Thai govt insists Cambodian community encroached on Thai soil in Sa Kaeo

Thai govt accuses Cambodian community of encroaching on Thai soil in Sa Kaeo, following decades of humanitarian aid misuse.

The government spokesman insisted on Wednesday that Cambodians had betrayed Thai hospitality and humanitarian aid by establishing a community on Thai soil at Ban Nong Chan village in Sa Kaeo.

Government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub said Ban Nong Chan, in Tambon None Mak Moon in Sa Kaeo’s Khok Sung district, had been used as a temporary shelter for Cambodians fleeing civil war in 1977.

Jirayu stated that Cambodia later took advantage of Thailand’s humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of Cambodians and used the opportunity to encroach on Thai soil.

He added that the Cambodian refugees refused to return home and instead expanded their community on Thai soil.

The spokesman was responding to allegations made by an American lobbyist hired by the Cambodian government. The lobbyist had claimed during a live broadcast from the area that Thai troops blocked hundreds of Cambodians from returning home by sealing off their village with razor wire.

Jirayu noted that over the past decades, Thailand had shown its readiness to be a good neighbour to Cambodia by offering to settle border disputes through bilateral mechanisms, such as the Joint Boundary Committee.

However, Jirayu said the Cambodian government had used its citizens as a human wall to try to encroach on Thai soil and provoke border tensions.

Jirayu explained that Thailand had erected razor wire to protect its territory from further encroachment and from attacks by Cambodian troops, who had laid landmines.

The spokesman insisted that the installation of razor wire did not violate the conditions agreed upon during the General Border Committee’s meeting on August 7. He stated that the meeting had resolved that neither side would construct any structures outside their territories, and that the razor wire was erected entirely within Thai boundaries.

(2025/08/20-00:00)