Calm returns to disputed border

The Star

5 days ago

I'm going home: A child sitting at the back of a vehicle as the family heads back with their belongings in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia. — Reuters
Military commanders from Thailand and Cambodia held talks as calm returned to their disputed border and displaced residents began trickling back, following the South-East Asian neighbours announcing a truce to end five days of fighting.
Thai and Cambodian leaders met in Malaysia on Monday and agreed to a ceasefire deal to halt their deadliest conflict in more than a decade that has killed at least 40 people, mostly civilians, and displaced over 300,000 in both countries.
Although Thailand's military said that there had been attacks by Cambodian troops in at least five locations early yesterday, violating the ceasefire that had come into effect from midnight, commanders from both sides met and held talks, a Thai army spokesperson said.
Cambodia denied the charge, insisting that its troops have strictly abided by the ceasefire since midnight and continue to uphold it, according to a statement by Defence Minister Tea Seiha.
Negotiations so far include those between the general leading Thailand's second region army, which oversees the stretch of the frontier that has seen the heaviest fighting during the conflict, and his Cambodian counterpart, Thai Maj-Gen Winthai Suvaree told reporters.
The commanders, who met at the border, agreed to maintain the ceasefire, stop any troop movement and facilitate the return of the wounded and dead bodies, he said.
'Each side will establish a coordinating team of four to resolve any problems,' Winthai said.
Waiting to leave: Thai residents resting at an evacuation centre in Surin province, Thailand. — AP
Both militaries have agreed not to deploy more troops along their disputed border, said Lim Menghour, director-general of the Commission on Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the National Assembly of Cambodia, who also underlined the need for international observers to monitor the ceasefire.
'That is the key to monitor all the terms and agreements from the meeting yesterday,' he said.
In Bangkok, Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said his government had filed complaints with Malaysia, the United States and China over Cambodia's alleged ceasefire violations – but calm had returned to border areas.
Vehicular traffic and daily activity resumed in the Kan­tharalak district of Thailand's Sisaket province yesterday, about 30km from the frontlines, where Thai and Cambodian troops remain amassed.
Chaiya Phumjaroen, 51, said he returned to town to reopen his shop early yesterday after hearing of the ceasefire deal on the news.
'I am very happy that a ceasefire happened,' he said. 'If they continue to fight, we have no opportunity to make money.'
In Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, 63-year-old Ly Kim Eng sat in front of a makeshift tarpaulin shelter, waiting for directions after hearing of the ceasefire deal.
'So, if the authorities announce that it is safe for all of the refugees to return home, I would immediately return,' he said.
The South-East Asian neighbours have wrangled for decades over their disputed frontier 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 buildup on both sides and a full-blown diplomatic crisis. — Reuters