Cambodia’s defence ministry has requested that bilateral talks with Thailand be held in the neutral setting of Kuala Lumpur, aiming to negotiate a truce after two weeks of deadly border clashes, according to a letter obtained by AFP on Tuesday.
The renewed fighting earlier this month, which broke a previous ceasefire, has claimed at least 23 lives in Thailand and 21 in Cambodia, and displaced over 900,000 people on both sides, officials reported.
Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow had announced on Monday that discussions would take place on Wednesday in Chanthaburi under the existing bilateral border committee framework. The announcement followed a meeting in Kuala Lumpur with his ASEAN counterparts, including Cambodia.
However, Cambodia’s Defence Minister Tea Seiha, in a letter dated Monday to his Thai counterpart Nattaphon Narkphanit, requested the talks be moved to Kuala Lumpur “for security reasons due to the ongoing fighting along the border.” Malaysia, as the ASEAN chair, has agreed to host the talks.
The request comes amid escalating tensions, with Cambodia reporting that Thai forces launched air strikes on its territory on Monday, shortly after the initial announcement of the meeting. Cambodian Defence Ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata confirmed that combat along the border continued into Tuesday morning, including shelling of the border city of Poipet.
