Asia-Pacific

Thailand postpones vote on border documents

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-29 14:23

BANGKOK - Thai parliament on Tuesday decided to postpone a vote on documents produced by a joint Thai-Cambodian border demarcation body, waiting for the ruling of the Constitutional Court on the issue.

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A joint sitting of the House of Representatives and Senate viewed that they should await the ruling of the Constitutional Court on whether three meeting minutes produced by the Thai- Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC), led by senior government officials of both countries, were agreements that need approval from the bicameral parliament.

The three meeting minutes could be seen as agreements that could affect the change of Thai territory, which would need approval from a joint sitting of the parliament.

House members of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrat Party has petitioned the Constitutional Court to rule whether the meeting minutes were such agreements or not.

JBC, tasked to solve border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, could not proceed with any of its meeting as Cambodia has required Bangkok to clear the legality of the meeting minutes under the Thai constitution first.

The three minutes were records of JBC meetings in November 2008, February 2009 and April 2009.