RTA says timings of Saturday incidents showed Cambodia planned to frame Thailand
Thai Army says Cambodia staged shootings at Chong An Ma to frame Thailand, timing attacks with ASEAN observer visit and press conference.
The Royal Thai Army (RTA) announced on Sunday that the timing of shootings at the Chong An Ma pass in Ubon Ratchathani and a visit by an ASEAN observer team were too precise to be coincidental, suggesting Cambodia had pre-planned the incidents to frame Thailand.
RTA spokesman: attacks were staged to coincide with ASEAN visit
RTA spokesman Maj Gen Winthai Suvaree said Cambodian troops fired into Thai territory at Chong An Ma pass in Nam Yuen district, provoking Thai soldiers to retaliate. He argued the sequence of events suggested a deliberate attempt to frame Thailand in the eyes of the ASEAN Interim Observer Team (IOT), who were scheduled to visit the area that day.
According to Winthai, the shootings were carefully timed to match both the IOT visit and a Cambodian press conference that sought to portray Thailand as the aggressor.
Timeline of Saturday’s incidents
Winthai said the RTA recorded the following sequence of events on Saturday:
- 11.55am: Sounds of mortar and machine-gun fire were heard at Hill 677
- 12.00pm: Mortar fire launched from Hill 677 to Hill 600
- 11.55am–12.07pm: Cambodian troops fired 40mm grenades and rifles at Hill 600
- 12.10pm: Cambodia fired heavy machine guns at Hill 527 in three sets of five rounds each. Thai troops retaliated.
- 12.16pm: Cambodian troops fired rifles at Hill 600, prompting return fire from Thai troops
- 12.23–12.35pm: Cambodian troops fired three rounds from an unidentified gun and 11 mortar rounds from Chong An Ma towards unknown targets
- 1.00pm: Cambodia announced an IOT team visit to Chong An Ma in the afternoon
- 1.15pm: Cambodian Defence Ministry spokeswoman Lt Gen Maly Socheata held a press conference alleging Thai aggression
- 1.15pm: Cambodian Senate president Hun Sen posted similar claims on Facebook
- 1.30pm: Gunfire ceased at Chong An Ma, with both sides confronting each other
Cambodia accused of manipulating ceasefire
Winthai argued that when the timings were carefully examined, the pattern showed they were “too perfect to happen naturally.” He said Cambodia deliberately fired provocations at Thai positions to record footage of Thai troops firing back, in order to distort the narrative and claim Thailand violated the ceasefire.
The spokesman added that the timing of the IOT visit and Cambodia’s press conference reinforced the perception that Cambodia intended to frame Thailand as the aggressor.
Call for IOT to investigate landmines
Winthai further noted that it was Cambodian troops who repeatedly violated the ceasefire by sneaking across the border to plant landmines, which injured Thai soldiers. He urged the IOT to investigate these landmine incidents, saying they constituted serious breaches of the ceasefire agreement.
