Thai marine commander warns over alleged ceasefire breaches

A Thai marine commander has accused Cambodian forces of repeated provocations along the Trat frontier, saying gunfire heard over the past week amounted to breaches of the December ceasefire and warning that Thai troops would respond if such incidents happen again.

Capt Thammanoon Wanna, commander of the Trat Marine Task Force, made the remarks during an inspection of positions at Ban Tha Sen-Thmor Da and Ban Nong Ri, also known as Ban Sam Lang, or Three Houses.

Warning over fresh tensions

Thammanoon said he believed the latest disturbances followed reports of a change of Cambodian unit commander in the area. He said the Thmor Da casino building, which he described as having previously encroached on Thai territory, is now under Thai control and will remain intact unless commanders issue new orders. He added that Thai forces have laid out positions and barbed wire near Ban Sam Lang, about 900 metres from Cambodian troops.

MOU 43 and JBC in focus

The commander said MOU 43 remains a working tool for border demarcation and that he would not object if it were scrapped, provided another mechanism were put in place. Official Thai briefings describe MOU 43 as the 2000 memorandum on land boundary survey and demarcation, under which the Joint Boundary Commission oversees joint surveys, mapping and mine-clearance work. Thai authorities have also said the agreement bars either side from altering the physical state of the frontier in ways that obstruct demarcation.

Claims over Thmor Da area

Thammanoon also alleged that the wider Thmor Da area had become what he described as a scam hub run by financiers of Chinese descent, with recently arrived personnel claiming to have been sent by the Chinese embassy to guard property there. He said the area lies outside Thai control and that the Foreign Ministry should coordinate with Beijing if such claims are false. He also said Thai forces were monitoring what he described as newly built Cambodian fortified trenches running parallel to the Thai side of the border, which he suggested reflected concern over another clash.

Background to the border dispute

Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817-km land border for more than a century.

The frontier saw major fighting in July 2025 and again in December. The second ceasefire took effect at noon on December 27, ending 20 days of clashes that killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides; under the deal, both militaries agreed to maintain their current troop deployments. In January, Cambodia accused Thailand of still occupying civilian areas inside Cambodia, while Thailand rejected those allegations as baseless, underscoring how fragile the truce remains.

The JBC resumed work in June 2025 for the first time in 13 years, with both governments describing it as the main bilateral mechanism for handling survey and demarcation issues peacefully under MOU 43. Thai official statements have said the framework is intended to reduce tensions while advancing technical boundary work on the ground.