Thai and Cambodian officials met on Saturday in a bid to ease rising tensions amid fears of military clashes over a long-standing border dispute. Ambassador Prasas Prasasvinitchai, Co-Chair of the Thailand-Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission (Thai side), had a small-group meeting with Lam Chea, Minister in Charge of the State Secretariat of Border Affairs, Co-Chair (Cambodian side), prior to the sixth meeting of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary. 

The flare-up in their border dispute has prompted both countries to mobilise troops along stretches of their 820-km shared border, much of which remains undemarcated and includes several ancient temples that have been contented on for decades.

The latest standoff was triggered by a brief skirmish on May 28. The dispute comes at a politically sensitive time for Thailand, where Prime Minister Paetongtarn’s administration is under pressure amid faltering economic growth and declining popularity. Calls for a stronger stance against Cambodia have grown louder, with the Thai military initially adopting a hardline tone.