Landmine explodes at Khmer ruin

The Bangkok Post reports that a Cambodian soldier may have stepped on a landmine inside the ruins of the ancient Phreah Vihear temple.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhaya has ordered Thai troops to stay on alert along the border with Cambodia. The order follows a recent border dispute.

Bangkok earlier protested that Phnom Penh was building living quarters for its officials close to the frontier, and deployed about 100 paramilitary rangers along a one kilometre stretch of the border, from Pha Mo E-Daeng to Phu Makhua.

And TVNZ reports that Thailand's defence minister has said his troops would not withdraw from the border stand off with Cambodia.

Relations between the two countries, which share a common border of 800 km, hit bottom in January 2003 when a nationalist mob torched the Thai embassy in the Phnom Penh.

And Mathaba.Net carries a report suggesting Thailand's defence minister is keen to play down the dispute, saying the issue will be settled through negotiations and that he will be visiting Phnom Penh next month to "clear the air".

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the cabinet meeting in the northeastern province of Buriram, Thai Defence Minister Thammarak Isarangura Na Ayutthaya said the dispute stemmed from Thai and Cambodian traders entering restricted areas, and both sides were to blame.

General Thammarak said under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by Thai and Cambodian authorities last year nobody was allowed to enter areas still in dispute.

He suggested both sides should now follow the MOU.

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