Thailand and Cambodia agree to halt fighting that has killed dozens

Boston Globe

6 days ago

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In the Thai province of Surin, Siriwut Wongcharoen, 59, a local official, who spoke by phone from a bunker in a temple where he was sheltering, said he was skeptical that the fighting would stop. He said he was still hearing gunshots as of Monday evening.
'I'm not leaving this bunker yet, as I don't feel confident enough,' Siriwut said. 'I will wait for another one to two days.'
The talks in Putrajaya were organized by Malaysian and US officials, at the official residence of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia. Edgard Kagan, the US ambassador to Malaysia, was the top US diplomat in the meeting.
Anwar announced several steps aimed at easing tensions, including an informal meeting between military commanders from Thailand and Cambodia at 7 a.m. Tuesday. If both sides agree, the talks would be followed by two additional sessions: one involving military attaches, led by Malaysia, and another set for Aug. 4, to be hosted by Cambodia.
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Chinese diplomats attended as observers, according to Malaysian officials. The United States and China, both of which have strategic and economic interests in Thailand and Cambodia, have ratcheted up pressure on the Southeast Asian nations to halt the fighting.
On Saturday, President Trump said he had spoken to both leaders and that US officials would not negotiate trade deals with either country unless the fighting stopped. The clashes continued through Sunday and early Monday.
After the deal was announced, Trump said he spoke with both Phumtham and Hun Manet, and instructed his trade team to restart negotiations.
'I have now ended many Wars in just six months -- I am proud to be the president of PEACE!' Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Trump's threat may have been the reason Bangkok ultimately accepted mediation rather than direct talks with Cambodia, which it had earlier demanded, said Matthew Wheeler, senior analyst for Southeast Asia at the International Crisis Group. Trump recently set a new deadline of Friday for 12 nations, including Thailand and Cambodia, to reach trade deals with the US government, saying he would otherwise impose tariffs of 36 percent on US businesses that import their goods.
The Thai 'government has been losing popularity because it has failed to revive the economy,' Wheeler said. 'A deal to avoid the US tariffs is by no means certain, but the Thai government needed to give itself every opportunity.'
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It was unclear if Monday's agreement would lead to a genuine truce. There were no public announcements about how the cease-fire would be enforced as well as who would verify if it was being upheld. And nationalist feelings are still running high on both sides.
Cambodia said last week that it had agreed to a cease-fire brokered by Malaysia but accused Thailand of reneging on the deal. Thailand responded by saying that any cease-fire had to be based on 'appropriate, on-the-ground conditions' and that Cambodia's continued attacks showed a lack of good faith.
As of Monday, the death toll exceeded that from the last outbreak of deadly battles between the two countries, from 2008 to 2011, in which 34 people were killed, according to an academic paper. This latest round of clashes erupted after two months of tension over contested territory.
Both sides continued to accuse the other of carrying out attacks. In a late-morning news conference, Lieutenant General Maly Socheata, a spokesperson for Cambodia's Defense Ministry, said Thai forces had fired at two ancient temples that are claimed by both Thailand and Cambodia, starting at 3 a.m.
She said Thailand had deployed planes to fire rockets and was 'still aggressively attacking' Cambodia. Thailand's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some Cambodians have fled to the homes of family members and friends in Siem Reap, the site of the ancient Angkor Wat temple complex. Siem Reap has been untouched by the violence, but at Hindu and Buddhist shrines around Angkor Wat, people have held ceremonies to pray for a quick resolution to the war.
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On Sunday, after Trump announced his diplomatic intervention, residents began talking in hopeful terms of a US role in prodding the warring governments toward a ceasefire.
The State Department said Sunday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken with the top diplomats of both Thailand and Cambodia.
'The United States applauds the ceasefire declaration between Cambodia and Thailand announced today in Kuala Lumpur,' Rubio said in a statement Monday. 'President Trump and I are committed to an immediate cessation of violence and expect the governments of Cambodia and Thailand to fully honor their commitments to end this conflict.'
Some analysts see diplomacy around the war as partly a test of American and Chinese influence in Southeast Asia, where Washington and Beijing are competing for dominance in military, economic and diplomatic spheres.
Thailand is a US treaty ally and hosts dozens of military exercises with the United States; China is the largest trading partner of both Thailand and Cambodia, which hosts a naval base largely funded by Beijing. Nations in the region prefer to balance relations with both superpowers rather than be compelled to choose one side.
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