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Bangkok: Thailand yesterday rejected a request by Cambodia to hold bilateral talks in a neutral country, leaving a planned meeting to negotiate an end to deadly border clashes in doubt.
The nations’ long-standing border conflict reignited this month, shattering an earlier truce, killing more than 40 people and displacing over 900,000 on both sides, officials said.
The clashing neighbours on Monday agreed to negotiate truce terms this week, but Cambodia asked Thailand to hold the talks in a neutral venue, Malaysia’s capital.
Thailand’s defence ministry, however, said yesterday that the bilateral border committee meeting would go ahead in Thailand’s Chanthaburi province from Wednesday as planned. “We guarantee Chanthaburi is safe. This province is the original plan for hosting the GBC (General Border Committee) even before the fighting started,” Thai defence ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri told reporters.
Surasant said officials from the border committee would meet from Wednesday to Saturday, adding that whether the meeting happened or not depended on Cambodia.
A Cambodian government spokesman told AFP he had no updated information on the meeting venue.
The conflict stems from a territorial dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800km border and a smattering of ancient temple ruins situated on the frontier.
Each side has blamed the other for instigating the fresh fighting since December 7 and traded accusations of attacks on civilians, after five days of clashes in July killed dozens.
The United States, China and Malaysia brokered a truce to end that round of fighting, but the ceasefire was short-lived.
Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow on Monday announced the parley with Cambodia after a crisis meeting in Kuala Lumpur with his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), of which Cambodia is also a member.
