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BANGKOK - THAI nationalists who clashed on Saturday with locals and police near an ancient temple on the Cambodian border dispersed on Sunday, after making speeches in an event tightly controlled by the army.

The group from the royalist yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) said it had come to the border to fight for Thailand, and that it was the 'duty of every Thai'.

It brushed off resentment from locals, who were fearful that the activists would provoke a war with Cambodia, saying local villagers did not understand the issue.

And though the mood at the border was calm on Sunday - in contrast to the violent clashes a day earlier - there was every indication that the contentious Preah Vihear temple issue will continue to pose a challenge for the Thai government as domestic political players use it to inflame passions.

On Sunday, a group of 33 activists from the People's Rights and Liberty Protection Group, led by Mr Veera Somkwamkid, was taken by the army in a bus to a cliff called Mo I Daeng, from where the main structure of the Preah Vihear temple was visible on the next ridge. Journalists travelled in a separate bus.

From the cliff, the activists unfurled a white banner that said 'Get out of our land'. Some carried pictures of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and one held aloft a figure of a garuda, which is half-man and half-bird and carries the Hindu god Vishnu. It signifies the King's reign and is Thailand's official symbol.

The group is part of the PAD and while senior PAD leaders have distanced themselves from Mr Veera, he and others said on Sunday that they remained very much a part of the PAD. The PAD activists demanded that the military push out Cambodians from the disputed land, an area of about 485ha.

Citing a 1904 border demarcation, Mr Veera said: 'The PAD would like the Cambodian government to quickly move its people and soldiers out of this area, or else Thai people will have to do their duty in protecting the country's sovereignty.'

Asked whether he was conscious that his actions might ignite a war with Cambodia, Mr Veera replied that the war had already been started - by Cambodia.

Locals in the area remained deeply resentful of the PAD, and the military personnel at the site also appeared clearly unhappy with the turn of events on Saturday. Between 3,000 and 5,000 of the nationalists fought local Thai residents and police that day after trying to reach the temple. Dozens of people were injured.

Sep 21, 2009
By Nirmal Ghosh, Thailand Correspondent
Straits Times (Singapore)