Prime Minister Hun Manet said Thai forces are occupying Cambodian territory after fighting last year despite a peace accord brokered by US President Donald Trump, and called on Thailand to allow a joint boundary commission to begin working on their disputed border.
In his first interview with international media on Tuesday, Hun Manet, who took over power from his father in 2023, hailed warmer ties with Washington and said his government was working to address cyber scam centres that have proliferated in the country.
Hun Manet travelled to Washington to attend a meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace this week, and said he hoped the new body could play a role in de-escalating the situation on the border, which he described as “fragile” despite a December ceasefire that ended renewed fighting.
The board was created to oversee a Gaza peace plan, but it could take on a broader role.
Thailand has said it is maintaining troop positions as part of de-escalation measures and has denied it is occupying territory.
“We are adhering to the joint statement, which agreed to maintain existing troop deployments. There has been no reinforcement,” Thailand’s Defence Ministry spokesperson, Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, said.
The comments from Cambodia’s leader on the border conflict underscore the risk that the conflict could reignite once again despite Trump continuing to promote the success of the peace deal.
The worst fighting in more than a decade, which broke out in July, has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and disrupted trade across the 817km border.
An October peace accord signed with Trump and Malaysia’s prime minister broke down within a matter of weeks before a new ceasefire was reached on Dec 27.
“We still have Thai forces occupy(ing) deep into Cambodian territory in many areas. This is further beyond even Thailand’s own unilateral claim... border line,” Hun Manet said.
He said Thai troops had laid shipping containers and barbed wire inside what Thailand had long recognised as Cambodian territory and residents were unable to return home.
“This is not an accusation but it’s a statement of the facts on the ground,” he said.
Cambodia could not accept what he called a “violation of our sovereignty or territorial integrity,” he said.
“The only way to verify that is using the technical mechanism that we have, based on treaties, based on all the agreements we have.
“So we hope that Thailand will agree and start to allow the JBC (joint boundary commission) to work as early as possible.”
He added that Thailand had cited its Feb 8 election as a reason not to begin demarcation work.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul rode a wave of nationalism in the election in the wake of the border conflict.
“Now the election is done, we hope that Thailand can, at least on a technical level, start measuring, start demarcating in the hot zone, so that we can go back to life,” Hun Manet said. — Reuters
