Academics, civil society urge UNESCO to defer Preah Vihear registration

Bangkok, June 28 (TNA) – A group of Thai academics has submitted a letter to the office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Bangkok, urging the World Heritage Committee to defer consideration of the listing of Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site as they opposed Cambodia's unilateral move on the issue.

The academics led by Dr. Tul Sitthisomwong of the Faculty of Medicine,
Chulalongkorn University, submitted the petition with 40,000 signatures and handed the letter to UNESCO representatives in Bangkok.

The officials promised to forward the letter to UNESCO headquarters in
Paris on Friday.

The petitioners said they objected theThai-Cambodian Joint communique
signed by Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama and Cambodian Deputy
Prime Minister Sok An on June 18 and called for deferring consideration of
the listing of the 11th century temple as a World Heritage site.

Dr. Tul said the petitioners want UNESCO to wait for a joint nomination
for the ancient temple's listing by Thailand and Cambodia as they believe
that the World Heritage status should not be completed without the
inclusion of Sra Trao or ancient reservoir and other historic structures
on the temple compound.

The Chula medical academic also led some 30 protestors to the Cambodian
Embassy in Bangkok to submit a letter to the embassy's officials,
protesting Cambodian government's unilateral application of the Preah
Vihear temple registration.

However, embassy officials refused to accept the letter, saying it was the
sensitive issue and told the protestors to submit the letter to Thailand's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs to forward it to the Cambodia embassy. (TNA)