BANGKOK: Thailand and Cambodia agreed to an “immediate” ceasefire on Saturday, the two countries said in a joint statement, pledging to end border clashes that killed dozens of people.
The European Union called on both sides to implement the truce “in good faith,” while UN human rights chief Volker Turk hoped it would lead to more permanent peace.
At least 47 people were killed and more than a million displaced in three weeks of fighting with artillery, tanks, drones and jets, according to official tallies.
The conflict spread to nearly every border province on both sides, shattering an earlier truce for which US President Donald Trump took credit.
Cambodia and Thailand agreed to the ceasefire that took effect at 12 p.m. (0500 GMT), said the statement signed by the Southeast Asian neighbors’ defense ministers at a border checkpoint on the Thai side.
The truce applies to “all types of weapons, including attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructures, and military objectives of either side, in all cases and all areas.”
Both sides agreed to freeze all troop movements and to allow civilians living in border areas to return home as soon as possible, the statement said.
They also agreed to cooperate on demining efforts and combatting cybercrime, while Thailand is to return 18 captured Cambodian soldiers within 72 hours.
Thai Defense Minister Nattaphon Narkphanit said that initial three-day window would be an “observation period to confirm that the ceasefire is real.”
He called the truce “a door to a peaceful resolution” in a speech earlier on Saturday.
Displaced Cambodian Oeum Raksmey told AFP she was “very happy that people can return home” if the fighting stops.
“But I dare not return home yet. I am still scared,” said the 22-year-old, who has sheltered with her family in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province.
- ‘Real peace’ -
On the other side of the border, 55-year-old Thai village head Khampong Lueklarp was similarly cautious.
“I personally think the ceasefire won’t really happen,” said the head of Ban Ta Sawang Samakkee village in Sisaket province, adding he hoped for “a real peace.”
The ceasefire came after three days of border talks convened following a crisis meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which both Cambodia and Thailand are members.
EU foreign affairs spokesman Anouar El Anouni thanked “ASEAN for playing a positive part” and said the European bloc was ready to provide any support that was needed.
“The EU welcomes the ceasefire agreement signed by Cambodia and Thailand and calls on both sides to implement it in good faith,” he said in a post on X.
The United States and China also pushed for an end to the fighting.
The Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers said on Saturday they will visit China on January 28-29 for trilateral talks and to meet Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi.
The conflict stems from a territorial dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of the 800-kilometer (500-mile) Thai-Cambodia border, where ancient temples are claimed by both sides.
Five days of fighting in July killed dozens of people before a truce was brokered by the United States, China and ASEAN chair Malaysia.
Trump witnessed the signing of an expanded agreement between Thailand and Cambodia in October, but it was broken within months.
Each blamed the other for instigating the fresh fighting this month and traded accusations of attacks on civilians.
