Thailand to join UN maritime arbitration with Cambodia
Cambodia launched a compulsory conciliation process under Unclos after Bangkok ended a framework pact for talks on a disputed maritime belt
This week Cambodia launched a compulsory conciliation process under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), after Bangkok decided last month to unilaterally end a 2001 framework pact for talks on a disputed maritime belt.
For more than 25 years, both have claimed about 26,000 sq km (10,000 sq miles) of sea in the Gulf of Thailand, estimated to hold nearly 12 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and large volumes of oil, for a total value of US$300 billion.
Thailand will send two representatives to the UN-backed negotiations, Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said on Friday, but expressed dismay at Cambodia’s move to also use the talks to tackle questions of resource sharing.
“I told my Cambodian colleagues, ‘Why don’t we give talks a chance? Six months or something,’” he said in an interview.
“‘If we cannot make progress, then we can agree on the next step, which of course includes compulsory conciliation, but it also includes voluntary conciliation.’”