AKP Phnom Penh, August 16, 2025 --

The Extraordinary Meeting of Regional Border Committee (RBC) between Cambodia’s Military Region 3 and Thailand’s Chanthaburi-Trat Border Defence Command concluded this afternoon with a strong commitment by both sides to build on this positive momentum to further strengthen bilateral relations and foster closer people-to-people ties.

The positive outcome was announced in a press release issued at the end of the day-long meeting, held in Trat province of Thailand under the co-chairmanship of Major General Uy Hieng, Commander of the Military Region 3 and Vice Admiral Aphichat Sapprasert, Commander of the Chanthaburi-Trat Border Defence Command.

According to the press release, both sides committed to implementing the outcomes of the Special Meeting between Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and H.E. Phumtham Wechayachai, Acting Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, held in Putrajaya on July 28, 2025, hosted by Malaysia and co-organised by the United States, with the active participation of the People's Republic of China. They also reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the outcomes of the Extraordinary General Border Committee (GBC) Meeting held in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 7, 2025.

In addition, both sides agreed to maintain regular communication between all army areas, military regions, and units along the Cambodian-Thai border, and to strive to resolve all issues peacefully while avoiding clashes. They underscored the positive momentum and forward-looking spirit in strengthening relations through these engagements. Both sides also underlined the importance of further intensifying communication at all levels to build trust and promote good neighbourliness.

Both sides agreed in principle to establish a coordinating group (CG) to enhance communication at all levels, including between commanders, border liaison working groups, standing forces in the border areas, and operational units along the Cambodia-Thailand border, with the aim of resolving all issues peacefully and avoid clashes. The details will be discussed in the next RBC Meeting.

During the Meeting, Cambodia reaffirmed the importance of advancing humanitarian demining, noting that progress depends on the full implementation of the ceasefire and a return to normalcy along the border. As border demarcation is currently underway, demining can be considered in areas that are demarcated or in non-disputed areas, as agreed upon by the Joint Boundary Commissions (JBC) of the two countries. Since the RBC does not have the mandate to make decisions on demining, this issue should be addressed at the upcoming GBC Meeting, which is scheduled to take place soon, as already agreed by both sides.

With regard to online scams, Cambodia stressed that it takes this matter seriously, alongside with other forms of transnational crime. Cambodia has made significant efforts to combat these issues, working closely with ASEAN and other international partners, and has achieved tangible results. Cambodia and Thailand have already cooperated in tackling online scams, and this issue can be further discussed at the upcoming GBC Meeting, as both countries are equally affected.

Cambodia also underscored the importance of avoiding actions that could inadvertently increase tensions, including the laying of barbed wire, destruction existing infrastructure-particularly civilian residential structures and the dissemination of fake news or false information, as such developments risk eroding trust and undermining efforts to maintain a stable and peaceful environment.

In an effort to restore normalcy along the border, Cambodia strongly urged both sides to explore all necessary and practical measures to normalise relations in all areas as soon as possible. This would help promote mutual trust and confidence, while also minimising any adverse impacts on the lives and livelihoods of the people in both countries.

Both sides also agreed to convene another RBC Meeting within one month after this Extraordinary Meeting, with Cambodia as the host.

By C. Nika