(Surin) The ceasefire concluded between Thailand and Cambodia entered into force at midnight in the night from Monday to Tuesday, after five days of deadly clashes on their border.
The two countries have reached “a common agreement providing for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Monday, whose country played the intermediaries, after three hours of discussions with its counterparts from the countries concerned.
President Donald Trump welcomed his role in obtaining this ceasefire. “I am delighted to announce that after the intervention of President Donald J. Trump, the two countries reached a cease-fire and peace. Congratulations to everyone! “Wrote the president on his Truth Social network, indicating that he has since spoken to the leaders of the two countries.
In the Cambodian city of Samraong, 20 kilometers from the border, an AFP journalist heard incessant artillery fire throughout the day on Monday, before the explosions stopped 30 minutes before midnight (1 p.m. Eastern Monday).
In the Cambodian province of Preah Vihear, where some of the most intense fights took place, calm reigned twenty minutes after the official start of the ceasefire, Kim Rithy, on Facebook, announced.
The clashes have killed at least 38 people since last Thursday and caused the movement of around 300,000 inhabitants.
PHOTO ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA, REUTERS
A house damaged by Cambodia shell fire is photographed in the province of Sisaket, Thailand, July 28, 2025.
The two kingdoms of Southeast Asia have been opposed for decades on the layout of their common border, defined in the time of French Indochina. But rarely in modern history, such an episode of violence had shaken the region.
The cease-fire agreement provides that military commanders of the two parties meet at 7 a.m. local time (8 p.m. Eastern time), before the meeting of a cross-border committee in Cambodia on August 4.
Thailand and Cambodia have accused each other of having attacked first, and each camp called into question the sincerity of the opponent, before sitting at the negotiating table, under the eye of the United States and China.
Back to “normal”
The acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai praised the intervention of Malaysia, which occupies the rotating presidency of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), China and “President Trump”.
“We have agreed with a ceasefire, which, we hope, will be respected in good faith by both parties,” he said.
For his part, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet judged that this peace agreement offered a chance of a “return to normal”.
A cautious hope dominated among the displaced, on both sides of the border, after the announcement of the ceasefire.
PHOTO TANG CHHIN SOTHY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Children who fled their houses near the border between Cambodia and Thailand pass shelters in the province of Oddar Meanchey on July 28, 2025.
In Cambodia, Phean Neth, 45, found refuge in a vast camp of displaced on the site of a temple, far from the fights. “I am so happy that I cannot describe it.”
On the Thai side, Tee Samanjai, 68, is already thinking about his return to the farm and what will do: “check the chickens, fertilize the rice, and take care of the fields”. But the concern is not far away. “I want to come back but I don’t have confidence in Cambodia at all. Nobody in our village trusts ”.
Bangkok and Phnom Penh were knives drawn since the death of a Khmer soldier in late May during an exchange of fire in a disputed area. Since then, against a backdrop of the nationalist discourse, the two countries have embarked on an outbidding of measures that affected economic flows and people.
Before the triggering of clashes, Thailand also expelled the Cambodian ambassador from its territory and recalled its present in Cambodia. The Khmer kingdom had responded by degrading “at the lowest level” diplomatic relations with its neighbor.
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, by the voice of a spokesperson, “urged” on Monday evening in a statement “the two countries to fully respect the agreement and to create an environment conducive to the settlement of long-standing questions and the establishment of lasting peace”.
The clashes have officially killed 25 on the Thai side, including eleven soldiers, and 13 dead, including five soldiers, on the Cambodian side. More than 138,000 Thai have evacuated risk areas, according to Bangkok, and more than 140,000 Cambodians have done the same, according to Phnom Penh.
