Two-day special JBC meeting starts in Chanthaburi

Former ambassador to Cambodia Prasat Prasatwinijchai on Tuesday led the Thai delegation to a special meeting of the border demarcation commission with their Cambodian counterparts in Chanthaburi.

Prasat headed the Thai side at the Thai–Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC), held at the Maneechan Resort in Chanthaburi.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry announced that the special meeting would focus on two key issues — Cambodian encroachment at Ban Nong Chan and Ban Nong Ya Kaew in Sa Kaeo province.

According to the ministry, the Thai representatives would inform their Cambodian counterparts that the Thai government intends to construct a border fence along a straight line between two boundary markers in an area recognised by both countries as part of Thailand’s territory.

Prasat’s delegation included officials from the Foreign Ministry, the National Security Council, the Department of East Asian Affairs, the Department of Provincial Administration, the Royal Thai Survey Department, the Border Patrol Police Bureau, the Interior Ministry, and representatives from the armed forces.

The Cambodian delegation was led by Lam Chea, Minister in Charge of the State Secretariat of Border Affairs, and included a deputy defence minister, a deputy interior minister, the permanent secretary for the Foreign Ministry, a deputy army chief, and the commander of Military Region 5, as well as the governors of Pailin, Pursat, and Banteay Meanchey provinces.

The Thai Foreign Ministry said that as this JBC meeting was a special session, it would not cover border demarcation issues, but would instead address encroachment incidents by Cambodian nationals in the two Sa Kaeo villages.

The ministry added that the special JBC meeting would be aligned with the General Border Committee (GBC) meeting, which would discuss the management of border areas.

The JBC meeting was covered by more than 20 Cambodian journalists and over 30 Thai reporters.