Bangkok Post
Published: 9/04/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
The international anti-cluster munitions group insists Thailand is only "muddying the waters" by attempting to refute the allegation that it used cluster bombs during border clashes with Cambodia in late February.
Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) director Laura Cheeseman yesterday said the Thai army admitted to using Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) in fighting with Cambodia. The DPICM, she said, is a "classic example of a cluster munition".
Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi yesterday released a statement rebutting the CMC's claim. He said the group "misinterpreted" a statement made by Thai Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva Sihasak Phuangketkeow.
Cheeseman: Thailand ‘muddying the waters’
Mr Thani said the Permanent Representative had told the CMC that Thailand had used DPICM, not cluster munitions.
"How Thailand could come to such a conclusion is baffling," Ms Cheeseman stated. "The DPICM is the classic example of a cluster munition, which is essentially a large canister that opens up after deployment to disperse many submunitions over a wide area."
Defence Ministry spokesman Thanathip Sawangsaeng echoed an earlier denial made by Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon that the army has no cluster bombs in its arsenal.
"We may have some weapons with similar features to cluster bombs but they do not work like cluster bombs. They are not cluster bombs," Col Thanathip said.
A source in the army said the weapon in question could be the Caesar self-propelled howitzer, whose artillery burst into bomblets.
The army suspended its use after the border clashes in February.
Ms Cheeseman also countered an argument made by acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn that armies of different countries can categorise weapons differently. No country besides Thailand has ever questioned if the DPICM is a cluster munition, she said in an email to the Bangkok Post.
In the Foreign Ministry's statement, Mr Thani said Thailand's use of DPICM was in response to Cambodia's attacks with BM-21 rocket launcher systems, which struck at targets indiscriminately.
"Such attacks had impacted Thai civilians. It was therefore necessary for Thai troops to act in self-defence against such military targets."
Ms Cheeseman said instead of trying to muddy the waters with the question of definition, the Thai government should take steps to ban all cluster munitions by joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions, an international treaty that prohibits the use, transfer and stockpiling of cluster bombs.
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