- Thailand’s curfew covers five districts in Trat province
- Cambodia accuses Thailand of attacking civilian infrastructure.
- Thailand is open to diplomatic solution: Defense Ministry
Thailand announced a curfew in its southeastern Trat province on Sunday as fighting with Cambodia spread to coastal areas in a disputed border region, two days after US President and would-be peacemaker Donald Trump said the sides had agreed to stop.
The Southeast Asian neighbors have taken up arms several times this year since a Cambodian soldier was killed in a skirmish in May, reigniting a conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the border.
“Overall, there have been clashes continuously” since Cambodia reiterated its openness to a ceasefire on Saturday, Thai Defense Ministry spokesman Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri told a news conference in Bangkok after announcing the curfew.
Thailand is open to a diplomatic solution, but “Cambodia needs to cease hostilities first before we can negotiate,” he said.
Thai forces said on Saturday they had destroyed a bridge used by Cambodia to deliver heavy weapons and other equipment to the region, and launched an operation targeting pre-positioned artillery in Cambodia’s coastal Koh Kong province.
Cambodia accused Thailand of attacking civilian infrastructure.
Thailand’s curfew covers five districts in Trat province, which neighbors Koh Kong, excluding the tourist islands of Koh Chang and Koh Kood. The military had previously imposed a curfew in eastern Sakeo province, which remains in effect.
Thailand and Cambodia have exchanged gunfire with heavy weapons at several points along their 817-kilometer border since Monday, in some of the most intense fighting since a five-day clash in July that ended with Trump and Malaysian mediation.
Trump said he spoke with Thailand’s interim prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian prime minister Hun Manet on Friday and said they had agreed to “cease all shooting.”
On Saturday, Anutin vowed to continue fighting “until we feel no more harm and threats to our country and people”.
A White House spokesman later said Trump expected all parties to honor their commitments and that “he will hold anyone accountable if necessary to stop the killing and ensure lasting peace”.
