BANGKOK — Thai Prime Minister said Tuesday that direct conversations with Cambodian leaders Hun Manet and Hun Sen helped peacefully resolve recent border tensions. She dismissed protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul’s threats of military intervention while promising to separately review controversial border agreements with Cambodia.
PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra addressed the media on June 10 following the weekly cabinet meeting at Government House, providing an update on the situation along the Thai-Cambodian border. She said that the government had made every effort over the past week to reduce tensions and resolve the conflict through a coordinated multi-agency approach, with largely peaceful and orderly results. She thanked all those involved in the negotiation process.
At the policy level, security agencies and the military in the area coordinated bilateral cooperation under international law and mutual frameworks. She emphasized that all agencies from both Thailand and Cambodia had been in communication and that there would be no war.
High-Level Diplomatic Talks
“I personally spoke with the Cambodian prime minister, Gen. Hun Manet, and Samdech Hun Sen, the president of the Privy Council and the Senate, to coordinate and negotiate to uphold national sovereignty and prioritise the interests of the people,” Paetongtarn said. “The result was that we managed to negotiate peacefully and avoid violent clashes”
Asked if she held any “trump cards” in the negotiations with the Cambodian leadership that led to the decision to reduce the troop presence, the prime minister smiled and said she had simply approached the talks with sincerity.
She emphasised that both countries were honest with each other and no one wanted the people of either country to be in conflict. Both countries want peace so that they can focus on moving the economy forward instead.
At the local level, Thai security authorities and military units had held several talks with Cambodian military leaders. The talks went smoothly, she said, as both sides were already familiar with each other.
“Samdech Hun Sen sent senior commanders and General Nyek Bun Chhay, the former deputy prime minister, to help coordinate the response, inspect disputed areas and report back to him. This led to a better mutual understanding and a normalisation of troop levels in the disputed zone, while troops in other areas remained unchanged,” Paetongtarn said.
JBC Meeting Confirmed
The Foreign Ministry reiterated that the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meeting will take place on 14 June, with confirmations expected from both countries. As for Cambodia’s desire to take the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Thailand reiterated that it does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has pursued the matter through diplomatic channels, which it described as a sound and internationally recognised practice that has always yielded good results.
“Some aspects of this matter cannot be made public because we must respect the confidentiality of the negotiations between the two nations. This is a necessary part of the process,” she added.
Treat Each Matter Separately
Responding to protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul’s demand to cancel the 2001 MOU 44 on maritime disputes, in addition to his call to cancel MOU 43 on land border demarcation agreements, the prime minister said the government would consider each issue individually.
“We must treat each matter separately, as we have assured Cambodia. Mixing everything together makes things unclear. We will tackle the unresolved issues one by one. The government will make sure that all aspects are thoroughly examined,” she concluded.
Sondhi’s Threats
Sondhi, who previously led protests calling for military intervention against Thaksin Shinawatra’s government in 2006 and supported the coup against Yingluck Shinawatra’s government in 2014, threatened the third Shinawatra prime minister, warning that if the JBC meeting fails to resolve the disputes, they would call for the military to declare martial law to deal with Cambodia and “Thai traitors.”
“I believe the Thai people will certainly join me. Therefore, I want to tell Ms. Paetongtarn and Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai that history is about to repeat itself,” Sondhi said.
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