Thailand and Cambodia to resume ceasefire talks after deadly border
clashes
[December 23, 2025]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Thailand and Cambodia will resume talks
later this week to work toward a more durable ceasefire along their
border, Thailand’s foreign minister said Monday, stressing that progress
depends on detailed bilateral negotiations rather than public
declarations that internationalize the dispute.
A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be
witnessed by U.S. President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details
to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Foreign
Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an Association of Southeast
Asian Nations foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
While Cambodia has publicly said it is ready for an unconditional
ceasefire, Bangkok never received any direct proposal and Thailand
believed such statements were aimed at increasing international pressure
rather than resolving the issue, Sihasak said following the ASEAN
meeting that was arranged to seek ways to end the crisis.
The general border committee involving both nations will meet Wednesday
to iron out detailed measures toward a lasting ceasefire, he said.
Thailand appreciates the U.S. effort but “in the end, it’s up to the two
counties to be ready and sort things out bilaterally,” he said.
“This time, let's thrash out the details and make sure the ceasefire
reflects the situation on the ground and the ceasefire is one that
really holds, and both sides are going to fully respect the ceasefire,”
Sihasak told a news conference.
The border conflict escalated into deadly combat two weeks ago and
derailed the agreement promoted by Trump, which ended five days of
fighting in July. The agreement was brokered by Malaysia and pushed
through under pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade
privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. The ceasefire was
formalized with more detail at an October regional summit in Malaysia
attended by Trump.
Meanwhile, fighting persists and both sides continue to trade
accusations.
Cambodia's Defense Ministry in a statement on Tuesday condemned Thai
aggression in its territory that it said targeted civilian areas. It
said Cambodia wants a just, equitable and lasting solution to the
dispute and demands that Thailand halt combat and withdraw its troops.
Malaysia, who is this year's ASEAN chair, said in a statement after
Monday's meeting that ASEAN foreign ministers “expressed hope for
de-escalation of hostilities as soon as possible.”
The Philippines, who takes over as ASEAN chair next year, said in a
separate statement that it is prepared to assume the role of facilitator
or mediator between Cambodia and Thailand if necessary.
The fighting has drawn international concern. The U.S. Department of
State on Sunday urged both sides to “end hostilities, withdraw heavy
weapons, cease emplacement of landmines, and fully implement the Kuala
Lumpur Peace Accords, which include mechanisms to accelerate
humanitarian demining and address border issues.”
The fighting is a result of a dispute over patches of territory claimed
by both nations along their shared border.
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Village security volunteer patrol while Thai military fires
artillery towards Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Surin
province, Thailand. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
The latest round of fighting began Dec. 8, a day after a border
skirmish wounded two Thai soldiers. Since then combat has broken out
on several fronts, with Thailand carrying out airstrikes in Cambodia
with F-16 fighter jets and Cambodia firing thousands of medium-range
BM-21 rockets from truck-mounted launchers that can launch up to 40
rockets simultaneously.
More than three dozen people on both sides of the border have
officially been reported killed in the past week of fighting, while
more than half a million have been displaced, according to
officials.
Under the October truce Thailand was to to release 18 Cambodian
soldiers held prisoner and both sides were to begin removing heavy
weapons and land mines along the border. But the two countries have
carried on a bitter propaganda war with minor cross-border violence.
Land mine explosions have been a particularly sensitive issue for
Thailand, which has lodged several protests after alleging Cambodia
laid new mines that wounded soldiers patrolling the frontier.
Cambodia insists the mines were remnants of its decades-long civil
war, which ended in 1999.
“These were clearly newly planted landmines, and this was confirmed
by the ASEAN observer team," Sihasak said Monday, calling it a
“clear violation” of the October agreement.
The Thai navy said Sunday one of its marines on the front line
sustained serious injuries to his right leg from stepping on a land
mine.
The navy also claimed to have discovered a large number of abandoned
weapons and explosive ordnance while securing an area described as a
Cambodian stronghold, which showed “deliberate planning and
intentional use of anti-personnel landmines” against Thai troops.
The Thai Foreign Ministry said it would send letters of protest to
Cambodia and Zambia, the current chair of the Anti-Personnel Mine
Ban Convention, also known as the Ottawa Convention, to pursue
further action under the convention’s mechanisms.
Cambodia did not immediately respond to the Thai claims.
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