Phnom Penh: Acting Prime Minister Hun Sen has reminded the Royal Government not to open any bilateral negotiations with Thailand on maritime issues and to go straight to the 1982 Law of the Sea mechanism without waiting for any agreement from the Thai side.
Through his Facebook page on May 12, 2026, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that yesterday, May 11, 2026, there was a report in Thai media that the Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs said (under the Law of the Sea Convention, after the abrogation of the 2001 Memorandum of Understanding, the process must be carried out within the framework of the multi-stage convention, and the main method should be negotiations between the two parties first).
Samdech Techo continued that if this report is the true statement of the Thai Foreign Minister, then the words (the main method should be negotiations between the two parties first) are in direct contradiction with the actions of the Thai side, which unilaterally canceled MOU2001. Which has already abolished the bilateral negotiation framework for the maritime boundary.
As the acting head of state, he emphasized, “I would like to remind the Royal Government not to open any bilateral negotiations with Thailand on maritime issues and to go straight to the 1982 Law of the Sea mechanism without waiting for any agreement from the Thai side.”
On May 6, 2026, the King also reminded the Royal Government not to create a new bilateral mechanism to replace the old bilateral mechanism that Thailand abolished. The King said, “We regret that Thailand abolished the 2001 MOU, but we also thank Thailand for helping us use the international mechanism instead.”
