Thai forces had laid barbed wire and installed concrete culverts about 420 metres inside Cambodian territory at the O Smach international border crossing in Samraong city, Oddar Meanchey province, after the December 27, 2025 ceasefire, the report alleged, describing the action as a violation of international law.
Met Meas Pheakdey, deputy governor and spokesman for the Oddar Meanchey provincial administration, said the deep and unlawful occupation at O Smach had enclosed Cambodian police and immigration posts and commercial buildings, despite the Cambodian and Thai governments having agreed to recognise border marker 15 officially.
Speaking to journalists reporting from the O Smach international border crossing on the afternoon of February 5, 2026, the deputy governor said: "Thai forces installed concrete box culverts and barbed wire more than 420 metres inside Cambodian territory in the area of border marker 15 at the O Smach international border crossing after the ceasefire took effect on December 27, 2025."
He added that the crossing between O Smach sangkat in Samraong city, Oddar Meanchey province, and Kap Choeng district in Surin province was officially recognised by both governments and had been open for travel and trade since 2002.
The provincial spokesman described the Thai military's actions as a threat to security that frightened residents and traders who had worked at the Thma O Smach market beside the border. The market had more than 600 stalls. Some public-service buildings had closed completely, while others had been destroyed or severely damaged by Thai shelling during what he described as the war of aggression from December 8 to 27, 2025. He also said Thai forces were continuing to lay barbed wire to occupy Cambodian territory in Ou Khla Khmum and Phnom Ta Thang on February 5, 2026, which he described as a violation of the ceasefire.
Reported by Pai Sokhim.
