Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol said his government is seeking to ease tensions with Thailand and safeguard a fragile ceasefire, while rejecting Bangkok’s claim that recent border clashes were aimed at combating scam operations.
In a special interview with Bloomberg in Phnom Penh, Sun warned that linking the fighting to alleged scam centers risks escalating the conflict.
“You cannot use the one issue of the scam centers to invade another country,” Sun Chanthol said in an interview with Bloomberg Thursday in Phnom Penh. “Do not add fuel to the fire.”
Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a ceasefire last month after border violence killed dozens of soldiers and civilians and displaced more than half a million people.
Before the ceasefire, Thailand’s military described the clashes as part of a campaign against scam networks operating across the border, a characterization Cambodia disputes.
Sun said Cambodia wants displaced residents to return home and stressed that the conflict had imposed a heavy human toll. He said trade continued to expand despite the unrest, with exports rising about 17% last year.
“Cambodia needs peace, and I am sure Thailand also needs peace, in order to build our respective countries for the benefit of our respective citizens,” he said.