Cambodia Briefs Diplomats on Border Tensions With Thailand

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (Nov.15,2025) — Cambodia briefed foreign diplomats Friday on rising tensions along its border with Thailand, citing a landmine blast that wounded Thai soldiers and a shooting incident Phnom Penh says involved Thai forces firing on Cambodian civilians.

EAT Sophea, permanent secretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told representatives of the diplomatic corps and international organizations that Cambodia had lodged a formal protest over what it called an “unprovoked” shooting by Thai troops in Prey Chan village, Banteay Meanchey province. The ministry said one Cambodian civilian was killed and three others injured.

Sophea said the use of force violated Cambodia’s sovereignty, international humanitarian law and principles of both the U.N. and ASEAN charters. She added the incident disrupted border demarcation work agreed at a Cambodia–Thailand Joint Boundary Commission meeting in late October.

Cambodia called for a full investigation with ASEAN observers and urged support from international partners.

Addressing the Nov. 10 landmine explosion near the Preah Vihear Temple, Sophea expressed sympathy for the injured Thai soldiers but rejected allegations that Cambodian forces had planted new mines.

She said the area has long been contaminated with explosives dating back to Cambodia’s civil war and called for an independent inquiry.

Sophea reaffirmed Cambodia’s commitment to the July 28 ceasefire and the Kuala Lumpur Joint Declaration on peaceful dispute settlement, signed by the two countries’ prime ministers on Oct. 26. Senior officials from the Ministry of Defense, the Cambodian Mine Action Centre and the State Secretariat of Border Affairs also attended the briefing.