Paetongtarn discusses with Hun Manet after Thai-Cambodian border clash

Thai PM emphasizes that both countries understand the situation and are working together to resolve it quickly

On May 28, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra addressed the recent border clash between Thai and Cambodian soldiers at Chong Bok, Ubon Ratchathani. She confirmed that she has been in contact with the Ministry of Defense and has also spoken with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, emphasizing that both countries understand the situation and are working together to resolve it quickly. 

"We don't want this to escalate,” she added.When asked if the relationship of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra with Cambodia would help in resolving the issue, Paetongtarn responded that her relationship with the Cambodian Prime Minister is already good.

According to reports from the border security agency, the clash occurred at 5:45 a.m. on Wednesday, with both Thai and Cambodian soldiers involved. The area is an undemarcated border zone, with overlapping territorial claims from both nations.On Thursday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet posted a facebook message regarding the incident:

“News related to the armed clash between Cambodian army and Thai army at the border yesterday in Mumbai, as well as the mobilization of military and some heavy weapons to the border while the PM is away in the country, has raised many of our citizens concerned with ambiguity about the situation at the border. Is a war going to break out? Who controls the situation or commands the mobilization of military forces when the Prime Minister is abroad?

I would like to briefly inform my fellow countrymen that even though I am currently in Japan and have many other work meetings, the system and the hierarchy of the command leadership in such a big case is in the responsibility of the Prime Minister.

All developments of the situation at the border are reported to me through H.E. Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, H.E. Commander-in-Chief and H.E. Army Commander, including the results of communication between the Minister of Defense, Cambodian Army Commander and Thai counterpart in order to prevent the conflict from escalating and try to return the situation to peace and stability. Good relationship between frontline armies of our country. At the same time, all major decisions must be approved or ordered from me, including the movement of military forces and weapons to the border.

I don't want to see any fighting between an army and an army that doesn't yield any profit for the country and our people, especially an army that has to fight directly on the battlefront.

In this sense, I hope that the meeting between the Commander of the Cambodia Army and the Commander of the Thai Army this evening will yield positive results in maintaining the peaceful situation and good communication between our two frontline armies, as has been done in the past.

For the movement of forces and weapons to the border, it is the implementation of the army's reserve plan to protect Cambodia's territories, which should be prepared in case of any emergency that may arise.

As I have said in public forums before, Cambodia does not intend to invade any country and we want border resolution based on technical and international laws. But Cambodia also reserves the right to use all means to protect its territorial identity, including the use of armed forces in case of an attempt to invade Cambodia’s territorial identity by using armed forces.

Therefore, I would like to ask my fellow Khmer citizens to be informed and not to be concerned based on some information that has been published without a clear source. I would also like to call on our Khmer brothers and sisters to prevent this problem from growing into a national conflict and to give confidence to the government as well as our army to find a solution to this problem with high responsibility.”

(2025/05/29-00:00)