Army says AOT report confirms newly laid landmines; Malaysian media corrects earlier report
Thai Army confirms AOT report identifies newly laid landmines, correcting earlier Malaysian media reports that claimed they were old. Bernama has now revised its story
The Royal Thai Army has reaffirmed that the AOT (ASEAN Observer Team) report clearly identifies the landmines found along the Thai-Cambodian border as newly laid, following earlier inaccurate reporting by Malaysian media.
On November 14 at the Royal Thai Army Headquarters, reference was made to news reports claiming that Malaysia’s Foreign Minister had stated the landmines discovered in the border area were “old mines”.
Maj Gen Winthai Suwaree, the Army spokesperson, clarified that a fact-check confirmed the confusion stemmed from an erroneous English-language report by Malaysia’s Bernama news agency. The inaccurate information was then picked up by Thai and Cambodian media outlets, leading to widespread misunderstanding. Bernama has since corrected the report.
He said documents from the AOT explicitly state the mines were newly planted, confirming that the earlier contradiction was solely due to a reporting error.
Malaysian media corrects report after confusion over “old” vs “new” landmines
Late on November 13, 2025, Malaysian-language and English-language media published conflicting reports regarding the landmine incident along the Thai-Cambodian border.
The confusion began when Malaysian-language reports quoted the Malaysian Foreign Minister as saying the landmines were “new”, while the English-language version reported that they were “unlikely to be new”. Cambodian and Thai outlets subsequently repeated the incorrect English-language version.
Bernama, the source of the English report, has now corrected the article and confirmed the landmines were “new”, consistent with the findings of the ASEAN Observer Team. The corrected Bernama text states:
“But the ASEAN observer teams in Thailand and Cambodia have reported that they were new landmines.”
Thai side and Army reiterate: AOT confirms “new landmines”
Following the conflicting reports, Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs began coordinating with the Malaysian Embassy in Bangkok and Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expedite a joint clarification and prevent the issue from escalating.
Maj Gen Winthai emphasised that the Malaysian report describing the mines as “old” was an error by Bernama and that this mistake propagated through regional media. He reiterated that the AOT documentation “clearly identifies them as newly laid landmines”.
Clarification amid tensions: Malaysia ready to host talks
The misreport stemmed from comments made by Malaysia’s Foreign Minister, Dato’ Seri Mohamad Hasan, who stated that Malaysia was ready to host negotiations between Thailand and Cambodia to uphold the ceasefire agreement following renewed border tensions.
Mohamad Hasan said talks were expected soon and that Malaysia would be an appropriate host, as “both sides appear to have lost trust in one another”. He confirmed that both Cambodia and Thailand had already reached out to Malaysia.
He identified the trigger for the tension: Thailand’s suspension of the ceasefire agreement after several Thai patrol soldiers were injured by landmines, which Thailand claimed were planted by Cambodia.
He added:
“But the ASEAN observer teams in Thailand and Cambodia have reported that they were newly laid landmines… (this part has now been corrected). I have just spoken with the Thai Foreign Minister. My hope is that both sides remain calm and return to the peace negotiation table.”
