Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has called on both Thailand and Cambodia to de-escalate the conflict along their shared border, where the two militaries continue to exchange heavy fire.
Anwar, who holds this year’s chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said that he spoke with acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet last night, in order to convey his government’s “deep concern” over the outbreak of violence.
Fighting erupted between the Thai and Cambodian militaries yesterday morning, a day after a landmine explosion along a disputed stretch of the border injured five Thai soldiers, one seriously. Throughout the day, the two sides exchanged heavy fire at various points along the border. Fighting has reportedly continued along the border today.
In a post on social media, Anwar said that he “appealed directly to both leaders for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further hostilities and to create space for peaceful dialogue and diplomatic resolution.”
“I welcome the positive signals and willingness shown by both Bangkok and Phnom Penh to consider this path forward. Malaysia stands ready to assist and facilitate this process in the spirit of ASEAN unity and shared responsibility,” he added. “I firmly believe that ASEAN’s strength lies in its solidarity and that peace must always be our collective and unwavering choice.”
At least one Thai soldier and 14 civilians, including children, have been killed so far in the conflict, Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health said today, while 15 soldiers and 31 other civilians have been injured. Cambodia has been less forthcoming about casualties, but a Cambodian general based in Oddar Meanchey province said this morning that at least four civilians were wounded in yesterday’s fighting there and that more than 4,000 people had been displaced from their villages along the border to evacuation centers. Thailand says that 131,456 civilians have been evacuated from affected areas.
Both sides have blamed the other for the outbreak of fighting. Thailand claims that the conflict began when Cambodian soldiers fired unprovoked at a Thai military encampment close to Ta Muen Thom temple early yesterday morning. Conversely, Cambodia’s government asserts that its troops retaliated after an “unprovoked incursion” by Thai forces and “acted strictly within the bounds of self-defense.”
Fighting swiftly spread to other parts of the border, and both sides deployed heavy weaponry including multiple-launch rocket systems, artillery, and tanks. Cambodia fired Russia-made BM-21s and artillery shells into Thailand while the Thai military said that it scrambled F-16 jets to bomb Cambodian military targets. Cambodia has since accused Thailand of causing “significant damage” to Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was the focus of a border conflict during 2008-2011, and of deploying cluster munitions along the border.
Anwar’s call for calm was echoed by the United Nations, European Union, the United States, Australia, and France, as well as several other ASEAN nations. Several governments have also warned their citizens against traveling to affected areas of the border.
China, which maintains good relations with both Thailand and Cambodia, pledged to remain neutral in the current conflict, expressing hope that the two sides “will resolve their issues properly through dialogue and consultation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said yesterday.
“China has been and will continue to facilitate peace and dialogue in its own way, playing a constructive role in easing tensions and cooling down the situation,” he added.
The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting to discuss the conflict, the AFP news agency reported, citing diplomatic sources.
The unfolding conflict also poses another stiff challenge for ASEAN, which prides itself on having presided over an historic span of inter-state peace between its members since its founding in 1967. However, a key obstacle to a ceasefire, aside from the nationalist passions that have been stirred by the sight of civilian casualties and the fate of the (for Cambodians) highly symbolic Angkorian temple ruins along the border, is the bitter fallout between former leaders Hun Sen and Thaksin Shinawatra, whose children now serve as prime minister of each country.
The relationship between the two political grandees collapsed after Cambodia’s leak of a phone call between Hun Sen had with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra last month. The leak was humiliating for the 38-year-old Thai leader; it also led to her suspension by the Constitutional Court pending an investigation into her conduct during the call, during which she accused a Thai general of siding with her political opponents. Thaksin later referred to the leak as a “betrayal” by Hun Sen.
While it is unclear whether the family feud contributed to the outbreak of war, is likely to prolong the brokering of a ceasefire. After Thaksin claimed yesterday on X that Hun Sen had ordered the attack on Thai territory “after laying explosive traps along the border,” the Cambodian politician hit back on Facebook, accusing Thaksin of much the same thing. “Under the pretext of taking revenge on Hun Sen, he is resorting to war, the ultimate consequence of which will be the suffering of the people,” he said.
Then, this morning, Thaksin made another post on X. He said that many countries are “offering help to mediate” in the Thai-Cambodian border clashes, but asked “for some time because we need to let the Thai army teach that wily Hun Sen a lesson.”
If nothing else, the conflict has laid bare where the real locus of authority in both countries’ governments lies.
