BANGKOK – The United States is set to deliver $45 million in aid to Thailand and Cambodia, aiming to foster regional peace and economic growth. This announcement comes from a senior official at the U.S. State Department, highlighting America’s ongoing commitment to stability in Southeast Asia after its crucial role in resolving last year’s border conflicts between the two nations.
Michael DeSombre, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, shared this development during a virtual press conference in Bangkok. While in the Thai capital, he engaged in discussions with high-ranking Thai officials on implementing the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords, the ceasefire agreement established in October.
Tensions along the Thai-Cambodian border, stemming from historical territorial disputes, were at the center of the previous clashes.
“The peace restored at the Thai-Cambodian frontier opens doors for the U.S. to deepen collaborations with these nations, fostering regional stability and supporting our vision for a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” DeSombre remarked.
Following his visit to Bangkok, DeSombre is set to continue his diplomatic mission with meetings in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, on Saturday.
The U.S. aid package includes $15 million dedicated to stabilizing border areas and aiding displaced populations, $10 million allocated for clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance, and $20 million earmarked for initiatives targeting scam operations and drug trafficking, among various other programs, as outlined by DeSombre.
But details of the aid packages were still under discussion, he said.
The fighting in July and December displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Thailand and Cambodia and killed about 100 soldiers and civilians. Land mines left over from decades of civil war in Cambodia are a continuing problem, while Thailand claims newly laid mines in frontier areas were responsible for wounding its patrolling soldiers in about a dozen incidents last year.
Online scams originating in Southeast Asia, especially from Cambodia and Myanmar, are major transnational crime problems that have swindled billions of dollars from victims around the would.
U.S. assistance to the countries of Southeast Asia and other parts of the world for humanitarian and development programs was severely cut last year when the Trump administration shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.
Cambodia and Thailand initially clashed for five days in late July before agreeing on a preliminary ceasefire. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the time pressed for an unconditional ceasefire, but there was little headway until U.S. President Donald Trump intervened. Trump said that he warned the Thai and Cambodian leaders that Washington wouldn’t move forward with trade agreements if hostilities continued.
The ceasefire was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
New fighting broke out early last month, but the Thai and Cambodian defense ministers signed a new pact on Dec. 27, vowing to implement the October agreement.
“We are very focused on pursuing peace in and around the world,” DeSombre told journalists. “President Trump is a president of peace, and really believes that peace is critical to economic growth and prosperity.”
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