Cambodia says strife in South-east Asia could crimp response to global crises

BANGKOK – South-east Asia’s joint efforts to tackle global issues could be hampered by tensions between Thailand and Cambodia and civil war in Myanmar, a senior Cambodian diplomat said on May 6, as the 11-member ASEAN bloc plans a response to the energy crisis.

Leaders of the Association of South-east Asian Nations are meeting later this week for their first summit since the Iran war, which left them scrambling for alternatives to insulate their economies from the worst of the energy crisis triggered by the Middle East conflict.

Cambodia’s envoy to ASEAN, Dr Kung Phoak, told Reuters that progress is being made toward addressing the situation, including by seeking to ratify and put into operation the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement that aims to boost members’ coordination to protect fuel supplies.

Many governments in the region have moved to limit fuel use, conserve energy or clamp down on ​hoarding, while several have curbed exports and launched diplomatic efforts to ensure access.

However, several festering conflicts within ASEAN can distract from efforts to jointly respond to global problems if left unresolved, Dr Kung Phoak added, citing a simmering border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, and a deadly civil war in Myanmar.

“The sooner we can get all these problems resolved, I think it enhances our ability and gives us more time to think about what we can do more, and not just to respond to the (energy) crisis, but also to prepare ASEAN for the future,” Dr Kung Phoak said.

Regional conflicts

ASEAN’s unity is challenged by the grinding civil war raging in Myanmar since a 2021 coup, and tension still simmering between Thailand and Cambodia despite a December 2025 ceasefire in their deadly border war.

Four months after the neighbours signed a truce, Dr Kung Phoak said they had failed to make headway on holding talks to demarcate sections of their land border, with Thai forces still occupying some Cambodian territory.

“Leaving the situation lingering like this is not in the benefit of either of us,” he said, adding that the Thai government had not responded to Cambodian requests for a meeting within a framework to negotiate border issues.

Dr Kung Phoak, who is Cambodia’s secretary of state for foreign affairs and international cooperation, also decried a Thai move on May 5 to end a decades-old pact aimed at resolving disputes over potentially oil-rich maritime areas.

Still, he said he hoped the maritime disputes could be quickly resolved through a process under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In response to queries, Thailand’s foreign ministry said it was undertaking “internal procedures” ahead of possible border talks, emphasising the need to build trust between both sides.

It cited UNCLOS as the appropriate mechanism for direct maritime negotiations.

“The speed with which we can resolve our differences will depend entirely on those discussions and the determination and good faith from both sides,” it said.

Dr Kung Phoak also welcomed the transfer of Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to house arrest by the military-backed government, saying he hoped it imparts positive momentum to resolve the civil war that followed a 2021 coup.

On May 5, Thailand’s Foreign Minister told Reuters he wanted Myanmar’s new foreign minister to brief ASEAN in the near future, while the Philippines urged it to allow the bloc’s special envoy to meet Ms Suu Kyi.

“The general mood of ASEAN member states at the moment is that people also want to look at what’s next... because when we are talking with Myanmar people, they are yearning for peace, stability and improvement of their well-being,” Dr Kung Phoak said. REUTERS