PREAH VIHEAR :Cambodian and Thai military officials were to meet Thursday in a bid to prevent more clashes a day after a deadly border shoot-out which prompted hundreds of Thai expatriates to return home.
Thai and Cambodian military officials were scheduled to hold talks at 11:00 am (0400 GMT) in Thailand to discuss troop levels and weaponry, as both governments said they were seeking to calm the situation and mend relations.
Gunfights broke out Wednesday in a number of small plots of disputed land near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, a UN World Heritage site on Cambodian territory and the focus of months of tensions.
"My government still sticks to negotiation, although the clash was not serious," Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat told reporters.
Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong said that the situation along the border had eased since Wednesday, and that diplomats from both countries met in Bangkok shortly after fighting erupted.
"The Thai ministry of foreign affairs asked the Cambodian embassy in Thailand for a meeting and there was a good conversation," Hor Namhong said.
Two Cambodian soldiers were killed in Wednesday's clashes and several from each side were wounded. Thailand said Thursday that seven of its soldiers were hurt.
A third Cambodian soldier died early Thursday of smoke inhalation from repeatedly firing his rocket-launcher, Cambodian troops along the border said. There was no immediate official confirmation.
The situation on the border appeared calmer Thursday as soldiers smiled and joked, an AFP correspondent there said, but civilians have fled the area.
Some 432 of about 1,500 Thais living in Cambodia also returned to Thailand after the Bangkok government appealed for anyone not on urgent business to leave, an official said.
"We have convinced them to return on a Thai Airways flight," said foreign ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat.
Cambodian riot police were deployed Wednesday in front of the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh, which was set on fire by anti-Thai rioters in 2003, in case of reprisals.
Cambodian and Thai officials have disputed who started Wednesday's clashes, which prompted calls for calm and restraint from both the United States and UN.
The Cambodian army has also said it is holding 13 Thai soldiers prisoner after capturing them in a disputed area during fighting, but Thai military and foreign ministry denied any of their troops had been captured.
The current stand-off between the neighbours first flared in July after Preah Vihear was awarded World Heritage status by the UN cultural body UNESCO, angering some Thai nationalists who still claim ownership of the site.
The situation quickly escalated into a military confrontation, with up to 1,000 Cambodian and Thai troops facing off for six weeks, although both sides in August agreed to reduce troop numbers in the main disputed area.
Tensions flared again this week after talks on Monday aimed at cooling the months-long standoff failed.
The Cambodian-Thai border has never been fully demarcated, in part because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.
NEW Y AAJ TV
