Thailand rules out negotiations and pledges to destroy Cambodia's military power
A peace deal that President Trump claimed would "save millions of lives" has spectacularly collapsed as Thai jets bomb Cambodia.
Thailand intended to “cripple” Cambodia’s military capability, the Thai army’s chief of staff said after its fighter jets were reported to have killed four civilians in an escalation of border violence.
General Chaiyapruek Duangprapat was speaking after the collapse of the ceasefire between the two southeast Asian neighbours, one of several peace agreements for which President Trump has claimed credit.
The new clashes are the worst hostilities since five days of fighting in July, and began overnight after exchanges of fire in which at least one Thai soldier was reported to have died and four were wounded. His death has enraged the larger and better-equipped Thai armed forces, which appear to be intent on destroying Cambodia’s military capacity close to the border.
“The objective of the army is to cripple Cambodia’s military capability for a long time to come, for the safety of our children and grandchildren,” Chaiyapruek said.
Anutin Charnvirakul, the Thai prime minister, reinforced the angry message and said that there would be no negotiation over the clashes. “Our response is not a signal,” he said.
“It is a measure designed to clearly show that they must not threaten Thailand’s sovereignty. From now on, there will be no negotiations. If we want to stop hostilities, Cambodia must follow the course set by Thailand.”
Cambodia said that four civilians had been killed and ten were injured. It did not list military casualties, but given the scale of the Thai response, these may have been significant. The 800-kilometre border between the two countries, which in many places has never been agreed on, has been in a state of tension for much of the year. The latest fighting has broken out in at least half a dozen places, and appears to have begun with an exchange of handgun fire on Sunday night before mortars were fired.
Both sides issued detailed timelines of unfolding events that placed all responsibility for the escalation of the conflict on the other. In Thailand, at least 385,000 civilians across four border districts were being evacuated, the Thai military reported.
The Thais said that “air support” from fighter jets was called after Cambodia fired heavy weaponry and moved combat and support units close to the border.
“These developments prompted the use of air power to deter and reduce Cambodia’s military capabilities,” the air force said. It added: “All missions were executed with caution, targeting only military infrastructure, weapons depots, command centres and logistical routes.”
Major General Winthai Suvaree, spokesman for the Royal Thai Army, said that one of the targets struck by an F-16 fighter jet was a casino allegedly being used as a command centre for Cambodian drone attacks. He also accused Cambodia of targeting an airport and a hospital in Thailand.
Cambodia’s former prime minister, Hun Sen, who retains influence despite being succeeded by his son, Hun Manet, said on Facebook “the red line for responding has already been set. I urge commanders at all levels to educate all officers and soldiers accordingly”, although where exactly the red line lies is not clear.
Hun Sen said that Cambodian athletes getting ready to compete in the Southeast Asian Games, which are due to begin in Thailand on Tuesday, should continue their preparations.
A statement by the Cambodian armed forces said: “Standing on the spirit of respecting all previous agreements and resolving conflicts peacefully according to international law, Cambodia did not retaliate at all during the two assaults and continues to monitor the situation vigilantly and with utmost caution.”
In late July, artillery exchanges, cluster bombs and bombardment by drones and fighter jets in paddy fields, villages and ancient temples left hundreds of thousands displaced and the countryside littered with unexploded munitions.
Border checkpoints were closed and the valuable trade between the two countries all but ceased. The bitterness between the two countries has already led to the collapse of one Thai government and the fall from power of its most powerful political family.
“Some people think that this is a small conflict,” Cambodia’s information minister, Neth Pheaktra, said in September. “But if you don’t take this small conflict seriously [it] can explode with a big impact, between people and people, one country and another country. A big fire can come from a small thing.”
The dispute has complex origins in colonial history, ethnic rivalry and the fraught modern politics of the two countries. As colonial rulers, the French imposed a border, which gave to modern Cambodia areas that Thailand considers its own.
In 1962, the spectacular Preah Vihear temple, a world heritage site on the border, was awarded to Cambodia after lengthy arguments in the International Court of Justice. But most of the border between the two countries remains undetermined, and efforts to agree on its course have made little progress.
Soldiers on both sides died in fighting at Preah Vihear in 2008 and 2011, but the conflict this year has been the bloodiest ever.
A Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash between patrols on May 28. In July, two Thai soldiers were badly injured by landmines. Cambodia said that they were old weapons laid three decades ago during its civil war, but the Thais insisted that they were freshly laid.
In the absence of independent corroboration it is difficult to judge who is most responsible. However, Cambodia seems to have come off worst.
Thailand reported 30 dead soldiers and civilians in July. Cambodia has announced only 13, but posts on social media by mourning families suggested that at least 50 members of its security services have died, as well as an unknown number of civilians.
In October, Anutin and Hun Manet signed a peace deal in Kuala Lumpur in the presence of Trump, who took credit for it as part of his campaign to be awarded the Nobel peace prize. He said: “We did something that a lot of people said couldn’t be done, and we saved maybe millions of lives on this one peace deal itself. Millions of people are alive today because of this peace treaty.”
Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian prime minister, who also brokered the peace, said on Monday: “The renewed fighting risks unravelling the careful work that has gone into stabilising relations between the two neighbours.
“We urge both sides to exercise maximum restraint, maintain open channels of communication and make full use of the mechanisms in place.”
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