Thailand and Cambodia agree to Malaysian mediation, Malaysian minister says, Asia News
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai are expected in Malaysia on the evening of July 28, Datuk Seri Mohamad told state news agency Bernama.
'They have full confidence in Malaysia and asked me to be a mediator,' Mr Mohamad said, adding that he had spoken with his Cambodian and Thai counterparts and they agreed no other country should be involved in the issue.
The talks in Malaysia come after Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is chair of Asean, proposed a ceasefire on July 25, and US President Donald Trump said on July 26 that the two leaders had agreed to work on a ceasefire.
Four days after the worst fighting in more than a decade broke out between the South-east Asian neighbours, the death toll stood at above 30, including 13 civilians in Thailand and eight in Cambodia.
More than 200,000 people have been evacuated from border areas in the two countries, the authorities said.
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Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Displaced villagers at Thai-Cambodian border hope to go home as leaders set to meet for talks
– Rice farmer Samrouy Duangsawai was up early fixing herself a morning meal of sticky rice when a series of loud blasts almost shook her off her feet. Cambodian heavy artillery shells launched from across the nearby border had struck the next village just a few hundred metres away, the rising smoke visible in the air. The 67-year-old's thoughts quickly turned to the two young granddaughters she was helping to raise while their migrant worker parents were pulling shifts at a factory out of town. Before she had time to fully process the situation, a pickup truck had zoomed to her front door – village leaders had ordered all elderly people and children to evacuate their homes immediately. Other than her grandchildren, Ms Samroy left with nothing but the clothes she was wearing and an old pair of worn-thin blue rubber slippers. 'I was in such shock I couldn't tell what time of day it was,' she told The Straits Times from an evacuation hub set up at the Surindra Rajabhat university campus in Surin city, in Thailand's north-east, where more than 3,000 people have camped out since fighting broke out between the Thai and Cambodian militaries on July 24. The evacuations were part of swiftly executed contingency plans that had been drilled into Thai villagers in Surin along the border since the recent round of tensions flared in the lead-up to May 28, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a brief skirmish between the two armies. At least 30 people have been killed and more than 200,000 people displaced from both sides. Thai and Cambodian forces extended their clashes at the disputed border into a fourth day on July 27 before Malaysia announced later that evening that the two countries had agreed to Kuala Lumpur acting as mediator in their conflict. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai were scheduled to travel to Malaysia on July 28, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said on July 27, in what represents the most substantive, if tentative, steps towards peace since the outbreak of hostilities. The Thai government confirmed the meeting and said its defence and foreign ministers would also travel for the talks. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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In Surin, local public health volunteer and rubber plantation farmer Suwannee Yuenyong, 45, said villagers treated evacuation drills and briefings seriously after a similar border flare-up in 2011 resulted in mass panic and traffic gridlock. Rubber farmer Suwannee Yuenyong said she was worried about her husband's safety after he stayed behind in their village to look after their property. ST PHOTO: PHILIP WEN She said the plan in her village in Phanom Dong Rak district was for all women, the elderly and children to be first evacuated to predetermined emergency hubs at the first sign of danger. Able-bodied men were to stay behind and tend cattle and guard against looters. If all else failed, makeshift bunkers and bomb shelters, in some cases constructed using segments of large concrete pipes reinforced with a solid slab over it, offered last-minute protection. Ms Suwannee told ST that her husband was one of about 30 men in her village to remain behind. While she and her three children felt safe at their evacuation centre in Surin, she said they were all hoping for a swift end to the conflict as they were all missing home, and she was extremely worried about her husband. 'I spoke with him over the phone and he said the shelling was quite intense last night and he had to spend the night in the bunker,' Ms Suwannee told ST on July 26. Family feud Evacuees at the Surindra Rajabhat university campus in Surin, Thailand. ST PHOTO: PHILIP WEN The plights of those displaced in emergency evacuation centres and those sleeping rough in concrete bunkers have been particularly stark, especially when there is still no clear explanation for the political calculations behind allowing a longstanding historical dispute over an under-demarcated border to escalate in such deadly fashion. What is clearer, however, is that the personal enmity that is still souring in real time between Thailand's Thaksin Shinawatra and Cambodia's Hun Sen – the patriarchs of the two countries' leading political families – is providing a major impediment in efforts to de-escalate and negotiate a ceasefire. 'I thanked everyone but said I'd like to ask for some time,' Mr Thaksin, a former prime minister, wrote in a post on X late on July 24, referring to countries that had reached out to mediate. 'Because we probably need to let the Thai military do their duty and teach Hun Sen a lesson about his cunning ways first.' As tensions with Cambodia flared in May, the early conjecture among political observers in Thailand surrounded theories that the influential military establishment was purposefully fanning nationalist sentiment to undermine Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Mr Thaksin's daughter. Mr Thaksin's long-running clash with the pro-monarchist and pro-military conservative establishment has been a defining feature of Thailand's political landscape over the past two decades, and his own tenure as prime minister ended in a coup d'etat in September 2006. In Cambodia, attention has more recently shifted to domestic politics, with some political analysts asserting that Mr Hun Sen's desire to bolster his son Hun Manet's standing also explains his desire to pick a fight with the Shinawatras and Thailand at large. Mr Hun Sen was responsible for leaking an audio recording of his phone call with Ms Paetongtarn, where she was heard taking a deferential tone to the former Cambodian leader while also labelling her own military commander as being on the 'opposing side'. The resulting public backlash has seen large protests in Bangkok calling for her resignation and ultimately led to her suspension from office. But if the motivation from Mr Hun Sen – who was prime minister spanning five decades before anointing Mr Hun Manet as successor – was to paint his son as a capable military commander, analysts said he has mostly succeeded only in hogging the limelight. In an effort to ostensibly debunk online rumours that he had fled the country, Mr Hun Sen posted a series of photos on his official Facebook account portraying him in command as he pored over military maps in a war room. The holes in both domestic political theories, analysts say, is that there are easier avenues to achieve those political objectives without necessarily putting both soldiers and civilians in harm's way. In Bangkok, the Shinawatra clan's dominance had already been on the wane with Mr Thaksin mired in legal trouble and Ms Paetongtarn struggling in the polls. In Phnom Penh, there are no clear threats to the Hun family's political dominance, and Cambodia's military is, on paper, outmatched by Thailand's larger armed forces, defence analysts said, especially in the air. 'One of the most confusing aspects of this conflict is how little information we have about its origins,' Mr Ken Lohatepanont, a political analyst and doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan, said. 'No one outside a very small circle of Cambodian and Thai high-level officials has a complete picture of what is going on.' Ceasefire hopes Workers and volunteers sorting out supplies at an evacuation centre at the Surindra Rajabhat university campus in Surin, Thailand. ST PHOTO: PHILIP WEN News of potential peace negotiations mediated by Malaysia had yet to filter through Surin's border villages in Phanom Dong Rak during a visit by ST on July 27. With almost all residents evacuated, other than some men and their dogs standing guard against looters, the villages were eerily empty and quiet, save for the noise of artillery in the background. Mr Narin Wongpitak, chief of Khun Han subdistrict in neighbouring Sisaket province, told ST that local communities along the border were on high alert. 'We are trying to do everything we can to make our people safe,' he said. Both countries have said they want a ceasefire but disagree over the readiness and sincerity of the opposing side to come to the table, while continuing to trade blame over which side is at fault for continuing hostilities and targeting civilians. 'I made it clear to Honourable President Donald Trump that Cambodia agreed with the proposal for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire between the two armed forces,' Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet posted on Facebook, noting that he had also agreed to Malaysia's earlier ceasefire proposal which he said Thailand had reneged on. Thailand's Acting Prime Minister Phumtham had earlier said that his country could not begin talks while Cambodia was targeting its civilians and that it was seeking direct bilateral talks over international mediation. During a visit to the border region in Ubon Ratchathani on July 26, Mr Thaksin, who no longer holds any formal government role, refuted criticism over his X post and denied that the feuding families were a catalyst for the military conflict. But he could not resist taking a further shot, saying Mr Hun Sen liked to stir trouble while 'sitting on social media all day like a zombie'. Back in Surin, villagers from Kap Choeng district were forced to evacuate a second time on July 26 and take shelter at a Buddhist temple after their initial emergency accommodation at a local school in Prasat district was deemed too close to Cambodia's strike radius and unsafe. A prayer hall at a Buddhist temple in Surin converted into a makeshift emergency shelter. ST PHOTO: PHILIP WEN Unlike other villages where some people remained behind, vegetable vendor Chakkrit Khamnuan, 25, said everyone in his village in Kap Choeng district was ordered to evacuate because its proximity to a Thai military base on the border made it a likely target of Cambodian attacks. Mr Chakkrit said he usually sells vegetables at a large cross-border market that relies on traders from both countries, and that business at the market had been affected for months as tensions mounted. Ms Suwannee, the rubber farmer from Phanom Dong Rak, said her entire village was angry at the situation and hoped to be able to return home soon. 'We want the conflict to end as soon as possible with a swift Thai victory to teach Cambodia a lesson to never mess with Thailand again,' she said.
Business Times
6 hours ago
- Business Times
Thailand, Cambodia leaders to hold peace talks in Malaysia after more border clashes
[BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH] Thailand and Cambodia's leaders will meet in Malaysia for peace talks on Monday (Jul 27), the Thai government said, as the countries clashed for a fourth day in a deadly border dispute. At least 34 people have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced as the countries, both popular tourist destinations, fight over a smattering of contested border temples. Bangkok announced on Sunday that acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet will meet in Kuala Lumpur for talks mediated by Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim, who chairs the Asean regional bloc of which Thailand and Cambodia are members. Cambodia has not commented on the planned talks, which are due to begin at 3.00 pm (0700 GMT). US President Donald Trump, who spoke to both leaders late on Saturday, said they had agreed to 'quickly work out' a ceasefire. Trump has threatened both nations with eye-watering levies in his global tariff blitz unless they agree to independent trade deals. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up 'When all is done, and Peace is at hand, I look forward to concluding our Trading Agreements with both!' he wrote on social media. Fresh artillery clashes erupted on Sunday morning near two long-contested ancient temples in the frontier region between northern Cambodia and northeast Thailand which has seen the bulk of the fighting. 'Didn't feel safe' Cambodian defence ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said Thai forces began attacking areas around the temples at 4.50 am. 'We rushed to leave the house this morning,' said 61-year-old Thai border resident Maefah, rearranging bin bags of her family's belongings in the back of a truck stopped at a petrol station in Surin province. 'All of my neighbours have already left. And we did not feel safe to stay any longer,' she said, declining to give her surname. The regular thump of artillery rattled windows in the Cambodian town of Samraong, around 20 km from the front line, AFP journalists said. Thai army deputy spokesman Ritcha Suksuwanon said Cambodian forces began firing artillery around 4.00 am as the two sides battled for control of strategic positions. With the conflict enflaming nationalist sentiments, Thailand issued a warning to its own citizens to 'refrain from any kind of violence, whether in speech or action' against Cambodian migrants living in the country. Ceasefire calls Cambodia's Hun Manet on Sunday said his country 'agreed with the proposal for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire between the two armed forces'. After Trump's call, Phumtham said he had agreed in principle to enter a ceasefire and start talks. But on Sunday each side blamed the other again for undermining peace efforts. The Thai foreign ministry accused Cambodian forces of firing shells into civilian homes in Surin province. 'Any cessation of hostilities cannot be reached while Cambodia is severely lacking in good faith,' the ministry said. Meanwhile Cambodia's defence ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata denied that its forces fired first and accused Thailand of 'deliberate and coordinated acts of aggression'. The border dispute erupted into combat on Thursday with jets, tanks and ground troops battling in the rural border region, marked by a ridge of hills surrounded by wild jungle and agricultural land where locals farm rubber and rice. Thailand says eight of its soldiers and 13 civilians have been killed, while Cambodia has confirmed eight civilian and five military deaths. The conflict has forced more than 138,000 people to be evacuated from Thailand's border regions, and 80,000 have been driven from their homes in Cambodia. The Cambodian government has also accused Thai forces of using cluster munitions, while Bangkok has accused Phnom Penh of targeting hospitals. AFP
Business Times
6 hours ago
- Business Times
Thailand, Cambodia leaders to meet on Monday with Malaysia mediating
[BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH] Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai will lead a delegation to Kuala Lumpur on Monday (Jul 28) for negotiations over a border dispute with Cambodia, the Thai government said in a statement on Sunday. Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet will also attend the talks, with Malaysia, the Asean chair, mediating the conflict. Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan confirmed on Sunday that both countries had requested Malaysia to serve as mediator, adding that no other nation would be involved. The meeting comes after Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim proposed a ceasefire on Friday, while US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that both leaders had agreed to work towards one. Four days after the worst fighting in more than a decade broke out between the South-east Asian neighbours, the death toll stood above 30, including 13 civilians in Thailand and eight in Cambodia. More than 200,000 people have been evacuated from border areas in the two countries, authorities said. REUTERS
