Cambodia and Thailand to hold ceasefire talks on Dec 24

BANGKOK/KUALA LUMPUR – Cambodian and Thai officials will meet on Dec 24 to negotiate the potential return to a ceasefire.

This comes after a Special ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting convened in Kuala Lumpur appeared to provide a key circuit breaker as

fighting between the two South-east Asian neighbours

stretched into a third straight week.

The talks will be held via the General Border Committee (GBC), an existing bilateral mechanism co-chaired by the two countries’ defence ministers that is used to manage security matters on their shared border.

“The ASEAN Foreign Ministers welcomed the discussions on resumption of the ceasefire and cessation of hostilities,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, reading from the ASEAN Chair’s statement from the meeting.

“The GBC will convene on 24 December 2025 to discuss the implementation and verification of the ceasefire. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers expressed hope for de-escalation of hostilities as soon as possible.”

Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said it was important to take time to get things right and thrash out a detailed implementation plan, to reach a ceasefire “that really holds”.

Longstanding border tensions flared in July before a ceasefire was reached after five days of fighting. The ceasefire was subsequently expanded into a peace deal in October.

Referring to this joint declaration brokered by Washington and signed when US President Donald Trump attended the ASEAN Summit in October, Mr Sihasak said there had been “a rush to do the declaration because the United States wanted the declaration signed in time”.

“We appreciated the efforts of the US... But sometimes, you know, we cannot always operate on a fixed timeframe,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

The peace deal was suspended by Thailand on Nov 11 after it accused Cambodia of

laying fresh landmines along their disputed border

– claims that Phnom Penh denies.

Mr Sihasak had been similarly candid when he expressed concern on Dec 13 that Mr Trump did not possess an “accurate understanding of the situation” between Thailand and Cambodia. This was regarding the US President’s premature declaration of a ceasefire and description of landmines targeting Thai soldiers in dense jungle as accidental “roadside bombs”.

The latest Thai comments are likely to make the Trump administration bristle, as it has been eager to claim credit, if at times prematurely, for brokering peace between the two countries.

But the remarks also serve as a diplomatic windfall for strategic rival China, which has sought to project itself as a steady and reliable economic and security partner in the region, in contrast with a US mediation style largely focused on instant results.

The tentative steps towards a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia also coincide with China taking a more pronounced role in its mediation efforts, after previously seeming content to allow the US to take a greater share of the public limelight.

While Chinese officials were present as “active participants” during the signing of the July ceasefire, they were not officially involved in the October signing ceremony headlined by Mr Trump.

For the most recent round of talks, China dispatched Mr Deng Xijun, the Foreign Ministry’s Special Envoy for Asian Affairs, on a “shuttle diplomacy trip” to both Cambodia and Thailand in an effort to restore peace and trust between the two neighbours.

Mr Deng met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn in Phnom Penh on Dec 19, before travelling to Bangkok on Dec 21. It followed separate calls between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Thai and Cambodian counterparts on Dec 18.

“Since the flare-up of the Cambodia-Thailand conflict, China has been mediating and encouraging talks in its own way,” China’s Foreign Ministry said on Dec 22, before the Dec 24 GBC talks were announced. “Regarding the details of Special Envoy Deng Xijun’s mediation, we will release information in due course.”

In a statement after Mr Deng’s meetings in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian Foreign Ministry said both Cambodia and China “underscored the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire and emphasised that peaceful dialogue remains the only viable path towards resolving differences”.

Cambodian officials did not immediately comment after the Dec 22 ASEAN meeting, though Mr Hun Manet, his father, Senate President Hun Sen, and the Information Ministry reposted the ASEAN Chair’s statement in full on their official social media pages. Mr Prak Sokhonn, who attended the Kuala Lumpur meeting, did not hold a news briefing.

Hostilities renewed on Dec 8 after an exchange of gunfire escalated into air strikes. As fighting extended into the 15th day, Cambodia’s Defence Ministry reported what it described as continued aggression by Thai armed forces on the morning of Dec 22.

This included bombing by F-16 fighter jets over the border area of Boeung Trakoun in Banteay Meanchey, as well as shelling in Poipet, a notorious casino and scam hub in the same province.

At least 40 people have been killed and more than 900,000 civilians displaced from both sides of the conflict since Dec 8.

Thailand accused Cambodia of seeking to fire rockets on a border town, and said another soldier had lost a leg to a landmine.

It remains to be seen whether Thailand and Cambodia can successfully agree to a ceasefire, given the level of distrust and animosity, as well as the heightened nationalistic rhetoric on both sides of the border.

In Bangkok, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has remained hued to a consistently bellicose tone since Dec 8.

Speaking on the eve of the meeting in Kuala Lumpur, he insisted that Thailand had no intention of buckling under international pressure and maintained that Cambodia was the aggressor and in the wrong.

“They call asking for a ceasefire, asking Thailand to go back to doing this or that, asking Thailand to respect this or respect that. But look – who is respecting Thailand?” he told reporters on Dec 21.

Mr Anutin added: “The military and the armed forces must urgently move to establish sovereignty and security in all targeted areas as soon as possible. We should not worry about pleasing anyone.”

The Prime Minister’s continued defiance comes despite the flurry of diplomatic activity, including efforts by ASEAN, leading into the Kuala Lumpur meeting, which sought to restore a ceasefire.

The Christmas Eve GBC meeting will be held at the border line in the Thai province of Chanthaburi, Mr Sihasak said, after the previous meeting was held on Sept 10 in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province. That followed an Extraordinary GBC Meeting on Aug 7 in Kuala Lumpur organised to implement the initial ceasefire reached in July.

In his opening remarks as chair of the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Dec 22, Malaysia’s Datuk Seri Mohamad noted that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had spoken with both Mr Hun Manet and Mr Anutin the previous day to “discuss the best way forward to de-escalate the tensions that have arisen between the two countries”.

“It is my hope that this special meeting will renew our efforts for a return to stability in the affected areas,” he said.

US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said on Dec 22 that the US continues to call on Cambodia and Thailand to end hostilities. “We welcome ASEAN leaders coming together this week to support Cambodia and Thailand fully honouring their commitments to end this conflict,” he said.