Thailand and Cambodia are preparing to hold fresh talks next week aimed at reviving a ceasefire after renewed border clashes between the two Southeast Asian neighbors entered a third week, according to Thailand’s foreign minister.
The planned discussions come after a ceasefire agreement signed in July collapsed earlier this month, triggering the worst fighting between the two ASEAN member states in decades. At least 41 people have been killed and nearly one million displaced since hostilities resumed, officials said.
Thailand’s foreign minister, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, said senior officials from both countries would meet again following initial face-to-face talks held on Monday on the sidelines of a regional summit in Malaysia. It was the first direct meeting since the violence reignited.
Speaking after the meeting, Phuangketkeow suggested the earlier ceasefire had been rushed, saying it was finalized under pressure to coincide with a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump rather than to ensure durability on the ground.
“We were sometimes in a rush because the U.S. wanted it signed by the visit of President Trump,” Phuangketkeow said. He added that future negotiations must be more deliberate: “Sometimes we really just need to sit down, hash things out, and make sure that the ceasefire reflects the situation on the ground—and that it really holds.”
According to the Thai foreign minister, military officials from both countries are expected to meet on December 24, a step he described as essential before any renewed ceasefire agreement can be reached. Cambodia has not publicly commented on the proposed talks.
The latest phase of fighting has involved exchanges of artillery fire along the 800-kilometer (500-mile) shared border. Thailand has also carried out air strikes targeting Cambodian positions, further escalating tensions.
Both governments have accused the other of triggering the renewed violence, which began earlier this month. The conflict has now become the most serious confrontation between ASEAN member states since the regional bloc was founded in 1967, raising concerns about the organization’s ability to manage disputes among its members.
At the ASEAN meeting in Malaysia, Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan urged swift action, warning of broader regional consequences. “We must consider the wider ramifications of the continued escalation of the situation for the people we serve,” he told counterparts, according to AFP.
The United States and China have both been engaged in parallel diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis. Beijing’s special envoy for Asian affairs, Deng Xijun, visited Phnom Penh last week, reaffirming China’s willingness to facilitate dialogue between the two countries.
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday that Beijing has been mediating the conflict “in its own way” since fighting resumed, adding that further details of Deng’s engagement would be released later.
The earlier ceasefire was brokered by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and U.S. President Donald Trump, who at the time warned he would halt tariff negotiations unless the fighting stopped. Trump later presided over the signing of what he called the “Kuala Lumpur peace accord” in October—though Thailand avoided using that label, opting for a more formal joint declaration.
Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia stretch back more than a century, with intermittent clashes over disputed border areas claiming the lives of soldiers and civilians on both sides. The current escalation followed the killing of a Cambodian soldier in May, before intensifying sharply on July 24 after Cambodian rocket fire into Thailand prompted Thai air strikes.