'Hands off Koh Kut': Thailand stands firm at UN maritime talks

Thailand has made its position clear during maritime border talks with Cambodia under the UN law of the sea - Koh Kut is not part of the reconciliation process.

Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said in his opening statement on Tuesday that the meeting should be limited only the maritime boundary dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, and land borders should be excluded from the hearing.

"This conciliation process does not concern sovereignty over land, which includes the island of Koh Kut," the minister said. "Thailand rejects Cambodia's 1972 continental shelf claim line, which is without legal basis,"

Koh Kut is an island district in Trat province, in the eastern Gulf of Thailand, bordering Cambodia. Cambodia unilaterally claimed its continental shelf line in 1972 and included Koh Kut.

Mr Sisasak said on several occasions before the meeting of the Conciliation Commission that any maritime demarcation would clearly show the island belongs to Thailand.

The panel was set up under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to seek a solution to the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia. The meeting is in Singapore and will conclude on Wednesday.