Effect of Cambodia’s revetment about the 73rd Pillar on maritime boundary between Thailand – Cambodia

Abstract

Cambodia had built a revetment around land terminus point between Thailand – Cambodia (the 73rd boundary pillar). Concern have arisen as to whether this permanent construction could affect future maritime boundary delimitation between Thailand and Cambodia. Under Article 11 of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS 1982), permanent coastal works form an integral part of the coast and can be used as basepoints for establishing a median line. This article scrutinizes the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on the Romania-Ukraine maritime boundary and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) decision in the people’s republic of China - the republic of the Philippines case. These cases involve environmental factors, both natural and man-made, similar to Cambodia’s construction of a revetment for sediment retention. Such structures could potentially affect the future maritime boundary delimitation between Thailand and Cambodia. The article analyzes UNCLOS 1982 alongside the ruling of ICCJ and PCA to determine whether and how the Cambodia’s revetment will affect the maritime boundary delimitation between Thailand and Cambodia. It also examines the potential impacts on the environment and coastal engineering.This article refers to the location of the 73^rd Pillar recently. (This article is based on an analysis of the recent location of the 73^rd boundary pillar.)