framework for joint oil and gas exploration in areas of overlapping claims in the Gulf of Thailand.
Thailand’s energy ministry has estimated future revenues from oil and natural gas in the overlapping claims area to be worth around $300 billion.
The Thai cabinet approved the MoU cancellation on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul (pic) citing a long-standing stalemate in implementing the agreement.
He also said the move was not related to border clashes between the two countries that killed dozens of people last year.
“It is part of my policy, as the agreement has stalled for 25 years,” Anutin told reporters.
New talks would be needed to negotiate an updated agreement that aligned with his government’s agenda, he said.
Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn condemned “Thailand’s unilateral rejection”, calling it “a departure from the spirit and political will” of the maritime deal.
He said Cambodia would begin a dispute resolution process under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said on Tuesday that talks with Cambodia on their border dispute would continue but offered no timeline.
