The fighting in the border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia continues despite international attempts at mediation.
Dec 14, 2025, 05:23Dec 14, 2025, 05:23
On Sunday night, both sides reported attacks along the front. There is still no ceasefire, which was called for by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and announced by US President Donald Trump for Saturday evening.
Thai troops are transporting material in the conflict region.Image: keystone
«I reiterate Thailand’s unwavering commitment to peace. But peace must be real and sustainable and based on actions that respect agreements – not on empty words,” wrote Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow late Saturday evening (local time) on the online platform X.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister had called on the conflicting parties to a ceasefire from Saturday evening local time. And US President Trump also announced after telephone conversations with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and his Thai counterpart Anutin Charnvirakul that the two heads of government had agreed to “cease all hostilities starting this evening.” However, this has not been confirmed by the Cambodian and Thai sides.
The conflict stems from decades-long territorial disputes
The long-simmering border conflict between the two neighboring Southeast Asian countries flared up again a week ago. Since then, Thailand has reported 15 soldiers from its own armed forces killed and around 270 injured. The Cambodian side has not yet published any official figures on casualties in the army’s ranks, but spoke of eleven civilians killed and 59 injured.
In addition, according to the parties to the conflict, the fighting has forced a total of more than 600,000 people to flee on both sides of the border. Neither this information nor that about the victims can be independently verified.
The background to the conflict is a decades-long dispute over territorial claims. Both states accuse each other of first violating a ceasefire in the area along the approximately 800 kilometer long common border.
In July, both countries agreed to a ceasefire after heavy fighting. At the end of October, they signed a joint declaration in Malaysia in the presence of Trump that laid out steps towards a lasting peace. But in November the agreed ceasefire was initially suspended after another incident at the border. The situation has worsened again since December 7th. (sda/dpa)