Asia 899
Narrative: Myanmar forces fired upon and killed a Thai soldier while fighting Karen
rebels near the joint border.
MID#4595
Dispute Number: 4595
Date(s): April 27, 2009
Participants: 775 Myanmar/800 Thailand
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: Myanmar’s forces shelled Karen rebels in the jungle area bordering Thai-
land. Two errant artillery shells entered Thai territory and injured two Thai soldiers.
Thailand protested.
800 THAILAND/811 CAMBODIA
MID#1225
Dispute Number: 1225
Date(s): November 1953 to May 1954
Participants: 800 Thailand/811 Cambodia
Outcome (and Settlement): Victory for side A (Imposed)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: This dispute concerns the Thai occupation of the Preah Vihear temple, a
centuries’ old temple that lays near the border of present-day Thailand and Cambodia.
Ownership of the temple was accordingly an important issue, especially for Thailand.
Thailand’s occupation of the temple comes with dissatisfaction of existing maps and
protocols that had the temple firmly south of their border and, thus, in Cambodia.
Tensions rose almost immediately after the French withdrew from the country.
The actual occupation of the temple was an easy victory for Thailand, but subsequent
protests to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) undermined the Thai victory. Cam-
bodia’s protest was immediate, and it secured an audience with the ICJ on October 6,
- A judgment was given on June 15, ordering the retreat of the Thai forces and
otherwise upholding the temple as Cambodian property. The panel determined that a
1907 Siamese-French protocol on the boundary was not coerced and that Thailand had
no real claims to adjust the border. The temple is still recognized as Cambodian, but
the dispute lingers between both states. Subsequent standoffs, as recent as 2008 and
2009, continue to characterize Thai-Cambodian relations and decades of civil conflict
have significantly reduced the structure of the temple.
MID#1226
Dispute Number: 1226
Date(s): August 4, 1958 to February 6, 1959
Participants: 800 Thailand/811 Cambodia