Cambodia rejects Thai foreign minister’s allegation of newly laid border mines

On December 3, 2025, Cambodia’s mine action authority firmly rejected the Thai foreign minister’s allegation that Cambodia had laid new mines along the border and his call for measures under Article 8 of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, also known as the Ottawa Convention. The authority’s response followed a Nikkei Asia report quoting the minister. It described the allegations as unfounded, unilateral and contrary to the facts. In its press release, the Cambodian mine action authority said Thailand had repeatedly undertaken unilateral demining and other activities along the border without coordination or transparency, and without respecting existing mechanisms. It said such actions seriously undermined joint efforts and ran counter to the Ottawa Convention’s humanitarian and cooperative spirit. The authority also accused Thailand of using mine explosions to discredit Cambodia’s mine action achievements and contributions and damage its reputation. It said Thailand’s use of the mine issue to create incidents violated the convention’s spirit and divided states parties and the international community. The Cambodian mine action authority further alleged that Thailand had used mine explosions as a pretext to provoke armed conflict with Cambodia and encroach on Cambodian territory on the basis of its own unilateral maps. It accused Thailand of using those incidents to divert public and international attention from extensive damage caused by the Thai military during the five-day war and from breaches of the Kuala Lumpur agreement and joint declaration. The authority expressed serious concern over accusations made without proper investigation. Cambodia called for a professional, impartial and evidence-based assessment and urged relevant parties and all states parties to support a joint technical investigation rather than unilateral allegations. The report also noted that Cambodia had cleared more than 3,000 square kilometres of mined land and found and destroyed over 1.2 million anti-personnel mines and over 3 million explosive remnants of war. By: ង៉ែត ពិសាន្ត