Thailand Marks One Year Since Cambodia Border Conflict with Pledge to Uphold "Legitimate" Defence

 

 

Bangkok's Joint Information Centre used the war's first anniversary to review a year of military build-up, diplomacy and anti-scam raids along the frontier.

 

 

Thailand's Defence Ministry-led Joint Information Centre (JIC) on the Thailand-Cambodia border situation marked the first anniversary of last year's deadly border clashes on Friday, using its regular briefing to set out what officials described as a year of restraint, legal process and continued military readiness along the frontier.

 

Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, spokesperson for the Defence Ministry, opened the briefing by recalling that the clashes began a year ago to the day, when the first BM-21 rocket struck Thai homes, a convenience store and paddy fields, and by acknowledging the loss of life among soldiers, police and civilians on the Thai side.

 

He said Thailand's response had been necessary to defend national sovereignty but stressed that any defence of the country had to rest on legitimacy, accountability, adherence to fact, respect for international law and diplomacy running alongside security operations.

 

 

Rear Admiral Surasant said the past year had demonstrated the courage and sacrifice of Thai personnel and the losses suffered by innocent people, calling it a lesson the world should not forget.

 

He added that the JIC itself had operated without interruption over the past twelve months, publishing updates through government websites and Facebook pages so that the public could follow developments, and that Thailand had continued to observe the Joint Statement signed by the two countries' defence ministers on 27 December, including commitments not to provoke or reinforce positions along the so-called "Truce Deployment Line".
 

 

 

He outlined five principles said to guide the centre's work: legitimacy, humanitarian concern, transparency balanced against operational security, a single unified message, and constructive communication.

 

 

 

 

Infrastructure drive for border troops

The Defence Ministry spokesperson gave the most detailed account of a ministry-wide infrastructure campaign known by the Thai slogan "water flowing, lights bright, good roads, phone signal" — a policy he attributed to the Defence Minister aimed at ensuring troops stationed along the border have adequate water storage; electricity, including solar power support from private firms; upgraded roads to speed up the resupply of food and equipment to remote, mountainous positions; and mobile phone signal so soldiers can stay in contact with their families while on deployment.

 

He said the minister had also linked border development to security policy, describing an approach that keeps people at its centre and integrates every government agency to improve local living conditions.

 

 

 

Foreign Ministry: conciliators still being chosen

Maratee Nalita Andamo, deputy director-general of the Department of Information at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the briefing that Thailand had accepted, since 19 June, compulsory conciliation proceedings under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

 

Each side has now appointed two conciliators, and the four-member panel is searching for a fifth person to chair the commission – someone she said would need both expertise in maritime law and diplomatic skill since the conciliation process is due to produce a report within twelve months to form the basis for further negotiation.

 

 

 

The deadline for naming the fifth member has been extended by a further month with the agreement of both governments, she said, while Thailand prepares for the commission's first formal session.

 

She also said the ministry continually assesses which international forums require a Thai response, based on whether Thailand is a member, whether any outcome could carry legal weight, or whether Thailand's image could be significantly affected.

 

She noted that Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister had recently travelled to Manila for the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting and Post-Ministerial Conferences, using the gathering to brief partner countries bilaterally on developments at the border.

 

She added that the ministry had also issued a statement on Friday responding to comments made by Cambodia's prime minister to international media accusing Thailand of aggression in last year's clashes, reiterating that Thailand seeks a peaceful resolution but that negotiations require an atmosphere free of what she called unfounded accusations from the Cambodian side.

 

 

 

 

Armed forces report continuous deployment, no let-up in patrols

Representatives of Thailand's three armed services said troops remain deployed without gaps along the border.

 

Col Richa Suksuwanon, deputy spokesperson for the Royal Thai Army, said forces under the Suranaree and Burapha task forces, along with border patrol police, continue to hold the line across five provinces in strict accordance with the Joint Statement, even as the army says it has continued to record what it called violations by Cambodian forces.

 

He said the army relies on established rules of engagement centred on protecting sovereignty and troop safety, together with a hotline mechanism allowing local commanders to de-escalate incidents — a channel he said had also been used to assist Thai civilians who became lost near the border.

 

He said sporadic provocations continue, including Cambodian soldiers approaching close to deployment lines, gunfire and explosions verified as originating from the Cambodian side, and Cambodians entering border areas to mine for minerals, all of which Thailand has formally protested through the Foreign Ministry for use as evidence internationally.

 

He added that fortifications, bunkers and access roads along the five-province deployment line continue to be reinforced, alongside regular training exercises at every unit level and joint exercises across the three armed services.

 

 

 

Capt Kietiyuth Tiansuwan, deputy spokesperson for the Royal Thai Navy, said naval forces under the Chanthaburi-Trat Border Defence Command continue round-the-clock monitoring of both land and maritime areas, enforcing checks against smuggling, banned goods, fuel and other illegal cargo while still allowing lawful fishing and trade to continue.

 

He said construction of a border security fence between boundary markers 52 and 54 is nearing completion, with a survey now under way for the stretch between markers 54 and 59 — sections he said both countries have jointly recognised.

 

He also referenced "Operation Trad Phikhat Phairee 1", launched when the conflict escalated last July, aimed at maintaining control of the area and protecting civilians, and thanked civil society groups, temples, foundations, businesses and residents for their support over the past year.

 

 

 

Air Marshal Chakkrit Thammavichai, spokesperson for the Royal Thai Air Force, said the service has maintained round-the-clock combat readiness over the past year through recurring weapons and bombing exercises, joint drills with allied countries — including a large-scale exercise currently under way in Australia — and lessons drawn from last year's fighting to test and refine the use of force.

 

He said the air force has also pursued "force modernisation", replenishing munitions used during the conflict and acquiring new precision-strike capabilities, including air-defence systems and what he described as loitering munitions capable of striking targets autonomously, which he said would be used strictly on a self-defence basis in line with the UN Charter.

 

He said the three armed services continue to hold joint planning meetings at every level to ensure coordinated operations, including against strategic targets deeper inside Cambodia should that become necessary.

 

 

 

Police cite scam-centre crackdown, still a "national agenda"

Pol Maj Gen Chaiwat Sri-ammorn, commander of the Public Relations Division of the Royal Thai Police, said the force has supported front-line operations alongside the military through the Aranyaprathet 26 and 261 units and border patrol police, while separately safeguarding displaced people in shelters, running checkpoints and easing the evacuation of the injured.

 

He said the past year's police work spanned six areas, including intelligence-sharing with the military, protection of 20 border patrol police schools attended by more than 700 children, prosecution of offenders, and tightened immigration screening.

 

He said the government has designated the fight against call-centre scam operations, many run out of neighbouring countries, a national agenda.

 

Since Thailand's Anti-Online Scam Operation Centre (AOC) was established in October last year, reported online scam cases have fallen by 69.2 per cent and the value of losses by 87.3 per cent, he said, adding that Thai police have also worked with the FBI on tackling scam centres and human trafficking, with the FBI's director thanking Thai counterparts for their cooperation.

 

 

 

 

Context: a fragile anniversary

Friday's briefing came as rights groups and Cambodian officials marked the anniversary very differently. Cambodia's government has described 24 July as the start of what it calls Thai "armed aggression", while reports this week say more than 20,000 Cambodians remain displaced and unable to return home because of continued Thai military presence in contested territory, even though a truce from December has broadly held.

 

Actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie also marked the anniversary this week, saying nearly 30,000 people remain internally displaced and unable to return to their homes a year on. 

 

The original clashes in July 2025 were among the deadliest in the two countries' long-running border dispute, displacing well over 100,000 people and killing dozens on both sides before a ceasefire brokered in Malaysia in late July and a formal joint statement signed by both defence ministries in December sought to stabilise the frontier.