Cambodia's border disputes, especially along the frontier with Thailand, keep politicians, analysts and journalists talking constantly. The issue belongs to all Cambodians, not to any individual, group or party.

Some politicians and independent journalists see the Thai border conflict as a distraction, a way of pulling public attention away from something larger than a border clash. In their view, those in power believe the issue can be used to rally citizens behind them.

After fighting along the border stopped, opposition politicians accused the current leadership of allowing Khmer land to slip into Thai hands. Some opposition figures who had fled abroad to seek asylum have since returned and now back the government. They repeat the leadership's line and attack critics: any Cambodian who says the country has lost territory, or that the government is causing those losses, is branded a traitor. This comes as the ruling Cambodian People's Party, led by Prime Minister Hun Manet, who studied in the United States, is cracking down on critics of its policies.

Hun Manet has been exchanging letters with Oum Sophan, an exiled opposition official, inviting him to bring documents, evidence and witnesses to a meeting where both sides can compare findings. The aim is to determine whether Cambodia actually lost land between border posts 52 and 59 in Kamrieng district, Battambang province, after the clashes between Cambodian and Thai troops.

Oum Sophan has agreed to send a delegation of 10 members, led by his representative, to talks with government officials in Phnom Penh after 28 November. The government is busy preparing for the Francophonie summit and for the third round of joint boundary commission talks with Thailand, scheduled for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 24 to 27 November. Oum Sophan had originally proposed a public forum on the border issue from 2 to 7 November.

He also wants an advance pardon for the delegation, which he says would show the government's genuine goodwill toward national reconciliation. He is also asking for security and safety guarantees. He argued that such dialogue should promote national reconciliation, unity and solidarity, as well as joint efforts to defend Cambodian territory against what he calls Thai aggression.

For its part, the government gave Oum Sophan until the end of October to decide whether to take part. On Wednesday, 21 October, Hun Manet set out conditions. Members of the opposition delegation must be in Cambodia two days before the meeting, bring concrete evidence, and refrain from any activity beyond discussing the border, whether in public or in private. Hun Manet also used a familiar Khmer saying to warn against opportunists: 'Don't act like the fish that sneaks in to steal the eggs.'

The debate also risks drawing Cambodians away from the central question. Ruling and opposition supporters, both at home and abroad, want to know the same thing: whether Cambodia has lost territory, and if so, how much it has lost to Thailand compared with the land ceded to Vietnam under earlier treaties and cooperation agreements.