Yesterday's meeting, coordinated by the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee, was called after both countries sent their soldiers into the 4.6sqkm overlapping area claimed by both countries. The resulting military build-up and standoff has sent border tensions soaring. The delegations from both countries deserve a little leeway, by all means. Based on letters exchanged between Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Prime Minister Hun Sen, Phnom Penh and Bangkok remain adamant in their holding on to a different map showing a different borderline.

In his latest letter, Mr Hun Sen reaffirmed that according to the "Annex I map" drawn up by the French in 1908 and used by the International Court of Justice in its 1962 judgement, the temple of Preah Vihear is "legally located approximately seven hundred metres inside Cambodian territory". Bangkok, meanwhile, has consistently disputed that the border line as shown in the Annex I map does not conform to the true watershed line, usually held as the mark for demarcation. The 4.6-sqkm area to the west of the temple is where the two lines overlap, and where the dispute is focused.

Evidently the dispute itself is one of a stalemate in nature, with neither side likely to yield. This is without considering that domestic politics in each country - the elections in Cambodia scheduled for Sunday and the anti-government forces in Thailand bent on using the issue to rouse public support - have come into play and turned an already difficult negotiation into a politically sensitive one.

It will take some very creative initiatives by both sides to break this impasse. The process will take time, and patience is exactly what the general public in both countries must accord the negotiating parties.

One thing the Thai delegates should learn from past handling of the whole Preah Vihear issue, is that it is definitely better to share the information regarding the negotiations with the public. Monopolising such a controversial issue and keeping it secret would only raise suspicions, which could fuel a belligerent attitude that could in turn easily be abused to provoke violence. This is exactly what Thailand and Cambodia cannot afford.