Clashes reignited on Dec 7 with at least 44 people killed and more than half a million civilians displaced. - Reuters
BANGKOK: The Thai military said ceasefire talks with Cambodia, set to begin on Wednesday (Dec 24), are expected to conclude with a meeting of the countries’ defence ministers on Dec 27, as the two sides seek to end weeks of deadly clashes.
The talks are set to start at 4pm Bangkok time in Thailand’s Chanthaburi province, which borders Cambodia.
Thailand’s Ministry of Defense outlined several demands to be discussed ahead of the bilateral meeting of the General Border Committee on Saturday.
If secretariat-level discussions fail to reach agreement on key technical frameworks such as troop deployments, the Thai side won’t proceed with the GBC meeting or sign any agreement on Dec 27, the defence ministry said.
The discussions will mark the first bilateral dialogue since clashes erupted on Dec. 7, with at least 44 people killed and more than half a million civilians displaced on both sides of their 800-kilometere border. Five days of clashes in July ended with an initial ceasefire agreement mediated by Malaysia and US President Donald Trump.
The Thai military plans to raise five issues in the talks:
Both sides have denied targeting civilians, claiming they are only attacking military targets.
The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority has separately condemned what it called Thailand’s military aggression and campaign of misinformation, the Khmer Times reported.
Cambodia asked that the meetings be held in Kuala Lumpur instead, but Thailand rejected the request, Thai defense spokesman Surasant Kongsiri told Bloomberg News earlier.
The two sides normally take turns hosting the bilateral meetings, and the last General Border Committee meeting was held in September, in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province. - Bloomberg
