Tensions flare at Thai-Cambodian border leaves one soldier dead; army chiefs in urgent talks post-Asean Summit
BANGKOK, May 29 — The military chiefs of Thailand and Cambodia will meet Thursday, both governments said, after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a border clash.
Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra told reporters on Thursday that 'both sides should remain calm and discuss to see what we can agree', and called for peaceful discussion.
Her Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet wrote on Facebook that he hoped the meeting between the two army commanders 'will yield positive results'.
Thai Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told journalists the talks will be held on Thursday afternoon, adding that there had been a 'misunderstanding by both sides'.
A Cambodian soldier was killed on Wednesday during an exchange of gunfire with the Thai army at the border, a Cambodian army spokesman said.
His death – a rare fatality along the long-sensitive frontier – came after Cambodian and Thai leaders attended a Southeast Asian summit where the regional Asean grouping vowed greater cooperation.
Thailand's military said Wednesday that its soldiers fired in response to gunshots from Cambodia's border force, leading to an exchange lasting around 10 minutes before the Thai saide said the Cambodians requested a ceasefire.
Cambodian Royal Army spokesman Mao Phalla confirmed the clash on Wednesday, but said Thai soldiers had attacked Cambodian troops who were on border patrol duty in northern Preah Vihear province.
'Our soldier died in the trenches. The Thais came to attack us,' Mao Phalla said.
'Remain calm'
Cambodia and Thailand have long been at odds over their more than 800-kilometre-long (500-mile) border, which was largely drawn during the French occupation of Indochina.
Bloody military clashes between the Southeast Asian neighbours erupted in 2008 over the Preah Vihear temple near their shared border.
The row over a patch of land next to the 900-year-old temple led to several years of sporadic violence, resulting in at least 28 deaths before the International Court of Justice ruled the disputed area belonged to Cambodia.
In February, Bangkok formally protested to Phnom Penh after a video of women singing a patriotic Khmer song in front of another disputed temple was posted on social media.
On Thursday, influential former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen – Hun Manet's father, and an ally of Paetongtarn's father, ex-Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra – urged calm and a peaceful resolution to the ongoing border issues between the two countries.
Paetongtarn travelled to Cambodia in April for a two-day visit, during which she met Hun Manet to discuss cross-border cooperation on issues such as online scams and air pollution. — AFP
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