- Curfew in Thailand affects five districts of Trat province
- Cambodia accuses Thailand of attacking civilian infrastructure.
- Thailand is open to a diplomatic solution: Ministry of Defense
Thailand announced a curfew in its southeastern Trat province on Sunday as fighting with Cambodia spread to coastal areas of a disputed border region, two days after US President and would-be peacemaker Donald Trump said the sides had agreed to stop it.
The Southeast Asian neighbors have resorted to weapons 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 has been continuous fighting” since Cambodia again reiterated its openness to a ceasefire on Saturday, Thai Defense Ministry spokesman Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri said at a news conference in Bangkok after announcing the curfew.
Thailand is open to a diplomatic solution, but “Cambodia must first cease hostility before we can negotiate,” he said.
Thai forces said Saturday they had destroyed a bridge Cambodia used to deliver heavy weapons and other equipment to the region and launched an operation against prepositioned artillery in Cambodia’s coastal Koh Kong province.
Cambodia accused Thailand of attacking civilian infrastructure.
The curfew in Thailand covers five districts in Trat province neighboring Koh Kong, excluding the resort islands of Koh Chang and Koh Kood. The military had previously imposed a curfew in the eastern province of Sakeo, which remains in force.
Thailand and Cambodia have exchanged heavy weapons fire at multiple points along their 817-kilometer (508-mile) border since Monday, in some of the most intense fighting since a five-day standoff in July that ended with mediation by Trump and Malaysia.
Trump said he spoke with Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Friday, and said they had agreed to “stop all shooting.”
On Saturday, Anutin vowed to continue fighting “until we no longer feel damage and threats to our land and our people.”
A White House spokesman later said that Trump expected all sides to honor their commitments and that he “will hold anyone accountable as necessary to stop the killing and ensure lasting peace.”
