Donald Trump has appealed for an immediate ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand, as violent clashes along their shared border entered a third consecutive day. The US president stated he had spoken directly with Cambodia’s Prime Minister, Hun Manet, and was in the process of contacting Thailand’s acting Prime Minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, to help broker a truce. In a post on his platform, Truth Social, Mr Trump warned both nations that the US may suspend trade negotiations if hostilities continued.
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Mr Trump likened the conflict to the historical tensions between Pakistan and India, which he claimed were successfully resolved. Following his conversation with Mr Wechayachai, Trump posted that both Cambodia and Thailand had expressed their willingness to pursue peace. He said he would relay the Thai leader’s message to Cambodia in hopes of securing a mutual ceasefire and a return to stability.
The border violence has so far claimed at least 33 lives and displaced over 168,000 people. Artillery exchanges and gunfire have been reported near border villages, as tensions erupted again following a land mine explosion that injured five Thai soldiers. Each side has blamed the other for provoking the renewed hostilities. The United Nations has urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to intervene diplomatically and help de-escalate the crisis.
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The 500-mile frontier between Cambodia and Thailand has long been a source of tension, but past conflicts have typically been short-lived. The recent violence, triggered by the killing of a Cambodian soldier in May, has escalated sharply. Reports of cluster munitions being used — weapons banned under international law — have raised serious humanitarian concerns. Although neither country is a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, human rights organisations have called for urgent restraint and adherence to international humanitarian standards.
