The sea of people in Hyde Park told a straightforward story even to the unbothered and uninitiated. A number of “Our Temple” emblazoned placards cast an unequivocal declaration of the Cambodian’s propriety over the Temple of Preah Vihear. One man’s hurriedly made poster looked ready for the recycling but its holder stood posed and dignified amidst a smattering of young influencers and tourists busily recording the moment. The protest won’t make the news in as much the Free Palestine protests do. So it’s just as well that the protest found its adhoc publicity around the Archibald Memorial Fountain, a monument to the publisher of The Bulletin, an early Australian magazine known for its xenophobic, misogynistic, and racist flavour.
The 900 year old Preah Vihear Temple has been the subject of violent and deadly confrontations between the Thais and Cambodians for generations.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled on Preah Vihear twice, and twice it has determined that Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia. That is, that the Temple is under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and therefore belongs to Cambodia. The first ICJ ruling in 1962 was already very clear. However, due to some misapprehension or other, Cambodia petitioned the ICJ to further interpret the 1962 ruling. So in 2013, the ICJ again ruled on the question of which country ‘owns’ the temple. This time, it ruled that Cambodia has sovereignty over the whole territory of Preah Vihear and so ordered Thailand to withdraw its military forces which were stationed in the area surrounding the temple. However, it seems the misunderstanding, or rather misapprehension, over what seems rather simple terminology continues. Which leads one to the question that most ordinary, reasonable folk would ask, what does Thailand want? Why does it continue to ignore the ICJ ruling?
No one questions the ICJ’s capacity to rule and make orders, something it seems to be willing to do until we are all blue in the face. It lacks the ability to enforce its rulings and this deficit is one upon which rogue nation states very much rely. Other sovereign powers, mired in the shenanigans of their democratically elected representatives and unelected power brokers, lack the political will to sanction and condemn. The ICJ is a toothless tiger with limp limbs.