Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has threatened to derail a fragile peace deal with Cambodia – signed just last month – after a landmine explosion injured two Thai soldiers near their shared border.
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The soldiers stepped on what the Thai army suspects were newly laid mines while on routine patrol Monday in Si Sa Ket province. It was the seventh such blast in four months, following a wave of explosions in July that sparked the deadliest border clashes in years.
As a result, Thailand will suspend the terms of US President Donald Trump-backed Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords, which outline disarmament measures as part of efforts to normalise ties, Anutin said.
The country will also halt the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers in its custody – a move that had been set to begin November 21 under the peace terms.
“Everything we have been doing until now will be stopped until there is more clarity,” Anutin told reporters on Monday. “What happened shows that the hostility hasn’t decreased as we thought it would. So we can’t proceed any further from here.”
The accords call for the removal of heavy weapons from border zones between November 1 and December 31 and a cooperation on landmine clearances. Thailand has also sought Cambodian crackdowns on cyber-scam operations there.
Thai-Cambodia border conflict ends with ceasefire deal
Thai-Cambodia border conflict ends with ceasefire deal
A spokesperson for Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence did not respond to requests for comment.