Cambodia’s Record on Peace Cannot Be Undermined by Baseless Accusations
Cambodia’s Record on Peace Cannot Be Undermined by Baseless Accusations
The Royal Government of Cambodia has always chosen dialogue over discord, and peace over provocation. Yet, the recent accusation by the Thai army — claiming that Cambodia laid new landmines along the border, allegedly breaching the recently signed Joint Declaration — is an unjust distortion of fact and spirit.
In its official statement on 10 November 2025, Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) expressed grave concern over Thailand’s decision to suspend the implementation of the Joint Declaration signed in Kuala Lumpur on 26 October 2025 under the witness of U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The Ministry categorically denied Thailand’s allegations, affirming that “no new landmines have been laid by Cambodia at the border with Thailand.”
What is becoming increasingly clear is that Thailand’s accusation may not stem from genuine concern, but from political calculation. There are growing indications that the landmine incident was deliberately staged or opportunistically exaggerated to discredit Cambodia and to justify Bangkok’s unilateral suspension of the Joint Declaration. By fabricating a narrative of Cambodian aggression, Thailand’s leadership seeks to divert public attention from internal dissatisfaction and to portray toughness toward a neighbor — at the expense of truth and regional peace. Such bad faith not only disrespects the spirit of the Kuala Lumpur Declaration but also undermines ASEAN’s efforts to maintain stability through dialogue and mutual respect.
Cambodia’s statement rightly reminds the world of a well-established truth: most minefields along the border are remnants of Cambodia’s civil wars in the 1970s and 1980s, many of which remain uncleared due to the un-demarcated nature and difficult terrain of the frontier. To confuse an old mine detonation with deliberate new deployment is not only misleading — it is reckless.
For more than three decades, Cambodia has been internationally recognised as a leader in humanitarian demining. Through the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), over one million landmines and nearly three million unexploded ordnances have been cleared. Cambodia is a proud State Party to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and, as the MFAIC reaffirmed, “has never used any new landmines and will never do so.”
Thailand’s hasty accusation — made without any transparent, joint forensic investigation — undermines regional confidence and disrespects the very peace framework both nations agreed to uphold. The responsible path is not to suspend cooperation but to activate the mechanisms of joint verification and humanitarian demining outlined in the Kuala Lumpur Declaration.
Cambodia remains firmly committed to that Declaration, which was signed “amidst much applaud from the international community.” Bangkok’s unilateral suspension risks eroding hard-won trust and diverting attention from what truly matters — ensuring safety and stability for the communities living on both sides of the border.
Peace cannot coexist with propaganda. Cambodia stands for cooperation, not confrontation. The world should recognise where the truth lies: Cambodia clears mines — it does not plant them.
Roth Santepheap is a geopolitical analyst based in Phnom Penh. The views expressed are his own.
-Khmer Times-
