Talks on OCA development with Cambodia must be separated from demarcation negotiations: Thai energy minister
Energy Minister Peeraphan Salirathaviphak said talks with Cambodia over the development of the overlapping claims area (OCA) in the Gulf of Thailand should be separated from negotiations on maritime border demarcation.
The OCA is a 27,000 square kilometre section of the Gulf that potentially holds massive quantities of natural gas and oil.
Peeraphan said for the joint development talks to be successful, Thai negotiators should leave discussions on maritime borders for later.
Declining to speculate whether the talks would be successful, he only said that both countries stand to gain a great deal if the issue was resolved.
In 2001, Thailand and Cambodia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly develop the area. However, negotiations have made little progress and the dispute remains unresolved.
In recent years, there appear to be some signs of a thaw in the relations between the two countries and talks on the disputed area have been resumed.
However, it remains to be seen if they will be able to reach a mutually agreeable solution to the dispute.
In January 2023, Thailand and Cambodia signed a joint statement agreeing to push forward with talks on the development of the overlapping claims area.
