Bangkok: The National Security Council has called for an urgent meeting tomorrow to present evidence to the United Nations regarding an alleged violation of the Ottawa Convention by Cambodia. The issue arose after military engineers were reported to have collected explosives in Chong Bok, an area claimed by Thailand as sovereign territory.
According to Thai News Agency, Gen. Nattapol Nakphanit, the Deputy Minister of Defense and Director of the Center for Special Operations in the Thai-Cambodian Border Situation Administration (CSOPA), is set to convene a meeting of the CSOPA on July 20 at 2:00 p.m. The meeting aims to address the incident involving personnel from the 6021st Company, who were patrolling the Chong Bok area and were injured by a landmine, leading to three casualties. The evidence suggests that new landmines may have been laid in the area.
General Nattapol has instructed the 2nd Army to gather all necessary evidence and to hold a press conference to report their findings. The collected evidence is to be submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for further action.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is scheduled to participate in the upcoming CCSA meeting to deliberate on the subsequent steps, including examining evidence from both sides to determine its validity. An official announcement is expected to be made at the CCSA meeting on July 21.
The guidelines for presenting information and evidence to the UN highlight the challenge of proving that Cambodia violated the Ottawa Convention. Should Cambodia deny the allegations, it will need to present counter-evidence. Concurrently, the Thai government plans to deploy military engineers to remove explosives from the Chong Bok area.
A security source emphasized the importance of thoroughness and accuracy in collecting data and evidence, urging the public to be patient. Any information released by government agencies will be based on verified and clear evidence.