ThailandCambodia

The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia have expanded a ceasefire deal in the presence of US President Donald Trump, who is in Malaysia for the ASEAN summit. In July, the president helped bring an end to their five-day border conflict.

Thailand and Cambodia sign an enhanced ceasefire agreement following a deadly five-day conflict along their border in July.

Thailand and Cambodia have signed an expanded ceasefire agreement in the presence of United States President Donald Trump in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, building on a deal that ended deadly border fighting in July.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the agreement on Sunday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur, shortly after Trump’s arrival.

​​”We did something that a lot of people said couldn’t be done,” said Trump, who co-signed the agreement along with summit host Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, as he made his first trip to Asia since returning to the White House.

Thailand’s Anutin said the agreement creates “the building blocks for a lasting peace”, while the Cambodian premier Hun called it a “historic day”.

Tariffs wielded as threat

The agreement builds on a truce reached three months ago when Trump used the threat of higher tariffs against both countries to persuade them to end five days of fighting that resulted in dozens of deaths and the displacement of hundreds of thousands.

The first phase of the agreement involves Thailand releasing 18 Cambodian soldiers, and the removal of heavy weapons from the border region, with Malaysian troops to be deployed to ensure fighting does not restart.

Territory along the 800km (500-mile) frontier between Thailand and Cambodia has been disputed for decades.

Following the signing of the ceasefire agreement on Sunday, Trump inked separate economic deals with Cambodia and Thailand, involving an agreement on reciprocal trade with Phnom Penh and a deal on critical minerals with Bangkok.

Malaysia’s Anwar, who was also present at the signing, praised the agreement during his opening remarks at the summit, saying “it reminds us that reconciliation is not concession, but an act of courage.”

Thais cautious

Reporting from Sa Kaeo, Thailand, Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng said the agreement signed on Sunday essentially reinforced “agreements that have already been made”.

Malaysian troops had been supposed to deploy under the initial peace agreement signed in July, but had not yet arrived, he said.

He said that while Thais welcomed “any kind of move towards peace”, they were viewing the agreement as “the beginning of the end” to the conflict, rather than hailing it as having resolved the dispute in itself.

“The devil is going to be in the details of this agreement,” he said.

He said the Thai military had been working to clear some disputed border areas, at the same time as some villages had been building new bomb shelters in recent weeks.

“So people here are still concerned this could go either way,” he said.

Ou Virak, president of Phnom Penh’s Future Forum think tank, told The Associated Press news agency that Trump wielding the threat of tariffs had been a significant factor in bringing the fighting to a halt.

“That’s probably the main reason, if not the only reason, but definitely the main reason why the two sides agreed immediately to the ceasefire.”

Now, he said, “there’s a ceremony for Trump to be in front of cameras” so he can be “seen as the champion that brings an end to wars and conflicts”, giving him “more ammunition for his bid for [the] Nobel Peace Prize”.

The death toll on both sides now stands at 32, as fears grow of a larger conflict breaking out between the neighbours.

Cambodian officials have reported another 12 people killed as a result of the ongoing border dispute with Thailand, with the death toll on both sides now standing at 32, as fears grow that the Southeast Asian neighbours may become engulfed in an extended conflict.

Cambodian Ministry of National Defence spokesperson Maly Socheata told reporters on Saturday that seven more civilians and five soldiers were confirmed dead. One other Cambodian man was earlier reported killed when Thai rockets hit the Buddhist pagoda he was hiding in on Thursday.

At least 50 Cambodian civilians and more than 20 soldiers have also been injured, the spokesperson said.

Thailand has reported 13 civilians – including children – as well as six soldiers killed over the past two days of fighting. An additional 29 Thai soldiers and 30 civilians have also been wounded in Cambodian attacks.

Cambodian newspaper The Khmer Times, quoting officials in Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province, said about 20,000 residents have so far been evacuated from the country’s northern border with Thailand.

More than 138,000 people have also been evacuated from Thailand’s border regions, with about 300 evacuation centres opened, according to Thai officials. On Friday, Thailand declared martial law in eight districts along the border with Cambodia.

The decades-old conflict – centred around a contested section of the Thai-Cambodian border – re-erupted on Thursday after a landmine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers.

Tensions spilled over on Thursday with Thailand and Cambodia carrying out direct attacks on one another’s territory, with both sides accusing the other of opening fire first.

Thailand said the Cambodian military launched long-range rockets at civilian targets in the country, including a strike on a petrol station that killed at least six people.

The Thai military then scrambled an F-16 fighter jet to bomb targets in Cambodia, including the reported strike on the Buddhist pagoda, which resulted in one civilian casualty.

Cambodia has accused Thailand of using a large number of cluster munitions – a controversial and widely condemned weapon – calling it a clear violation of international law.

Phumtham Wechayachai, Thailand’s acting prime minister, said on Friday that Cambodia may be guilty of war crimes due to the deaths of civilians, as well as damage caused to a hospital.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held an emergency meeting focused on the clashes behind closed doors late on Friday in New York, but did not issue an official public statement after the meeting.

The Associated Press news agency, citing an unnamed council diplomat, reported that all 15 UNSC members called on the parties to de-escalate fighting, show restraint and resolve the dispute peacefully.

Thai PM refuses to be ‘bullied’ as tension flares in a long-running dispute that turned deadly last month.

Cambodia has threatened to halt imports of fruit and vegetables from Thailand unless its neighbour lifts border restrictions as tempers flare during a long-running dispute that turned deadly last month.

The ban will take effect if Thailand doesn’t lift all border crossing restrictions within 24 hours, Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen said in a televised speech on Monday. The announcement followed weekend talks that had aimed to defuse the tensions.

“If the Thai side does not open border crossings to normalcy today, tomorrow, we will implement throughout the border a ban on the imports of fruit and vegetables to Cambodia,” said Hun Sen, a former prime minister and father of the current premier.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra retorted that her country would not be bullied or threatened and warned that “unofficial” communication would harm diplomatic efforts.

“Messages via unofficial channels do not bring good results for both countries,” she said after meeting Thai military commanders and officials from the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs.

The rhetoric and diplomatic efforts come after decades of arguments over border territories have flared up.

On May 28, soldiers exchanged fire in a disputed area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of Cambodia, Thailand and Laos meet. A Cambodian soldier was killed during the skirmish.

The Thai and Cambodian armies both said they acted in self-defence but agreed to reposition their soldiers in a bid to avoid future confrontations. However, heightened tensions remain.

Bangkok has tightened border controls since the clash and threatened to close the border and cut off electricity supplies to Cambodia.

Phnom Penh ordered troops on Friday to stay on “full alert” and announced it would cease buying Thai electric power, internet bandwidth and produce while also ordering local television stations not to screen Thai films.

Little progress

Amid the rise in diplomatic temperature, officials from the two countries met over the weekend in Phnom Penh to discuss their conflicting territorial claims.

While both sides said the meeting was held in a good atmosphere, it appears little progress was made.

The dispute dates back to the drawing of their 820km (510-mile) frontier, largely done during French colonial rule of Indochina from 1887 to 1954.

Parts of the land border are undemarcated and include ancient temples that both sides have contested for decades. The region has seen sporadic violence since 2008, resulting in at least 28 deaths.

Cambodia on Sunday formally asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to help resolve the dispute in four areas, including the site of last month’s clash and three others where ancient temples are located.

Cambodia has repeatedly asked Thailand to join the case, but Bangkok insists on a bilateral solution. It rejected a 2013 ICJ ruling that a disputed area next to the Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia.

Both countries have agreed to participate in another round of meetings on border issues in Thailand in September.