Bangkok .- The fighting on the border between Thailand and Cambodia, which continues today for the sixth consecutive day, have caused the death of the first civilian, bringing the total death toll to 14, while Thai authorities have canceled the opening of talks for a ceasefire. A shell Cambodian, of the hundreds that both countries have been released since hostilities began on 22, killed a farmer from Thailand on Tuesday, according to military spokesman in Thailand.
His death is bound to six and seven Thai military that Cambodian soldiers have been killed trying to defend or restore the temples of Ta Muen and Ta Kwai or Hindu Preah Vieh center, over a hundred miles east of the previous all sources of the dispute between the two countries sovereigntist.
The conflict has also left some 55,000 people sheltered in refugee centers on both sides of the border, some 30,000 Thais and some 25,000 Cambodians. In Cambodia, most of the displaced farmers in this time of year would be in their fields planting the next harvest, according to Vy Oun, head of the commune Kokmon.
Cambodian positions were subjected to heavy shelling by Thailand during the night of Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Defense of Cambodia. Sometimes artillery fire on enemy positions just in villages or on farmlands or on the road. Cambodian and Thai authorities so far have been very terse about the real damage that this conflict causes to civilians.
Still, the Thai Minister of Health, Lakwanwavisit Jurin admitted today that nine hospitals in the provinces of Surin and Buri Ram have reduced their activities to minimum services because of the violence. The UN, the U.S. and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) exert strong pressure on the governments of both countries to return to the negotiating table.
Cambodia Thailand proposed yesterday that the defense ministers of both sides met in Phnom Penh today to discuss a cease-fire, but then changed his mind. "Last night we decided to cancel the trip of General Prawit (Wongsuwan, Thai defense minister) to Phnom Penh after Cambodia told reporters that Thailand agreed to negotiations after admitting defeat," said Thai army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd.
"We support talks with the condition that they stop shooting for a few days, we have clearly informed Cambodia of this condition," the military. Phnom Penh Thailand accuses of starting the fighting and want to internationalize the conflict. For its part, Cambodia, Thai military blames the invasion of Cambodian territory and calls for international mediation.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen today regained the diplomatic initiative to personally call a ceasefire and declare their willingness to meet with his Thai counterpart, Abhisit Vejjajiva, in the framework of the ASEAN meeting held on 7 and 8 May in Jakarta. But for now, the Thai Government has not taken up the gauntlet and his statements and declarations result in the possibility that the meeting of defense ministers could be held at a later date.
The border between the two countries, heavily mined, have never been clearly defined since France abandoned their colonies in Southeast Asia after World War II. This dispute gained momentum in 2008 when Preah Vihear was declared a World Heritage Site and UNESCO inscribed within Cambodian territory.
Thailand admits that the whole is in Cambodian soil, as the Court ruled in The Hague in 1962, but claims an area of 4.6 square kilometers located in the vicinity of the temple. Last March, after declaring a ceasefire, Cambodia and Thailand agreed to negotiate with the mediation of Indonesia, but a few weeks after the stalled dialogue with the rejection of the deployment of Thai Indonesians. 
His death is bound to six and seven Thai military that Cambodian soldiers have been killed trying to defend or restore the temples of Ta Muen and Ta Kwai or Hindu Preah Vieh center, over a hundred miles east of the previous all sources of the dispute between the two countries sovereigntist.
The conflict has also left some 55,000 people sheltered in refugee centers on both sides of the border, some 30,000 Thais and some 25,000 Cambodians. In Cambodia, most of the displaced farmers in this time of year would be in their fields planting the next harvest, according to Vy Oun, head of the commune Kokmon.
Cambodian positions were subjected to heavy shelling by Thailand during the night of Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Defense of Cambodia. Sometimes artillery fire on enemy positions just in villages or on farmlands or on the road. Cambodian and Thai authorities so far have been very terse about the real damage that this conflict causes to civilians.
Still, the Thai Minister of Health, Lakwanwavisit Jurin admitted today that nine hospitals in the provinces of Surin and Buri Ram have reduced their activities to minimum services because of the violence. The UN, the U.S. and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) exert strong pressure on the governments of both countries to return to the negotiating table.
Cambodia Thailand proposed yesterday that the defense ministers of both sides met in Phnom Penh today to discuss a cease-fire, but then changed his mind. "Last night we decided to cancel the trip of General Prawit (Wongsuwan, Thai defense minister) to Phnom Penh after Cambodia told reporters that Thailand agreed to negotiations after admitting defeat," said Thai army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd.
"We support talks with the condition that they stop shooting for a few days, we have clearly informed Cambodia of this condition," the military. Phnom Penh Thailand accuses of starting the fighting and want to internationalize the conflict. For its part, Cambodia, Thai military blames the invasion of Cambodian territory and calls for international mediation.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen today regained the diplomatic initiative to personally call a ceasefire and declare their willingness to meet with his Thai counterpart, Abhisit Vejjajiva, in the framework of the ASEAN meeting held on 7 and 8 May in Jakarta. But for now, the Thai Government has not taken up the gauntlet and his statements and declarations result in the possibility that the meeting of defense ministers could be held at a later date.
The border between the two countries, heavily mined, have never been clearly defined since France abandoned their colonies in Southeast Asia after World War II. This dispute gained momentum in 2008 when Preah Vihear was declared a World Heritage Site and UNESCO inscribed within Cambodian territory.
Thailand admits that the whole is in Cambodian soil, as the Court ruled in The Hague in 1962, but claims an area of 4.6 square kilometers located in the vicinity of the temple. Last March, after declaring a ceasefire, Cambodia and Thailand agreed to negotiate with the mediation of Indonesia, but a few weeks after the stalled dialogue with the rejection of the deployment of Thai Indonesians.
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