Phnom Penh: Cambodia has called on Thailand to stop making excuses for its deliberate delay and return to the border demarcation process in good faith.
According to a statement by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on July 20, 2026, in response to recent comments by Deputy Prime Minister Sihaksak Phuongketkaew, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, regarding the stalled negotiations on the Cambodia-Thailand land border issue, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia would like to make the following statement:
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand claimed in Beijing this week that Cambodia’s decision to initiate a forced conciliation mechanism under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) has “closed the door.” For the land border negotiations. This is not true at all.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “Therefore, Cambodia calls on Thailand to stop creating excuses for its deliberate delay and return to the border demarcation process in good faith, as agreed, under the terms of the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding and the ceasefire agreement between the two countries on December 27, 2025. There is no reason whatsoever, both legal and practical, for the Joint Commission on Land Border Demarcation to delay the continuation of the work on the border demarcation in parallel with the process on maritime issues under UNCLOS!
This call has also been raised outside the region. On July 11, 2026, the French-speaking country’s parliament adopted a resolution reaffirming its support for Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, calling for a de-escalation of tensions and expressing support for the demarcation process by the Joint Demarcation Commission.
The international community expects Thailand to respect the 1962 and 2013 judgments of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Temple of Preah Vihear and the delimitation of the land border in accordance with the 1904 Convention and the 1907 Treaty, as both sides confirmed their recognition in the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding.
The ministry added that indefinitely prolonging the demarcation process in order to permanently occupy and take away Cambodian territory that Thailand is illegally occupying is a serious violation of the UN Charter and the ASEAN Charter. Which cannot be allowed to continue.
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