Metro Manila, Philippines – The Philippines said it is ready to help facilitate talks between Thailand and Cambodia over their escalating border conflict if both sides request it, signaling a possible future role for Manila, which will assume the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year.
In a statement released after a special meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the country is prepared to serve as a facilitator or mediator should either of the two neighbors decide to make use of the “good offices” of the ASEAN chair once the Philippines takes over the rotating leadership in January.
The ASEAN meeting was convened at the invitation of Malaysia, the current chairman, to address the worsening security situation along the Thailand-Cambodia border, where renewed fighting in recent weeks killed dozens and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
Thailand and Cambodia are expected to resume bilateral talks later this week aimed at strengthening a fragile ceasefire, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Monday after the ASEAN meeting.
Sihasak said an October ceasefire agreement was rushed so it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked detailed provisions to sustain it. While Cambodia has publicly said it is ready for an unconditional ceasefire, Thailand never received a direct proposal and believes that such statements were intended to increase international pressure rather than resolve the dispute, he said.
The general border committee involving both countries is scheduled to meet Wednesday , Dec. 24, to work out technical measures toward a more durable truce.
The conflict stemmed from competing territorial claims along the Thailand-Cambodia border. The latest round of fighting began Dec. 8, a day after a border skirmish wounded two Thai soldiers.
Thailand has since carried out airstrikes using F-16 fighter jets, while Cambodia has fired thousands of BM-21 rockets from truck-mounted launchers. Officials say more than three dozen people on both sides have been killed in the past week, and more than half a million residents have been displaced.
