No Major Outcome On First Day Cambodia-Thai Border Talks 

By Vijian Paramasivam and Kenny Teng

PHNOM PENH, June 14 (Bernama) -- The first round of the  Cambodia-Thailand Joint Boundary  (JBC) meeting concluded in Phnom Penh without any breakthrough. 

Both parties are expected to resume the negotiations of the sixth commission meeting on Sunday morning, according to the state media Agence Kampuchea Presse.

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“JBC meeting in Phnom Penh was temporarily closed at almost 4 pm and with both sides resuming the meeting on June 15, 2025,” said the state media.

The ongoing JBC meeting is the first in 12 years. 

The closed-door dialogue was chaired by Lam Chea, Minister in charge of the Secretariat of State for Border Affairs of Cambodia. 

The Thai delegation was led by Prasas Prasasvinitchai, an adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of border affairs.

This was the first formal diplomatic dialogue since tensions erupted on May 28, when Cambodian and Thai troops clashed briefly near Cambodia’s northern Preah Vihear province area. A 48-year-old Cambodian sergeant was killed in the incident. 

Both neighbours have been engaged in a decades-long dispute over their undemarcated 817-kilometre land border.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Friday firmly stated that his government will not address four specific issues during the ongoing JBC meeting. Instead, he said that these matters will be referred to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), regardless of whether Thailand agrees.

He said Cambodia will submit the case to ICJ on Sunday (June 15).

Thailand opted to negotiate all border issues on a bilateral level. 

The four disputed issues are related to the ancient temples — Ta Moan Thom, Ta Moan Tauch, Ta Krabei, and the Emerald Triangle area bordering Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

Meanwhile, the Thai Foreign Ministry stated that the JBC meeting in Phnom Penh on Saturday played a pivotal role in reducing tensions and laying the foundation for a sustainable solution.

“Both sides emphasised the importance of the JBC as the primary mechanism to address border-related issues and to work together towards a peaceful resolution, as stipulated in the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding between Thailand and Cambodia on the Survey and Demarcation of the Land Boundary,” the statement read.

Prior to the JBC meeting, both sides engaged in a small-group discussion described as ‘open and frank’.

This marked the first official encounter between the two Co-Chairs, who expressed optimism for a productive and constructive outcome from the JBC meeting.

-- BERNAMA