Senior Minister Y Chhean, former Governor of Pailin province, and former Khmer Rouge commander, has responded to a social media post by former opposition politician Um Sam An. He considered Sam An’s claims that Cambodia is losing land to Thailand through current border demarcation work a “distortion of the truth”.
Sam An, who was previously jailed for using fake maps to criticise the government, took to Facebook to criticise the border demarcation and surveying efforts, which began with the planting of temporary posts, particularly in Kamrieng district, Battambang province.
He said he had seen claims by Chhean in the past that suggested Thailand had moved markers in Pong Nam Ron, encroaching hundreds of metres into Cambodian territory near Kamrieng district. He claimed that at the time, the area was under the control of Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary.
Sam An believed that the placement temporary markers between posts 52-59 caused Cambodia to lose several square kilometres of land, then suggested that the temporary posts would become official, based on the 1:50,000 scale map used by Thailand.
Chhean responded with a firm dismissal of the claims.
“Regarding this case, I would like to clarify to our compatriots that what Sam An wrote is a complete fabrication. It was designed to incite trouble and gain political mileage, with the intent to cause social chaos and confusion regarding border affairs, which the Royal Government and the Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) are implementing based on international law, conventions, treaties, maps and documents left by the French,” he said.
“During the war, the area located between border posts 52 and 59 was under the control of Son Sen, not Ieng Sary,” he added.
Chhean noted that he has resolutely defended Cambodia’s territorial integrity from the beginning, and is a living witness who has lived in that area for a very long time.
He explained that the temporary border posts that the Cambodian and Thai working groups are currently measuring and planting are based on legal documents left from the French protectorate, specifically the minutes (Procès-Verbaux) of demarcation by the Indochina-Siam Border Commission of 1908-1909 and the Indochina-Siam Border Commission of 1919-1920, and are in accordance with the content of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) of 2000 and the working modalities agreed upon by both parties.
“Therefore, what the individual Sam An, who is a traitor to the nation, has raised is a pure fabrication and incitement, not the truth. I would like to inform you all that this individual always speaks to incite and distort the truth, and sometimes uses the names of this or that person in order to attract attention for the purpose of political gain and his own evil ambitions,” said Chhean.
He urged Cambodian citizens to trust the government of Cambodia and the Cambodia JBC, which he insisted have always adhered to professional conscience and the highest responsibility, prioritising the supreme national interest.
