Cambodian Premier Hun Sen visited a disputed border area with Thailand yesterday, angering the neighbouring nation amid an ongoing diplomatic spat.Hun Sen, accompanied by his wife, Bun Rany, both dressed in camouflage clothes, briefly toured the ancient Preah Vihear temple at the center of the land dispute and met members of the Thai military who guard the area.
He asked the Thais "to avoid fighting because we are neighbours, we cannot be enemies forever," but his presence in the area attracted more than 100 Thai protesters on the Thai side of the border.
Cambodia and Thailand have been at loggerheads over their border for decades. Nationalist tensions spilled over into violence in July 2008, when the 11th century Preah Vihear temple was granted UNESCO World Heritage status.
Four soldiers were killed in clashes in the temple area in 2008 and three more in a gunbattle last April. Smaller flare-ups continue to be reported between troops in the area.
Hun Sen earlier began a tour of the area by opening a school and giving supplies to villagers caught up in April's violence last year.
"I have never asked for compensation. For me, it doesn't matter about compensation," said Hun Sen, referring to the destruction of a Cambodian market during the gunbattle.
"They (the Thais) have invaded us and look down on us."
Hun Sen and his wife joined senior ministers to give bags of rice, blankets and mosquito nets to villagers before proceeding in a heavily guarded convoy to visit the temple ruins.
During the one-day visit Hun Sen also accused Thailand of plotting to "invade" again.
"They are still keeping it in their minds to invade Cambodia and do not know when they will stop. The invaders have never left us, even though they can kill their own citizens," he told the crowd.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he was not concerned about Hun Sen's trip as he had entrusted security on the border to the army.
"Soldiers are taking care of the border and the reports I have received show everything is normal," he told reporters.
The Thai-Cambodia border has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.
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