Thai Navy says border container move follows Cambodia accord
The Royal Thai Navy says the containers and barbed wire were installed only where needed, in line with the agreed deployment line, to deter provocation.
- The Royal Thai Navy placed containers and reinforced barriers on the Cambodian border in response to provocations and the dismantling of original barriers by "ill-intentioned individuals."
- The Navy asserts this action is in accordance with a December 2025 Joint Statement with Cambodia, which agreed that both sides would maintain their current troop deployment lines.
- Thailand clarifies the move was a self-defense measure to maintain peace and prevent escalation, not an infringement on Cambodian sovereignty.
RAdm Paraj Ratanajaipan, spokesman for the Royal Thai Navy, clarified on March 29, 2026, that after the Cambodian side had taken a group of international diplomats and representatives of international organisations to the Cambodia-Thailand border area, reports and images of the visit were later circulated claiming that Thailand’s actions, including the placement of containers in the area, constituted a violation of Cambodian sovereignty.
The Office of the Royal Thai Navy Spokesperson said Thailand’s installation of containers and reinforcement of barbed-wire barriers in the area was prompted by provocation and the dismantling of the original barriers by ill-intentioned individuals.
Such action was therefore necessary to guard against further provocation by those with malicious intent and to reduce the likelihood of friction between the troops of both sides, which could unnecessarily escalate the situation.
The line of the container placements, which were installed only where necessary at certain points, together with stretches of barbed wire in some sections, remains in accordance with the original troop deployment line agreed by both sides under Paragraph 2 of the Thailand-Cambodia Joint Statement dated December 27, 2025, which clearly states that “Both sides agree to maintain current troop deployments without further movement.”
The Royal Thai Navy reaffirmed that Thailand’s actions were not intended to infringe upon the sovereignty of the neighbouring country, but were carried out within the framework of the joint statement and the principle of self-defence to maintain peace and order along the border, ensure calm in the area, and keep under control any provocation by ill-intentioned actors.
