Phnom Penh, August 18, 2025. Senior Minister and Cambodian mine authority First Vice President Dr. Ly Thuch urged Thailand to stop entering what he described as Cambodian territory where large numbers of mines left from past wars still posed a danger.
He was speaking at a morning press conference at the headquarters of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, which convened the briefing to address Thai allegations it described as unfounded that Cambodia had laid new mines. The briefing also set out Cambodia’s position as a party to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, also known as the Ottawa Convention.
Ly Thuch said staying out of mined areas would prevent further accidents. Mines, he said, cannot tell one nationality from another and can injure anyone who steps on or touches them. He urged Thailand to stay out of what he called Cambodian territory still riddled with wartime mines, to act responsibly in making accusations and to refrain from making claims or producing videos he described as fabricated.
Ly Thuch said Cambodia considered the area where Thai soldiers were injured by mines a former battlefield from Cambodia’s civil war. Armed groups stationed there at the time had laid many mines, he said, and those mines had harmed Cambodian civilians and could injure anyone entering the area.
Preah Sihanouk Provincial Television Station. Reporter: ចិន្តា ទីទិ
