Cambodia’s foreign ministry issued a statement on August 13 rejecting what it called baseless and provocative allegations from Thailand’s foreign ministry about recent landmine explosions and threats to Cambodian sovereignty. The Cambodian ministry maintained that the blasts would not have occurred if Thai forces had not moved and operated in known mined areas.
In statements dated August 10 and 12, Thailand’s foreign ministry alleged that Cambodian armed forces had laid antipersonnel mines in the areas of Ta Moan Thom temple (Banteay Ampil district, Oddar Meanchey province) and Mom Bei, An Seh and Ta Sim (Choam Ksan district, Preah Vihear province). Thailand said explosions had injured its soldiers.
Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation described those allegations as fabricated and unsupported by credible evidence. It said Thailand was seeking to draw attention away from alleged Thai breaches of the ceasefire and international law.
Cambodia’s ministry said that regardless of Cambodian sovereignty over specific incident sites, the blasts would not have happened had Thai forces not moved and operated in known mined areas. It said the movement breached the agreed minutes of the August 7, 2025, extraordinary General Border Committee meeting, which reaffirmed a ban on moving or patrolling beyond existing positions. The ministry said national and international mine clearance agencies had long recorded the areas as minefields left over from Cambodia’s internal conflicts in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Cambodian ministry said the incidents involving Thai personnel happened in areas that are or had been disputed, and it considers those sites within internationally recognised Cambodian territory. It cited 1:200,000 maps prepared by the Indochina–Siam boundary commission under the 1904 convention and 1907 treaty.
The ministry said both states had long accepted these maps and that the International Court of Justice used them in its 1962 judgment and 2013 interpretation concerning Preah Vihear temple. It said the 2000 memorandum on surveying and demarcating the land boundary also barred unilateral military action in undemarcated areas and accused Thailand of repeatedly breaching that ban and disregarding the ceasefire.
Cambodia called on Malaysia, as ASEAN chair, and other ceasefire facilitators to accelerate work on a robust, impartial and independent monitoring mechanism to enforce the ceasefire, prevent renewed tensions and avoid further risks to troops and civilians. The ministry said Cambodia trusted the International Court of Justice to resolve remaining border disputes and urged Thailand to respect the court.
Preah Sihanouk Provincial Television. By ង៉ែត ពិសាន្ត
