By Xinhua,
Bangkok : Cambodian soldiers on Tuesday arrested three Thais who climbed over a fence from the Thai side to the overlapping area at the entrance of controversial Preah Vihear Temple which stands at the Thai-Cambodian border.
According to the report of Thai news network The Nation, Thai army failed so far to convince the Khmer side to free the three detained in the morning of Tuesday.
Local newspaper the Bangkok Post said on its website that a monk is among the arrested.
It is reportedly that the three were in an attempt to put a Thai flag on the disputed area. But Cambodian soldiers spotted and detained them.
Thai authorities are trying to negotiate with Cambodia about their release, said the post.
The Preah Vihear Temple, which straddles the Thai-Cambodian border atop the Dangrek Mountain, was listed as a World Heritage Site on July 7 by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.
Thailand’s Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama resigned last Thursday after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had overstepped his authority in supporting Cambodia’s application to have the temple classified as a World Heritage Site.
Cambodia started seeking the status of World Heritage Site for the temple in 2001, hoping for influx of tourists and international funding that normally accompanies the designation.
In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the 11-century classic Khmer-style temple and the land it occupies to Cambodia, a decision therefore rankling Thais.