Prime Minister Abhisit insisted his dual nationality is purely a legal matter, further explaining that the issue was due to legal complexities between British and international law. Under British law any person born in Britain is automatically bestowed British citizenship. However, this contradicts with the principle of international law, which states that an individual’s nationality shall be determined by his or her conduct. The premier affirmed that he is a Thai citizen and should therefore adhere to Thai law, adding that he has never sought to receive any benefit or privilege of foreign citizenship. He said that the issue of his nationality was raised because his opponents had only wanted to file a case with the International Court of Justice.
“(My dual citizenship) is purely a legal matter. Until today, I am still receiving contradicting opinions and recommendations. On one hand, I have been told that by conducting myself as a Thai citizen all along and having to enter Britain with a visa, I have proven beyond reasonable doubt of my Thai citizenship. On the other hand, I have been told that I still retain dual citizenship under British law. Nonetheless, according to the principle and rule of Master Nationality under international law, I have clearly proven myself to be a Thai citizen,” the premier explained.
In response to the opposition’s accusation during the censure debate that Prime Minister Abhisit had been incompetent in managing the country’s affairs – in particular the Thai-Cambodia relationship due to his lack of diplomatic finesse – the premier denied that his parliamentary speech in June 2008 criticizing the Samak government’s handling of the Preah Vihear temple issue was aimed at fuelling the nationalist fervor that eventually triggered the Thai-Cambodian conflict. He countered that the Thai-Cambodian problem had begun when the Samak Government supported Cambodia’s application to list the disputed Preah Vihear temple as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Furthermore, the premier added that Thais had learned from the 1962 international court ruling that they must retain and exercise their ownership rights and must employ appropriate retaliation measures when necessary. He noted that subsequent Thai governments had all along insisted the joint UNESCO World Heritage listing of Preah Vihear temple because Thailand does not want Cambodia to use its management rights of the areas surrounding the temple as an excuse that Thailand had implicitly acknowledged Cambodian ownership of disputed territory. The prime minister commended the military actions taken by the opposition when it was in power, adding that the deployment of troops to the disputed area then signaled that the disputed territory does not belong to Cambodia.
The prime minister went on to highlight the fact that his government had thwarted Cambodia’s bids to list Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage Site at the World Heritage Site Committee Meeting for two consecutive years by claiming that the surrounding disputed border territory belongs to Thailand. Nonetheless, he insisted that the boundary conflict should be settled through the bilateral mechanism of the Joint Border Commission (JBC) of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between Thailand and Cambodia in 2000.
The premier said the diplomatic tension between both countries was due the appointment of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an advisor to the Cambodian government and the Cambodian leader’s subsequent negative remarks towards Thai courts. Prime Minister Abhisit also said it was clearly a conflict of interest when a former Thai signatory of a maritime boundary negotiation MOU becomes an advisor to Cambodia. Nonetheless, the prime minister pointed out that his government has worked very hard to resolve most of the outstanding issues and that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has recently admitted that the diplomatic row between both countries is only confined to territorial disagreement.
Referring to Cambodia’s construction of a road to Preah Vihear temple, which was completed 6 or 7 days after he officially took office, Prime Minister Abhisit said that his government did not condone Cambodia’s movement and had consistently protested against any territorial violations. He explained that the Thai government decided to send observers to keep an eye on any additional Cambodian construction in the disputed territory.
In response to the criticism that he was weak in handling the border tension and in allowing Cambodia to take the matter to the United Nations Security Council, Prime Minister Abhisit said that his government shares the same view as the opposition on the border issue in that both parties prefer to solve the border dispute through existing bilateral channels. He also added that his opponents failed to mention that two of the requests made by Cambodia to the United Nations Security Council were rejected.
The premier went on to explain that the new Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Charter provided an avenue for dispute settlement amongst member states. Indonesia, the current ASEAN Chair, had then expressed its willingness to support any bilateral efforts by Thailand and Cambodia to resolve their border conflict. To that extent, the ASEAN Chair had offered to act as facilitator to arrange the venue for the proposed bilateral negotiation. Therefore, the prime minister stressed that it was inappropriate and inaccurate for the opposition to allege that he had stirred up nationalist fervor which led to the border dispute with Cambodia. The conflict and ensuing escalating tension between both countries was largely due to Cambodia’s attempt to register the temple as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on its own in 2008. He said his government is requesting UNESCO to postpone a decision on Cambodia's development plan for the Preah Vihear temple so as to allow adequate time for both countries to settle their boundary disputes peacefully.
In another related matter, the prime minister insisted that he has never denied knowledge of Democrat MP Panich Vitkitsreth’s volunteer mission to the Thai-Cambodia border to speak with residents living close to the disputed area. The premier said that when he learned of the arrest of MP Panich along with six other Thais by Cambodian soldiers, he immediately followed up on the matter by verifying the exact location of the arrest. He explained that five of the seven arrest Thais have since been released after the Phnom Penh court ruled them guilty of illegal entry and intentionally trespassing into Cambodian military territory. However, the remaining two Thais face an extra charge of espionage for making video recording of Cambodian territory. Prime Minister Abhisit said the Thai government is coordinating with Cambodian authorities to ensure that health of the two Thai detainees is well taken care of.
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