Thailand and Cambodia will resume ceasefire talks

BANGKOK - Thailand and Cambodia will resume talks this weekend to seek a more lasting ceasefire along their border, Thailand's foreign minister said on Monday, stressing that progress depended on detailed bilateral negotiations rather than public declarations that internationalized the dispute.

The October ceasefire agreement was rushed to ensure that US President Donald Trump could witness the deal and lacked sufficient details to ensure that the deal to end the armed conflict would last, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said on Monday, after a meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Although Cambodia has publicly said it is ready for an unconditional ceasefire, Bangkok has never accepted a direct proposal and Thailand believes the statement is aimed at increasing international pressure rather than resolving the issue, Sihasak said after a meeting to seek ways to end the crisis.

"This time, let's discuss the details and make sure the ceasefire reflects the situation on the ground and that the ceasefire is really in place, and both sides will fully respect the ceasefire," Sihasak said at a press conference, launching Al Arabiya from The Associated Press (22/12).

A general border committee involving the two countries will meet on Wednesday to discuss detailed steps towards a lasting ceasefire, he said.

The border conflict escalated into deadly fighting two weeks ago and scuttled a deal brokered by President Trump, which ended five days of fighting in July.

The deal was brokered by Malaysia and was pushed under pressure from President Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed.

The ceasefire was formalized in more detail at the ASEAN summit in October in Malaysia, which was attended by President Trump.

The escalation of the two neighboring countries has caused international concern. The escalation is the result of a dispute over a portion of the territory claimed by both countries along their common border.

The latest fighting broke out on December 8, a day after border clashes wounded two Thai soldiers. Since then, fighting has taken place on several fronts, with Thailand carrying out air raids on Cambodia using F-16 fighter jets and Cambodia firing thousands of medium-range BM-21 rockets from truck-mounted launchers that can launch up to 40 rockets simultaneously.

More than three dozen people on both sides of the border have been officially reported killed in fighting over the past week, while more than half a million people have fled, according to officials.

Under an October ceasefire, Thailand was to release 18 detained Cambodian soldiers and the two sides were to begin removing heavy weapons and landmines along the border.

However, the two countries have resumed a fierce propaganda war with light cross-border violence.

Landmine explosions have been a highly sensitive issue for Thailand, which has lodged several protests after accusing Cambodia of laying new mines that wounded soldiers patrolling the border.

Cambodia insists the mines are the remnants of a decades-long civil war, which ended in 1999.

"This is clearly a new landmine that has been planted, and this has been confirmed by the ASEAN observer team," Sihasak said on Monday, calling it a "real violation" of the October agreement.

Thailand's Foreign Ministry said it would send a protest letter to Cambodia and Zambia, the current chair of the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Landmines, also known as the Ottawa Convention, to follow up on further action under the mechanism of the convention.

Meanwhile, Cambodia did not immediately respond to Thailand's claim.