The tour was intended to assert a claim amid a dispute

Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai will visit Koh Kut in Trat on Saturday to reaffirm Thailand’s territorial sovereignty over the island amid the maritime territorial dispute with Cambodia.

Mr Phumtham, who is also deputy prime minister, said he would lead a delegation to inspect the island and boost the morale of soldiers stationed on the island to guard the border between Thailand and Cambodia.

The Permanent Secretary and Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defense, as well as the Chief of Staff of the Royal Thai Navy, will also join the delegation, he said.

“We will go there to reaffirm Thailand’s sovereignty over Koh Kut and build confidence among local residents,” he said.

Asked about the establishment of a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) to negotiate the maritime areas claimed by the two countries, Mr Phumtham said the matter was being handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which will soon propose the names of potential members to the cabinet.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra had earlier said the JTC was expected to be formed within the next two weeks. The committee will resume negotiations with Cambodia on the Overlapping Claims Area (OCA), based on the 2001 memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries.

Both Thailand and Cambodia claim sovereignty over the energy-rich OCA, which covers an area of ​​about 26,000 square kilometers in the Gulf of Thailand.

Cambodia submitted its first claim in 1972, which Thailand rejected. The following year, Thailand submitted its counterclaim.

Mr. Phumtham said on Thursday that the committee would be headed by a deputy prime minister for national security and would include officials from the ministries of Defense, Energy, Foreign Affairs and Finance, the State Council as well as than other competent agencies.

Two other subcommittees will also be formed to facilitate negotiations, Mr Phumtham said.

“I hope the government’s efforts regarding overlapping claims will help clarify things,” he said.

Asked about the claim that Thailand lost sovereignty over the island when it signed the 2001 memorandum of understanding with Cambodia, Mr Phumtham said such “false information” was politically motivated.

“The island has been part of Thai territory for a long time,” he said.

Responding to critics who are calling on the government to revoke the 2001 MoU, Mr Phumtham said previous administrations chose not to revoke the 2001 MoU because it is considered the most effective channel to discuss and negotiate the maritime border between countries.

These calls come as the government announces its intention to resume OCA negotiations with Cambodia.

Paiboon Nititawan, secretary-general of the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), said on Thursday that party chief General Prawit Wongsuwon had asked party MPs to push for the revocation of the 2001 memorandum of understanding “in order to protect the maritime sovereignty of Thailand.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in 2001, when the Thaksin Shinawatra administration was in power, to jointly develop parts of the OCA and demarcate a maritime boundary.

Under the MoU, maritime boundary demarcation and joint development are to be carried out as an “indivisible package”, with the establishment of a Thailand-Cambodia JTC to discuss it.

Several rounds of negotiations have taken place since then, but no progress has been made, mainly due to the dispute over the demarcation of the maritime boundary.

The 2001 memorandum of understanding attracted public attention after observers pointed out that if the document was used as a basis for negotiations on the management of the OCA, Thailand risked losing its sovereignty over Koh Kut.