Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet on Monday said his country would file a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to adjudicate over its borders with Thailand, after a skirmish killed one Cambodian soldier and awoke dormant nationalist sentiment in both countries.
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The flashpoint happened on May 28 as Cambodian troops patrolled in what their government insists was their side of the frontier with eastern Thailand.
Thai soldiers opened fire and in a 10-minute gunfight, one Cambodian soldier was killed. Thai authorities said the Cambodian troops were inside a disputed area – later producing photos of trenches allegedly dug by their counterparts in the contested zone inside a forest.
But Cambodia has demanded an investigation for what its foreign ministry has called “an unprovoked attack”. On Monday, its leader Hun Manet – the son of Cambodian strongman Hun Sen – said he would be escalating the diplomatic response.
“To prevent armed confrontation again”, Cambodia urged Thailand “to jointly bring these issues to the International Court of Justice”, Hun Manet told lawmakers, according to Agence France-Presse.
Border disputes between the two kingdoms have incendiary potential.