Key Points
- Thai PM tells Trump Cambodia is responsible for deadly border clashes
- Fighting this week killed at least 20 and displaced around 500,000 along the disputed frontier.
- Trump says he will contact both countries to restore the ceasefire
BANGKOK, THAILAND: Thailand’s prime minister said he told US President Donald Trump in a phone call Friday that Cambodia was to blame for deadly border clashes, stopping short of declaring Bangkok was willing to halt fire.
Fighting between the two Southeast Asian neighbours this week has killed at least 20 people and displaced around half a million on both sides of the disputed border.
Trump, said he would speak with the leaders of both countries “get that one back on track”.
“Trump said he want a ceasefire,” the Thai prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, told reporters after his call with the US president.
“I replied that he’d better tell that to our friend,” Anutin added, referring to Cambodia.
“It needs to be announced to the world that Cambodia is going to comply with the ceasefire.”
Each side blames the other for reigniting the conflict, which stems from a long-running dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier.
“The one who violated the agreement needs to fix (the situation) — not the one that got violated,” Anutin said, adding that the call with Trump “went well”.
The United States, China and Malaysia, as chair of the regional bloc ASEAN, brokered a ceasefire in July after an initial five-day spate of violence.
In October, Trump backed a follow-on joint declaration between Thailand and Cambodia, touting new trade deals with after they agreed to prolong their truce.
But Thailand suspended the agreement the following month after Thai soldiers were wounded by landmines at the border.
At the White House on Thursday, Trump again boasted about having resolved multiple conflicts, but said that with “Thailand and Cambodia, I think I’m going to have to make a couple of phone calls… but we’ll get that one back on track”.
