Thailand Headline News News On June 9, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Putan said in an interview that the tensions on the Thai-Cambodia border have been significantly eased, and continuous dialogue and coordination at all levels have become the key to this peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Putan pointed out that in the past few days, Thailand and Cambodia have conducted multi-level communication, including dialogue between the Prime Minister, Vice Premier, Minister of Defense and high-level military dialogue, and continuous coordination through military diplomatic channels in Cambodia. At 11 a.m. on June 8, the two sides reached a consensus and decided to resolve border disputes peacefully to avoid escalating military conflicts.
Putan stressed that "war will not bring any benefits. Although the combat order is issued quickly, the losses will be bilateral. What we are pursuing is a peaceful solution without casualties."
Putan also revealed that during the coordination process, the Thai side sent the deputy commander of the Second Military Region who was familiar with the terrain and knew the language to go to the disputed location to conduct on-site investigation and dialogue with Cambodia. The two sides agreed to restore to their previous peaceful state, return to their original garrison positions and conduct joint inspections and photo recordings of relevant areas to ensure transparent and traceable handling of the situation.
Putan said that on June 14, the two sides will continue to hold meetings to focus on discussing the border stability maintenance mechanism. Although some of the issues raised by Cambodia are technical, Thailand hopes to further discuss content such as maintaining border stability and establishing long-term mechanisms.
In addition, Putan also responded to questions about the closure of border gates. The government did not completely close the gates, but instead restricted entry and exit time and flow of people to ease tensions. This will not affect border trade exchanges, and it also complies with the principle of "seal, stop, and protect".
As to whether Cambodia will withdraw more than 10,000 troops deployed on the border, Putan said that it is expected to gradually ease, and the current front-line standoff point has begun to be evacuated in stages. Although some areas still have military deployments, they are not hostile and the situation is gradually stabilizing.
Finally, Putan stressed that a peaceful settlement of disputes is the common interest of the two countries, and that the two sides will continue to talk to seek a feasible solution to long-term border stability.
(Compiled: jinda; Reviewed: wan)
