BANGKOK – On Saturday, Thailand and Cambodia formalized a ceasefire to bring an end to the recent weeks of armed conflict along their shared border, where disputes over territorial claims had led to heightened tensions. The ceasefire officially commenced at noon, local time.
This newly inked agreement not only halts ongoing hostilities but also stipulates that neither nation will engage in further military maneuvers or infringe upon the other’s airspace for military activities.
While both countries have been embroiled in conflict, only Thailand resorted to airstrikes, targeting locations in Cambodia, with such actions occurring as recently as Saturday morning, according to the Cambodian defense ministry.
A significant aspect of the accord is the provision that Thailand, following a 72-hour period of peace, will release 18 Cambodian soldiers who have been detained since clashes erupted in July. This release has been a principal demand from Cambodia throughout the negotiations.
The agreement was ceremoniously signed by Cambodia’s Defense Minister, Tea Seiha, and Thailand’s Defense Minister, Nattaphon Narkphanit, at a border checkpoint. This followed three days of discussions among military officials under the framework of the General Border Committee.
The accord reiterates a commitment to a previous ceasefire that concluded a five-day conflict in July, along with subsequent agreements. It also outlines 16 measures aimed at de-escalating the situation further.
The original July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
Despite those deals, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued, escalating in early December to widespread heavy fighting.
Thailand has lost 26 soldiers and one civilian as a direct result of the combat since Dec. 7, according to officials. Thailand has also reported 44 civilian deaths from collateral effects of the situation.
Cambodia hasn’t issued an official figure on military casualties, but says that 30 civilians have been killed and 90 injured. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from affected areas on both sides of the border.
Each side blamed the other for initiating the fighting and claimed to be acting in self-defense.
The agreement also calls on both sides to adhere to international agreements against deploying land mines, a major concern of Thailand. Thai soldiers along the border have been wounded in at least nine incidents this year by what they said were newly planted Cambodian mines. Cambodia says the mines were left over from decades of civil war that ended in the late 1990s.
Another clause says the two sides “agree to refrain from disseminating false information or fake news.”
The agreement also says previously established measures to demarcate the border will be resumed and the two sides also agree to cooperate on an effort to suppress transnational crimes.
That is primarily a reference to online scams perpetrated by organized crime that have bilked victims around the world of billions of dollars each year. Cambodia is a center for such criminal enterprises.
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