Phnom Penh: H.E. Lam Chea, Minister in charge of the Secretariat of State of Border Affairs of Cambodia, provided a brief statement this evening following the conclusion of the first day of the 6th Cambodia-Thailand Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) Meeting, stating, “The meeting went smoothly.”
According to Agence Kampuchea Presse, the meeting, which took place in Phnom Penh on June 14, marked the resumption of JBC talks after a 12-year hiatus. The first day of discussions concluded around 4:00 p.m., though no official details have been released regarding the outcomes. The talks are set to continue tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Prior to the formal session, both delegations held a retreat to engage in preliminary discussions.
The Cambodian delegation is led by H.E. Lam Chea, while the Thai delegation is headed by H.E. Prasas Prasasvinitchai, Advisor to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of border affairs.
Speaking on the eve of the meeting, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet clarified that two key issues would be excluded from the agenda. The first issue pertains to border disputes involving the Ta Moan Thom, Ta Moan Tauch, and Ta Krabei temple complexes, as well as the Mom Bei area. The Prime Minister stated that Cambodia has decided to bring these matters before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and plans to submit an official request to the Court tomorrow, June 15.
The second issue is the ongoing border closure. According to Samdech Thipadei, opening or closing border crossings does not fall within the JBC’s jurisdiction. He noted that the issue is straightforward: the border, which was unilaterally closed by the Thai military on June 7, 2025, should be reopened to its previous status.
Samdech Thipadei emphasized that Cambodia did not initiate the current situation and therefore should not be expected to end it. “What was started unilaterally must be ended unilaterally. There is no need for negotiation. Whoever starts first, ends first,” he declared. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister reiterated Cambodia’s willingness to continue working with Thailand through the JBC mechanism to complete the demarcation of the remaining sections of the shared border-excluding the four disputed areas, which Cambodia intends to resolve through the ICJ.