
Thai-Cambodian Truce Tested as Monitors Head to Disputed Border
Thai military positions at Phu Makua in the northeastern frontier area came under attack from small arms fire and grenade assaults by Cambodian forces from late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The Thai army also reported attacks in two other areas on Wednesday.

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The Hill
11 hours ago
- The Hill
Cambodia to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize for helping broker peace deal with Thailand
Cambodia floated plans Friday to nominate President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for helping broker a ceasefire agreement that helped the country end its border war with Thailand. 'He should get the Nobel, not only for his work on Cambodia but also elsewhere,' Cambodian deputy prime minister Sun Chanthol said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, adding that Phnom Penh will present the president's name to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Trump warned last week that if the cross-border fighting, which lasted for five days, between Cambodia and Thailand did not end soon, neither nation would reach a trade agreement with the U.S. The president spoke with Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Monday, sharing that the neighboring countries reached a 'CEASEFIRE and PEACE.' After the pause in fighting was reached, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on social platform X that Trump 'made this happen.' She added in her Monday post, 'Give him the Nobel Peace Prize!' The truce was brokered in Malaysia, negotiations that were attended by U.S. government officials. The war between the two nations killed at least 45 people and displaced over 300,000 residents on both sides. The Trump administration said last week that both Thailand and Cambodia will have their goods subject to a 19 percent tariff. Trump initially threatened to impose a 49 percent tariff on Cambodia's items going into the U.S., later lowering it to 36 percent. On Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick revealed that the two nations had reached trade agreements with the U.S., though few details were provided. Since returning to office, Trump has been recommended to receive the prestigious award by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Pakistani officials and a handful of Republican lawmakers and pundits.

17 hours ago
Thailand returns 2 wounded soldiers to Cambodia but continues to hold 18 of their comrades
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Cambodia on Friday welcomed the return of two wounded soldiers who had been captured by the Thai army after the two sides had already implemented a ceasefire to end five days of combat over competing territorial claims. Their repatriation comes amid accusations and bickering over whether either side had targeted civilians and breached the laws of war, and sharp nationalist feuding on social media. The rest of a 20-member group of Cambodian soldiers captured on Tuesday in one of the disputed pockets of land over which the two sides were fighting remain in Thai hands, and Cambodian officials are demanding their release. The two countries have given differing accounts of the circumstances of the capture. Cambodian officials say their soldiers approached the Thai position with friendly intentions to offer post-fighting greetings, while Thai officials said the Cambodians appeared to have hostile intent and entered what Thailand considers its territory, so were taken prisoner. Cambodian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Maly Socheata confirmed that the two wounded soldiers had been handed over at a border checkpoint between Thailand's Surin province and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, and urged the Thai side to promptly repatriate the remaining personnel in accordance with 'international humanitarian law.' Thailand says it has been following international legal procedures and was holding the remaining 18 soldiers until it could investigate their actions. A statement issued Friday by Thailand's 2nd Army Region identified the two repatriated Cambodian soldiers as a sergeant with a broken arm and a gash on his hip, and a second lieutenant who appeared to be suffering from battle fatigue and needed care from his family. It said both men had taken an oath not to engage in further hostilities against Thailand. Neither man has been made available for interviews by neutral third parties. There were other peaceful activities on Friday on both sides of the border as both countries staged tours of the former battle areas for foreign diplomats and other observers, highlighting damage allegedly caused by the other side. The two countries continue to accuse each other of having violated the laws of war with attacks on civilians and the illegal use of weapons. More than three dozen people, civilian and soldiers, were killed in the fighting, which in addition to infantry battles included artillery duels and the firing of truck-mounted rockets by Cambodia, to which Thailand responded with airstrikes. More than 260,000 people in total were displaced from their homes. Under the terms of the ceasefire, military representatives of both sides are supposed to meet next week to iron out details to avoid further clashes. However, the talks are not supposed to cover the competing territorial claims that are at the heart of decades-long tension between the two countries. Partisans of both sides are also waging a war of words online, with Thailand accusing Cambodia of also carrying out malicious hacking. Both countries' professional journalism societies have accused each other of spreading false information and other propaganda. ——-


The Hill
17 hours ago
- The Hill
Thailand returns 2 wounded soldiers to Cambodia but continues to hold 18 of their comrades
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia on Friday welcomed the return of two wounded soldiers who had been captured by the Thai army after the two sides had already implemented a ceasefire to end five days of combat over competing territorial claims. Their repatriation comes amid accusations and bickering over whether either side had targeted civilians and breached the laws of war, and sharp nationalist feuding on social media. The rest of a 20-member group of Cambodian soldiers captured on Tuesday in one of the disputed pockets of land over which the two sides were fighting remain in Thai hands, and Cambodian officials are demanding their release. The two countries have given differing accounts of the circumstances of the capture. Cambodian officials say their soldiers approached the Thai position with friendly intentions to offer post-fighting greetings, while Thai officials said the Cambodians appeared to have hostile intent and entered what Thailand considers its territory, so were taken prisoner. Cambodian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Maly Socheata confirmed that the two wounded soldiers had been handed over at a border checkpoint between Thailand's Surin province and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, and urged the Thai side to promptly repatriate the remaining personnel in accordance with 'international humanitarian law.' Thailand says it has been following international legal procedures and was holding the remaining 18 soldiers until it could investigate their actions. A statement issued Friday by Thailand's 2nd Army Region identified the two repatriated Cambodian soldiers as a sergeant with a broken arm and a gash on his hip, and a second lieutenant who appeared to be suffering from battle fatigue and needed care from his family. It said both men had taken an oath not to engage in further hostilities against Thailand. Neither man has been made available for interviews by neutral third parties. There were other peaceful activities on Friday on both sides of the border as both countries staged tours of the former battle areas for foreign diplomats and other observers, highlighting damage allegedly caused by the other side. The two countries continue to accuse each other of having violated the laws of war with attacks on civilians and the illegal use of weapons. More than three dozen people, civilian and soldiers, were killed in the fighting, which in addition to infantry battles included artillery duels and the firing of truck-mounted rockets by Cambodia, to which Thailand responded with airstrikes. More than 260,000 people in total were displaced from their homes. Under the terms of the ceasefire, military representatives of both sides are supposed to meet next week to iron out details to avoid further clashes. However, the talks are not supposed to cover the competing territorial claims that are at the heart of decades-long tension between the two countries. Partisans of both sides are also waging a war of words online, with Thailand accusing Cambodia of also carrying out malicious hacking. Both countries' professional journalism societies have accused each other of spreading false information and other propaganda.