Thailand officials are putting the onus on Cambodia to halt hostilities along their shared border, saying any move towards a ceasefire must begin with a unilateral declaration from Phnom Penh, according to media reports.
Cambodia, meanwhile, says Thai airstrikes using F-16 fighter jets are reaching deeper into its territory, hitting targets within 80 kilometres of tourism hotspot Angkor Wat.
On Tuesday, Thai foreign ministry spokesperson Maratee Nalita Andamo said conditions for talks also included cooperation on clearing landmines in contested areas, as clashes continue into a second week.
While there was no immediate response from Cambodia, each government blames the other for initiating attacks and endangering civilians – ending a ceasefire negotiated by US President Donald Trump in July, when five days of deadly fighting took place.
The renewed conflict, sparked by a skirmish on 7 December, has expanded across multiple sections of the 817-kilometre frontier. Authorities on both sides report dozens of deaths among soldiers and civilians and the displacement of about 800,000 people.
According to Cambodia’s tourism ministry, the conflict is taking a toll on tourism, with monthly ticket sales to Siem Reap’s Angkor archaeological park down 17 percent year-on-year for the June-November period.
July-September arrivals into the country were reportedly down by about a third compared with the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, after managing to rebound to record highs in 2024.
Chhay Sivlin, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, told media that tourists in Thailand who had intended to cross overland into Cambodia were heading for Laos and Vietnam instead.
Thailand’s military – which is more powerful and better resourced than Cambodia’s – has said it had halted overland fuel shipments to Laos over concerns the fuel was being diverted to Cambodia, Reuters reported. It also said it was considering limiting Thai vessels’ movements in Cambodian waters, due to fears they could be fired upon.
While a meeting between Southeast Asian foreign ministers was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, giving diplomats from each side a chance to talk, this has been postponed to 22 December.
The Thailand-Cambodia border dispute dates back to Cambodia’s French colonial period and has fuelled periodic clashes for over a century.
