A State Secretariat for Border Affairs press release issued on the night of January 14 said Thailand had again requested a postponement, for the second time, and would not attend the special Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meeting Cambodia proposed for the second or third week of January 2026 in Siem Reap. Thailand cited the need to complete internal procedures to appoint new members of its JBC delegation after a new Thai cabinet is formed following the parliamentary election expected in early February.
Nevertheless, to expedite the previously agreed fieldwork under the record of the special Cambodia–Thailand JBC meeting held in Chanthaburi on October 22, 2025, Cambodia renewed its request in a diplomatic note dated January 13, 2026, for both sides to send their Joint Survey Teams back to the ground. They would continue installing temporary markers in the boundary sections between pillars 42–47 and 52–59, described as hotspots during the 21-day war, on a suitable date between January 19 and 23, 2026. The teams from both sides would contact each other directly to determine the exact time and location for the fieldwork.
Cambodia also requested that the two sides’ joint survey teams undertake fieldwork on a suitable date between January 26 and 30, 2026, to rebuild 15 boundary pillars according to the original French-era design at the exact original locations agreed by both parties.
The two countries’ Joint Survey Teams began surveying and installing temporary markers between pillars 42–47 on November 19, 2025, and between pillars 52–59 on November 8, 2025. The release said the work was suspended on December 8, 2025, because of what it described as a war of aggression against Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
By: Nget Pisant
