Thailand and Cambodia agree to border dispute ceasefire
Following talks in Malaysia between the two southeast Asian neighbours the ceasefire will come into effect from midnight on Monday (4pm UK time), a statement by the Malaysian prime minister said.
President Trump said on Monday that he had instructed his trade team to resume negotiations with Thailand and Cambodia after the two nations agreed to the ceasefire.
'Just spoke to the Acting Prime Minister of Thailand and Prime Minister of Cambodia,' Trump said in a Truth Social post. 'I have instructed my trade team to restart negotiations on trade.'
Trump had earlier intervened in the dispute, suggesting to the leaders of both countries that continued hostilities would harm their chances of getting a trade deal with the US.
• How a broken friendship lies behind the Thailand-Cambodia conflict
Cambodia's prime minister, Hun Manet, and Thailand's acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, had earlier met to discuss the violence, which started on Thursday in a skirmish around a contested temple before spreading to several parts of the 500-mile shared border.
Hun Manet and Phuntam hailed the outcome of the meeting and shook hands at the conclusion of a brief press conference.
The Malaysian prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, who chaired the talks as head of the ASEAN regional bloc, said both sides agreed to 'an immediate and unconditional ceasefire with effect from … midnight of 28 July.'
He said it was 'a vital first step', adding that both leaders have 'expressed their positions and willingness to … an immediate ceasefire, a return to de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security.'
Both Putham and Hun thanked Trump for supporting the talks. Hun added: 'The solutions that prime minister Anwar just announced will set a condition for moving forward for our bilateral discussion to return to normalcy of the relationship.'
• Thailand and Cambodia on the brink: 'I panicked, then the bomb hit'
Exchanges of artillery, small arms fire and airstrikes across the border have prompted the evacuation of 260,000 people on both sides.
The agreement came hours after a gunman killed five people in a food market in Bangkok, an attack that police are investigating as possibly linked to the border clashes with Cambodia.
The suspected lone shooter killed four security guards and a market vendor before turning his gun on himself, Thai media reported.
The perpetrator was identified as Noi Praidan, 61, a Thai national from the Nakhon Ratchasima region northeast of the capital. The shooting took place at Or Tor Kor market in Bangkok, close to the Chatuchak market, a popular tourist destination.
'Police are investigating the motive. So far it's a mass shooting,' said Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bangkok's Bang Sue district, adding that police were also looking into 'any possible link' to the fighting between Cambodia and Thailand.
Witnesses said that the suspect entered the market and as well as the guards, shot a woman selling dried seafood at point-blank range, killing her instantly. After the attack, the suspect sat down on a bench in the middle of the market and shot himself. Images of the man's body showed him slumped on the bench.
Praidan had previously worked as a security guard at the same company as the guards he killed, according to local media. A gun licence was found in the shooter's pocket. Local media reported that food supplies were being collected in the market for people who live near the border.
Monday's shooting is the fourth mass gun attack in Thailand in the last five years. In 2020, a soldier in the Royal Thai Army shot and killed 29 people and injured 58 more in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima before being killed by police.
In October 2022 a former Thai police officer used a gun and a knife to kill 36 people, including 24 children, at a nursery in the town of Nong Bua Lamphu in northern Thailand. The gunman killed himself following the massacre.
In October 2023, a teenager shot dead three people at Bangkok's Siam Paragon shopping mall. Authorities said the then 14-year-old had a history of mental illness.
Thailand has more than 10.3 million firearms, with civilian ownership standing at 15.1 weapons per 100 people — the highest ratio in southeast Asia.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Spotlight on Keir Starmer's recognition of Palestine
I'm puzzled by the conditions Keir Starmer has set for Israel to meet, failing which he'll recognise Palestine as a state (UK to recognise state of Palestine in September unless Israel holds to a ceasefire, 29 July). Why does recognition depend on Israel's actions? Surely it should depend on Palestine's: commitments to abjure terrorism, disarm Hamas, hold democratic elections and, of course, to release the hostages. As for Israel, UK policy should be to impose draconian sanctions: if Israel continues to act like a pariah state, let it be treated as one. Without sanctions, there would probably still be an apartheid regime in South Africa. The UK must act now, not half-heartedly in September; thousands of children in Gaza can't wait until MaughanDunblane, Perthshire Like so many people in the UK, I thought that my despair and shame over the situation in Gaza could not be deepened. Keir Starmer achieved that. How like this prime minister to obfuscate further and kick any sense of decisiveness into the long grass of contingency. One might think that Britain has some special responsibility for recognising the state of Palestine, whose population it abandoned to the predations of its neighbour in 1948. What will be left of Gaza, the West Bank and its people by September? A genocide? A diaspora? The UK doesn't negotiate with terrorists, just with war Prof Graham MortLancaster University Soon after the atrocities of 7 October 2023 I heard someone on the radio say, with respect to Israel's imminent invasion of Gaza, 'Beware of being goaded by your enemy into doing what your enemy wants you to do.' Nearly two years on, the Israeli government seems hell-bent on creating a moral equivalence between itself and Hamas. If you become like your enemy, then your enemy has won. Thus, despite what it says about recent moves to recognise a Palestinian state, the Israeli government, more than any other, is 'rewarding' Hamas for its terrorist actions. The Rev Rob KelseyBerwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland It is impossible for us to know the depth of despair Palestinians must feel to hear western nations pontificating that we will not recognise them as a nation if their oppressors stop killing them. It seems this is the ultimate acknowledgment that they have no rights except those we deem to give them. We have expelled them from the land in which they lived to ensure that Europe didn't have the problem of resettling the thousands displaced by a European war. They are being attacked in Gaza and the West Bank with weapons supplied by western governments. They are being starved in Gaza to keep their oppressor-in-chief in office. And now our governments are praised for condescending to recognise the fact that they are a nation (that has existed for more than 1,000 years). How can we think we have any integrity left in our dealings with the oppressed?Michael McLoughlinWallington, London What will give greater weight to the call for a two-state solution is outlining the building blocks for establishment of a Palestinian state: for example, Gaza would be placed under UN control to allow for demilitarisation, the physical reconstruction and drawing up a basic law to guide the development of a constitutional WeirCape Town, South Africa Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Reuters
22 minutes ago
- Reuters
German minister: EU must become stronger in Trump tariff talks
WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said the European Union had been too weak during trade negotiations with the United States and it should become stronger, as much still needed to be clarified on the deal the two sides struck last month. "Overall, as Europeans, we must become stronger," Klingbeil said in Washington ahead of a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "Then we can also stand up to the U.S. with more self-confidence. Not against the U.S., but in dialogue with the U.S." Klingbeil said there needed to be a quick solution to the trade conflict with the U.S. as companies needed planning certainty. "Even though I am not the one negotiating today — that is the task of the European Commission — a close line of communication between me and Scott Bessent can help clarify things," he said, emphasizing the importance of the Transatlantic relationship. Apart from tariffs, Klingbeil and Bessent will discuss how to deal with cheap Chinese goods that are flooding the markets in both the U.S. and Europe, as well as the G20 presidency that the U.S. will take at the end of the year. "I believe it is important that we, from the German side, keep sending a clear signal: We want to work closely with the American government, we seek dialogue, we do not shy away from difficult topics and are looking at how we can solve problems together," Klingbeil said. The EU's trade deal with Trump in July was greeted with a mix of relief and anger, with tariffs set at 15% for most products but negotiations continuing for certain sectors, including steel and aluminium, which carry tariffs of 50%. Klingbeil would advocate for a quota system on steel exports to be included in the trade deal, he told reporters.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
India's biggest refiner buys US, Middle East crude as Trump slams Russia purchases
SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Indian Oil Corp ( opens new tab has bought 7 million barrels of crude from the United States, Canada and the Middle East, four trade sources said on Monday, as U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up his criticism of the country over its purchases of Russian oil. India is the biggest buyer of seaborne crude from Russia, which is under Western-led sanctions over its war in Ukraine. Its main refiners paused buying Russian oil last week as discounts to other suppliers narrowed after Trump threatened hefty tariffs on imports from countries that make any such purchases, Reuters reported last week. Indian government officials denied any policy change. On Monday, Trump said on Truth Social he would substantially raise the import levy on Indian goods, accusing the country of not only buying massive amounts of Russian oil but "they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits". India imported about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil from January to June this year, up 1% from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by trade sources. IOC, India's largest refiner, bought crude via a tender from the United States, Canada and the Middle East for September arrival, the trade sources said on Monday. They declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media. The refiner bought 4.5 million barrels of U.S. crude, 500,000 barrels of Western Canadian Select (WCS) and two million barrels of Das oil produced in Abu Dhabi, the sources said. The higher-than-normal purchases are partly to replace Russian barrels, two of the sources said. Indian state refiners - IOC, Hindustan Petroleum Corp ( opens new tab, Bharat Petroleum Corp ( opens new tab and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd ( opens new tab - had not sought Russian crude in the past week or so, Reuters reported last week. Indian companies do not comment on oil purchases. In IOC's tender that closed on Friday, P66 and Equinor ( opens new tab will each ship 1 million barrels of U.S. West Texas Intermediate Midland crude while Mercuria will ship 2 million barrels of the same grade, the sources said. Vitol will deliver 1 million barrels of WTI Midland and WCS, they added. Trafigura will deliver 2 million barrels of Das. Prices for the deals were not immediately available. U.S. criticism of India's oil purchases from Russia sharpened after New Delhi and Washington failed to reach an agreement on a trade deal, prompting the Trump administration to levy a 25% import tariff on Indian goods.
