Thailand imposes curfew as fighting with Cambodia spreads to coastal areas

BANGKOK: Thailand imposed a curfew in its southeastern Trat province on Sunday as fighting with Cambodia spread to coastal areas of the disputed border region, two days after US President Donald Trump said both sides had agreed to halt hostilities.

The Southeast Asian neighbours have clashed repeatedly this year following the killing of a Cambodian soldier in a May skirmish, a conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the border.

Thai Defence Ministry spokesman Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri said clashes had continued despite Cambodia reiterating its openness to a ceasefire on Saturday. “Overall, there have been clashes continuously,” he told a press conference in Bangkok.

He said Thailand remained open to a diplomatic solution but insisted that Cambodia must first stop hostilities before negotiations could begin.

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Thai forces on Saturday said they destroyed a bridge used by Cambodia to transport heavy weapons and supplies to the region and launched an operation targeting pre-positioned artillery in Cambodia’s coastal Koh Kong province. Cambodia, however, accused Thailand of striking civilian infrastructure.

The curfew applies to five districts of Trat province bordering Koh Kong, though tourist islands Koh Chang and Koh Kood have been excluded. A separate curfew imposed earlier in Thailand’s eastern Sakeo province remains in effect.

Since Monday, the two countries have exchanged heavy-weapons fire at several points along their 817-kilometre border, marking the most intense fighting since a five-day clash in July that ended with mediation by Trump and Malaysia.

Trump said on Friday that he had spoken to Thailand’s caretaker prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian premier Hun Manet, claiming they had agreed to “cease all shooting”. However, Anutin said on Saturday that Thailand would continue fighting “until we feel no more harm and threats to our land and people”.

A White House spokesperson later said Trump expected all parties to honour their commitments and warned that “he will hold anyone accountable as necessary to stop the killing and ensure durable peace”.