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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-AS-Cambodia-Thailand-Border-Dispute.html

Cambodian, Thai Troops Said Hurt in Border Clash

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 3, 2008

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Soldiers from both Cambodia and Thailand were
wounded Friday in a brief clash along their volatile border, officials from
the two countries said.

Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said a Cambodian soldier was
slightly wounded when Thai troops fired a grenade from their territory. He
said Cambodian troops returned fire, with the ''military incident'' lasting
less than a minute.

Thai officials initially denied knowledge of the incident, but a Thai
Foreign Ministry spokesman later said Cambodian troops had encroached on
Thai territory and had been the first to fire, wounding two Thai troops.

Late Friday, the Foreign Ministry said the situation ''has now returned to
normalcy.''

Tensions along the normally peaceful border between Cambodia and Thailand
flared on July 15 after UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency, approved
Cambodia's application to have a disputed 11th century temple named a World
Heritage Site. Friday's clash took place about two miles (three kilometers)
west of the temple, Preah Vihear.

A spokesman for Cambodia's Cabinet, Phay Siphan, said the incident began
after Cambodian troops intercepted a trespassing Thai patrol. He said the
Thai troops retreated in response to a warning from the Cambodians, but then
fired the grenade.

Cambodian troops returned fire with AK-47 assault rifles, with the exchange
of fire lasting three to five minutes, he said.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said Friday evening that
the Thai troops had been patrolling in their own territory when they
encountered the Cambodian soldiers.

''The Cambodian troops shot at the Thai troops first, wounding two soldiers.
One Cambodian soldier was also wounded after the Thais responded,'' he said.

Lt. Gen. Wiboonsak Ngeepan, the regional army commander for northeastern
Thailand, said it was unclear if the Cambodians intruded intentionally or
had strayed into Thailand because ''the area is dense forest.''

The Foreign Ministry statement said the Thai military contacted their
Cambodian counterparts after the incident and that the Cambodians agreed to
investigate the clash. It also said that Cambodia pledged to coordinate more
closely with Thailand in the future.

Both countries have long claimed Preah Vihear, but the World Court awarded
it to Cambodia in 1962. Sovereignty over some of the land around the temple,
however, has not been clearly resolved.

After UNESCO approved the temple's listing as a World Heritage Site,
Thailand sent troops to occupy the nearby Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda, also
claimed by Cambodia.

Cambodia responded with its own troop deployment. The two sides came close
to a shootout on July 17 when Cambodian monks sought to celebrate Buddhist
lent in the pagoda.

Troops on both sides raised their weapons, but no shots were fired, and the
Cambodians eventually backed down.

Since then there has been a limited troop withdrawal from the area, and
talks have been held several times on resolving the conflicting claims, but
without much progress.