Samak tells Hun Sen that temple issue will not affect Thai-Cambodian ties

The government will abide by the injunction of the Central Administrative Court that ordered a freeze on the June 17 Cabinet resolution relating to the Preah Vihear Temple.

"As per the injunction, the government is to refrain from undertaking any activities authorised by the Cabinet resolution before the exhaustion of the judicial review on the matter," Deputy Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said yesterday.

The government's compliance with the injunction will be guided by legal advice from the Council of State, he said.

He confirmed that the Cabinet had already acknowledged the injunction, which was issued last weekend, and that it resolved to implement the court order.

Immediate measures include an instruction for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform the Thai government about its obligations relating to the injunction.

This will be relayed to the Cambodian government, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organ-isation and the 21-member World Heritage Committee.

Communique suspended

"The message of the Thai government is that the Thai-Cambodian joint communique will be suspended from enforcement until the completion of the judicial review," Somchai said.

He said the Cabinet had instructed the Council of State to study the injunction in full in order to advise on what needs to be done.

Thailand will not send a delegation to today's World Heritage session in Quebec, although the Thai ambassador to Canada is to be the country's representative, Somchai said.

Prime Minister Samak Sun-daravej told Thais in China that he spoke to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on the telephone about the issue, saying it would not affect the countries' relationship.

He also asked Hun Sen to take care of Thais and Thai business in Cambodia and he would do vice versa.

Motion heads to court

House Speaker Chai Chid-chob said he would today forward the opposition's motion on Preah Vihear to the Constitution Court for a ruling.

The Democrat Party has sought a legal interpretation of the joint communique. It said the content of the communique could be classified as a treaty that needs parliamentary ratification.

The opposition contends that the government has violated Article 190 of the Constitution in order to avoid parliamentary scrutiny.