29-07-2025
Ceasefire takes effect between Thailand and Cambodia after five-day border battle
The truce talks followed a sustained peace push by Anwar and US President Donald Trump's phone calls to the two leaders at the weekend, where he said he would not conclude trade deals with them if fighting continued. The two countries face a tariff of 36% on their goods in the US, their biggest export market.
Trump in a post on Truth Social on Monday congratulated all parties and said he had spoken to the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia and instructed his trade team to restart negotiations.
'By ending this war, we have saved thousands of lives. I have ended many wars in six months. I am proud to be the president of peace,' Trump said.
The two countries have wrangled for decades over border territory and have been on a conflict footing since the killing of a Cambodian soldier in a skirmish late in May, which led to a troop build-up on both sides and a full-blown diplomatic crisis that brought Thailand's fragile coalition government to the brink of collapse.
They accused each other of starting the fighting last week that within hours escalated from small arms fire to heavy artillery and rockets and Thailand's unexpected scrambling of an F-16 fighter jet to carry out air strikes.
Thai acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayacha praised Trump for pushing the peace effort and said trade negotiations would start from a good place.
'I thanked him from my heart for what we received from him and helped our country move beyond the crisis,' he told reporters on his return from Malaysia after speaking to Trump.
'After today the situation should de-escalate.'
Simmering tensions boiled over last week after Thailand recalled its ambassador to Phnom Penh and expelled Cambodia's envoy in response to a second Thai soldier losing a limb to a landmine that Bangkok alleged Cambodian troops had laid.
Cambodia has strongly denied the charge and Thai accusations that it fired at civilian targets including schools and hospitals. It accused Thailand of 'unprovoked and premeditated military aggression'.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said he and Trump expected all sides to 'fully honour their commitments to end the conflict'.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said his Thai counterpart had played a positive role and he deeply appreciated Trump's 'decisive mediation' and China's constructive participation.
In social media posts, Hun Manet said he had returned to Cambodia 'with brilliant results' and had spoken to Trump, who expressed a desire for lasting peace.
The fighting has scarred border communities on the two sides.
In Thailand's Sisaket province, a house was reduced to splintered wood and twisted beams after it was struck by artillery fire from Cambodia. The roof had caved in, windows hung by the frame and power lines drooped over the structure.
Amid the din of occasional artillery fire, homes and shops remained shut and a four-lane road was deserted except for a few cars and military vehicles.
Dozens of displaced residents lined up quietly for their evening meal at an evacuation centre about 40km away from the front lines.
Fifty-four-year-old Nong Ngarmsri wanted to go back to her village.
'I want to go to my children who stayed back,' she said.
'I want them to cease firing so I can go home.'
Reuters
