Hundreds of thousands of tourists travel to the island of Koh Kood, in the Gulf of Thailand, every year. Thailand's fourth-largest island might not be as popular among foreign visitors as Phuket or Koh Samui, but its relevance is rising — and not only because it's now in the center of an international dispute.

The island is believed to be sitting atop massive gas and oil reserves. Its exploitation has been on hold due to Cambodia claiming parts of the territory, but now, with the growing demand for energy in both Asian countries, the conflict has been pushed to forefront.

The roots of the row, however, reach well back into the colonial era.

In the early 1900s, France ruled the area known as Indochina, comprised of several of its colonies that also included present-day Cambodia.

In 1904, Indochina ceded Koh Kood to Thailand, which was then called Siam. The border was subsequently settled with the Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907.

By 1972, Indochina was defunct and Cambodia claimed its side of the maritime boundaries from the treaty included the southern part of the island. Thailand disagreed, and has said it controls all of Koh Kood.

Tita Sanglee, an........

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