The talks come after troops from the 2 international locations exchanged fireplace final month, killing one Cambodian soldier.
Thailand says talks with neighbouring Cambodia had “made progress” in resolving a long-running border dispute that final month devolved into clashes, main each international locations to mobilise troops on the border.
A Thai delegation led by overseas ministry adviser Prasas Prasasvinitchai and a Cambodian contingent headed by Lam Chea, minister of state accountable for the Secretariat of Border Affairs, met on Saturday within the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to attempt to resolve the spat.
The assembly got here after troops from the 2 international locations exchanged fireplace final month in an space often known as the Emerald Triangle, the place the borders of Cambodia, Thailand and Laos meet, with one Cambodian soldier killed.
Thailand’s overseas ministry stated the Joint Boundary Fee assembly had “made progress in constructing mutual understanding” between the 2 international locations.
Ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura stated in a information convention that “diplomatic dialogue stays the best means ahead”, including that talks would go into Sunday.
A decision shouldn’t be anticipated this weekend and it was unclear when the end result could be introduced.
The Thai and Cambodian armies each stated they’d acted in self-defence through the change of fireplace on Might 28, however agreed to reposition their troopers to keep away from future confrontations.
In latest days, Thailand has tightened border controls with Cambodia, which in flip has requested its troops to remain on “full alert”.
Regardless of each international locations pledging dialogue to deal with the difficulty and calm nationalist fervour, Bangkok has threatened to shut the border and reduce off electrical energy provides to its neighbour.
Phnom Penh introduced it might stop shopping for Thai electrical energy, web bandwidth and produce. It has additionally ordered native tv stations to not display Thai movies.
Submitting criticism with ICJ
The dispute between Thailand and Cambodia dates to the drawing of the 820-km (510-mile) frontier, largely completed through the French occupation of Indo-China from 1887 to 1954. Elements of the land border are undemarcated and embody historical temples that each side have contested for many years.
The area has seen sporadic violence since 2008, leading to at the least 28 deaths.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet introduced earlier this month that Cambodia would file a criticism with the Worldwide Court docket of Justice (ICJ) over 4 disputed border areas, together with the positioning of the newest conflict. Thailand, nonetheless, has insisted on a bilateral answer.
Hun Manet stated in a Fb publish on Friday that the 4 areas and the border restrictions wouldn’t be mentioned at Saturday’s talks, including the federal government would ship an official letter to the ICJ on Sunday on its plan to file the case.
“Cambodia awaits Thailand to make clear its official place at [Saturday’s] assembly on whether or not Thailand will be part of Cambodia in referring the 4 areas to the ICJ,” he stated.
Influential former strongman premier Hun Sen, Hun Manet’s father, has criticised Thailand’s navy for proscribing border crossings and has accused generals and Thai nationalists of fanning the tensions.
“Solely extremist teams and a few navy factions are behind these points with Cambodia as a result of, as regular, the Thai authorities is unable to regulate its navy the best way our nation can,” he stated late on Thursday.
The ICJ dominated in 2013 {that a} disputed space subsequent to Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia, however Thailand says it doesn’t settle for the ICJ’s jurisdiction.
