Maritime dispute with Cambodia remains a hurdle for joint oil exploration

The Thai government is grappling with a dilemma on how to deal with an unresolved  maritime border issue with Cambodia amid political pressure at home, while also pursuing joint development of the abundant crude oil and gas reserves in an area of the Gulf of Thailand over which the two have overlapping claims.

The two issues will be high on the agenda when Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet makes his first official visit to Thailand on February 7 since taking over from his father, Hun Sen, as the country’s premier.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told a Parliament session during a budget bill debate early this month that his government would push forward with negotiations to jointly develop oil resources in the Gulf of Thailand for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries.

“We are sitting on trillion-baht worth of resources. We should be able to negotiate and…