BANGKOK: The Thailand-Cambodia border, where fighting has raged since last week, was calm on Tuesday (Jul 29) following a ceasefire deal and military commanders from both sides are set to meet for talks later in the day, acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said.
Phumtham and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet met in Malaysia on Monday and agreed to halt their deadliest conflict in more than a decade following five days of intense fighting that killed at least 38 people, mostly civilians, and displaced over 300,000.
The Thai army said in a statement that there had been attacks by Cambodian troops in at least five locations early on Tuesday, violating the ceasefire that had come into effect from midnight, and Thailand’s military had retaliated proportionately.
Phumtham played down the clashes, and said he had spoken with Cambodia’s defence minister ahead of the talks between military commanders.
“There is no escalation,” Phumtham told reporters. “Right now things are calm.”
Cambodia’s defence ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata earlier said there had been “no armed clashes against each other in any regions”.
Cambodia’s defence minister Tea Seiha wrote on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon that the Cambodian army had “strictly abided by the ceasefire”. He rejected the Thai army’s accusations.
He said that ministry leaders will lead diplomats and foreign military attaches to the border later in the day.
A meeting will also be held on Aug 4 in Phnom Penh, together with Thai leaders, he added.
