December 28, 2025, 4:35 p.mDecember 28, 2025, 4:40 p.m
On Saturday, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to an immediate ceasefire.Image: keystone
The ceasefire agreed between Thailand and Cambodia after weeks of fighting is holding for the second day in a row. According to a spokeswoman for the Cambodian Defense Ministry, the situation along the border between the two Southeast Asian countries has remained calm since Saturday afternoon local time.
The day before, the defense ministers of Thailand and Cambodia signed an agreement that prohibits “all types of weapons, attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructure and military targets by both sides – in all cases and in all areas”. The agreement brought the fighting, which lasted almost three weeks, to a standstill. Since the beginning of December, more than 100 people have died in the fighting, and over half a million residents on both sides have been forced to flee.
The two countries received international recognition for cessation of hostilities. “The ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia gives hope,” commented Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on
The Chinese government recently intervened for this purpose. Foreign Minister Wang Yi invited his two counterparts from Thailand and Cambodia to a meeting in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, where the top diplomats will meet for talks on Sunday and Monday. Representatives of the armed forces of China, Thailand and Cambodia are also expected to take part in the deliberations. The aim is to consolidate the agreed ceasefire, resume exchanges and build political trust between the two neighboring states. China wants to provide a platform for this and says it wants to play a constructive role in stabilizing bilateral relations.
Dispute over territorial claims
The ceasefire will be monitored and observed internationally for the first 72 hours before Thailand is scheduled to release a total of 18 Cambodian prisoners of war on Tuesday. Thailand’s Foreign Ministry spoke of a demonstration of goodwill in this context. Compliance with a permanent ceasefire should be ensured by bilateral “border coordination units” under the observation of a team from the Southeast Asian community of states Asean, the joint statement continued.
The background to the hostilities is a decades-long dispute over territorial claims. There had already been heavy fighting in July with numerous deaths; after a few days a ceasefire was agreed. But in November the ceasefire was suspended after another border incident. The situation has worsened since December 7th and, after a border skirmish, new fighting broke out at several points along the 800-kilometer-long border. Both sides accused each other of being responsible for the escalation.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the border. Over 100 people were killed in the fighting, including several dozen civilians. An exact number is unknown; Cambodia initially did not provide any information about fallen soldiers.
Conflict dates back to colonial times
The conflict between the two countries has been simmering for decades and dates back to the colonial period in the 19th century. Some of the borders that were arbitrarily drawn by the colonial power France at the time still cause disputes today.
At the center of the conflict is the Preah Vihear temple, a structure from the Khmer Empire period. The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia. Nevertheless, Thailand has repeatedly asserted territorial claims to the temple and the surrounding border area.
At the same time, the conflict between the two states is also fueled by domestic political interests and increasing nationalism. Politicians on both sides are using the fighting to consolidate their own support.
The populations in Cambodia and Thailand are both predominantly Buddhist. Almost 72 million people live in Thailand and between 17 and 18 million in Cambodia. There is also a clear economic imbalance between the two countries: the gross domestic product per capita in Thailand is more than two and a half times as high as in Cambodia. (sda/dpa)