BANGKOK, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Thailand will appoint new Foreign Minister to take part in the first bilateral ministerial talks between Thailand and Cambodia over the border territory dispute on Monday, according to Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Friday.

    After presiding at a press conference to declare Thailand's assuming the ASEAN chairmanship Friday afternoon, Samak said that the new Foreign Minister will be named later in the evening, but he did not disclose the name.

    The Foreign Minister post has been vacated since Noppadon Pattama resigned earlier this month after the Constitution Court ruled that his act of signing a joint communique on June 18 to endorse Thailand's support for Cambodia's bid to list the ancient Preah Vihear temple at the Thai-Cambodia border as a World Heritage site without parliament approval was in violation of the Constitution.

    Thailand and Cambodia are now engaged in a border dispute regarding a 4.6-sq kilometer area adjacent to the ancient Preah Vihear temple, which was listed as World Heritage Site following at he United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) meeting earlier this month.

    An International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled the temple belonged to Cambodia. But Some groups in Thailand were reluctant to accept that. With Cambodia's successful bid to list the temple as World Heritage site, the border conflict about the adjacent border areas both claimed by the two countries, has again became a hot issue in the region.