Opinion: Border Disputes Need a Smarter Path

Picture: People visit the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple on the border between Thailand and Cambodia on Nov 10, 2013. The International Court of Justice on Nov 11 that year ruled that Cambodia has sovereignty over the temple's territory. REUTERS

In an article published by Bangkok Post, Sally Tyler writes about the rise in nationalism illustrated by the Koh Kut/Surin border disputes, recent events in the US, and the myths that underpin it.

Theories hold that territorial loss through binding arbitration frequently forces the losing state into more dramatic posturing to preserve its reputation. This proved to be the case with Preah Vihear, as tensions between the two nations continued to grow, erupting in 2011's lethal clash that left both soldiers and civilians dead.

By focusing on the problem as one of border demarcation rather than a complex situation of shared cultural heritage, both sides left the temple question open to political manipulation as a nationalist symbol. In Thailand, this nationalism stemmed in part from the dramatised historical writings of master propagandist Luang Vichit-Vadakan, who used the term "Lost Territories" to describe the Lao and Khmer land ceded in the Franco-Siamese treaties.

Such romantic nomenclature echoes the myth of the "Lost Cause" of the Confederacy, which took root in the American South during post-Civil War Reconstruction. The "Lost Cause" rhetoric minimised the searing harm of slavery and portrayed the South's cause as noble.