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It is clear that the latest hostile events are a direct consequence of the dispute that started in 2008. The
ways in which Cambodia and Thailand wish to deal with this conflict differ significantly. Thailand has
clearly expressed its desire to resolve this issue by bilateral negotiations. The Secretary of the Foreign
Ministry, Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, stated that only bilateral talks can prevent the issue from
becoming more complicated. He added that what the two countries need to do is just simply stop
firing and sit face-to-face to solve the problem. Cambodia has quite a different view on the right
solution mechanism and expected ASEAN from the beginning to take action.
The firing near the Thai-Cambodian border was taken very seriously by the international community
and the issue even made it to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The foreign ministers of
both warring parties, as well as the ASEAN Chairman from Indonesia, appeared at the UNSC.
Cambodia has long since shown its intention to bring this dispute to the UN platform but has never
succeeded. However, the recent increased intensity of the fighting raised concerns among the UNSC
members, who decided to call for a UNSC meeting on February 14. The involvement of ASEAN at the
UN is quite rare, as the last time they were present was in 1999 concerning the issue of East Timor. The
fact that, today, the UNSC includes new emerging powers could be one of the factors that has allowed
the Thai-Cambodian clashes to appear on the agenda.
After this meeting, the UNSC called for a permanent ceasefire between the parties, based on
negotiations. More importantly, the UNSC expressed its support for the role of ASEAN in seeking a
solution to the conflict. They called upon both Thailand and Cambodia to cooperate with ASEAN. It is
not surprising that the UNSC wants to boost the role of the regional organisation, because it is aware of
the complexity of the conflict. Similar trends can be observed in the case of Africa, where the African
Union was asked to play an active role in certain peace keeping operations.
If we look at this dispute in the light of the ASEAN membership of Thailand and Cambodia, we can
conclude that the fighting violates the values of ASEAN. The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in
South-East Asia (TAC, 1976) was indeed signed by both warring parties, which means they are
committed to reject the use or threat of force in relations between member-states and to the peaceful
settlement of inter-state disputes. It is clear that the deaths of several people following the recent
clashes strongly violate this agreement.
The Thai-Cambodian conflict has a large impact on the image of ASEAN because both warring parties
are members of the regional organisation. It is the very first time that two members fight an open war,
thereby severely disturbing the political peace within ASEAN that has often been raised as its trump
card. It seems that ASEAN, especially the current Chairing, Indonesia, is very aware of the damage
these events could bring to ASEANs credibility.
Since 2008, ASEAN has a charter that includes guidelines with regard to intra-ASEAN conflict. This
charter allows the warring parties to request the Chairman or Secretary-General of ASEAN to
provide good offices, conciliation or mediation. Therefore, Indonesia, more specifically, its Foreign
Minister, Mr. Natalegawa, took the initiative to organise a meeting among ASEAN foreign ministers.
The outlined goal of this meeting was to discuss a more systematic approach to conflict resolution and
more importantly, to put it into practice. This was perceived as an ambitious initiative, as ASEAN has
never engaged in chairing a dialogue process to resolve an intra-ASEAN conflict.