GBC talks conclude with 6th draft; NSC decision key to Dec 27 ceasefire
Secretary-level Thai–Cambodia GBC talks ended with a sixth revised draft deal, but details remain undisclosed pending National Security Council approval
Reporters said the GBC meeting on its third day was held at the meeting room on the third floor of the Immigration Bureau office at the Ban Phakkad permanent border checkpoint, Khlong Yai subdistrict, Pong Nam Ron district, Chanthaburi, on December 26. The meeting began at 10.00am and the atmosphere remained tense.
The Thai delegation was led by Gen Nattapong Praokaew, Deputy Chief of Staff at the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, as chair of the Thai GBC secretariat. The Cambodian side was led by Maj Gen Nhem Boraden, as chair of the Cambodian GBC secretariat.
The meeting ended at around 1.00pm. Cambodia presented a revised draft agreement—edited back and forth until reaching a sixth version—to the Thai side before returning home. Thailand will submit the proposal to the National Security Council (NSC), chaired by Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
No details of the sixth draft have been released, pending NSC approval.
It was also noted that officials had prepared a venue for a signing between Defence Minister Gen Natthaphon Narkphanit and Cambodian Defence Minister Gen Tea Seiha on December 27.
Meanwhile, the Joint Press Centre for the Thailand–Cambodia border situation is expected to move its briefing venue to the meeting location in Chanthaburi as well.
Reporters said the ceasefire is expected to take effect on December 27, with results monitored for 72 hours, after Cambodia had previously announced a ceasefire first at a foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on December 22.
