Prime Minister Hun Manet has reiterated that Cambodia is pushing for bilateral negotiations through the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) to resolve land boundary issues with Thailand, while pursuing compulsory conciliation under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to settle the maritime boundary dispute.
He explained that the choice of mechanism must reflect circumstances on the ground and rest on sound, documented, legal foundations.
Manet commented on the issue via social media today, October 16, as a Cambodian delegation led by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn attend the second meeting with the Conciliation Commission and their Thai counterparts at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The meeting is scheduled to run from October 14–18.
“When choosing an approach to resolving the issue, we must select one that is appropriate to the circumstances and the actual situation,” Manet wrote.
He said these approaches included bilateral mechanisms, which Cambodia was seeking to advance through the JBC for the land boundary, and international mechanisms, including compulsory conciliation under UNCLOS, for the maritime boundary.
The prime minister described border negotiations as a major government responsibility to the nation and its people, requiring meticulous work and considerable patience to protect national sovereignty.
“We cannot proceed without a clear foundation or use documents obtained from unreliable sources, such as television or social media, hearsay or someone’s ‘intuition’,” he said.
In the same message, he extended his best wishes to the Cambodian delegation and legal team.
The meeting is chaired by Conciliation Commission president Katrina Cooper, with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) serving as the Registry. The Thai delegation is led by foreign minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow.
The second meeting follows the initial session in Singapore in September and seeks to explore further progress and identify areas of agreement on maritime boundary delimitation. The commission was established under Annex V of UNCLOS.
Cambodia’s foreign ministry noted on October 15 that both parties must refrain from making public statements about the outcomes of the conciliation proceedings until the commission issues an official press release, in accordance with their agreed Rules of Procedure.
Cambodia has proposed a treaty that establishes a single, all-purpose maritime boundary or an agreement on joint development and equitable sharing of resources pending a final boundary agreement. If neither option can be achieved, Cambodia has requested that the commission prepare recommendations to guide further negotiations.
Ahead of the meeting, the Thai foreign ministry announced that it was ready to cooperate with and support the commission’s work and would present relevant technical information to help achieve an equitable resolution based on international law.
As the maritime conciliation process continues, land boundary issues and the return of displaced civilians remain subjects of exchanges between the two countries.
Speaking in Geneva on October 13 at the 77th Session of the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ Programme, Ke Sovann, Cambodia’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, shared how at its December peak, last year’s border conflict displaced approximately 650,000 Cambodian civilians.
He noted that more than 20,000 people remained unable to return home, attributing their continued displacement to Thai forces occupying areas of Cambodian territory, restricting access to homes and communities, and destroying houses and infrastructure.
Thai newspaper The Nation reported that Royal Thai Army spokesperson Maj Gen Winthai Suvaree responded on October 15 by alleging that Cambodia’s presentation of the figures could create a misleading impression of the current situation.
In his response, Winthai claimed that nearly 500,000 Thai civilians were evacuated during the fighting and maintained that Thai military measures in the areas concerned were intended to protect Thailand’s sovereignty, soldiers and civilians. Thailand also rejected allegations that it is occupying Cambodian territory.