ASEAN observers visit Seila Khmer village as Cambodia reasserts JBC mandate
Members of the ASEAN Observer Team (AOT) visited a village along the Cambodia–Thailand frontier to assess ceasefire implementation and local conditions on mMay 17. Defence ministry
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Cambodia has reiterated that only the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) and its Joint Survey Teams (JSTs) are authorised to conduct border demarcation on the ground, as the ASEAN Observer Team (AOT), led by the Philippines, visited a village along the Cambodia–Thailand frontier to assess ceasefire implementation and local conditions.
Maly Socheata, spokesperson from the Ministry of National Defence, said in a May 17 statement that the Cambodian Liaison Group (CLG) coordinated the visit by the AOT to Seila Khmer village in O Bei Chon commune, O’Chrov district, where observers were tasked with monitoring and verifying the situation following the ceasefire agreement between Cambodia and Thailand.
“This specific location has long been cultivated and utilised by Cambodian citizens, and has remained under continuous occupation and administration since the emergency ceasefire took effect at 12:00 PM on December 27, 2025,” said Socheata.
While welcoming the ASEAN-led monitoring mission, Phnom Penh used the occasion to restate its legal position on border demarcation, stressing that field-level boundary determination remains exclusively under the mandate of the JBC framework.
“Survey and demarcation work are the exclusive mandate of the Joint Boundary Commission,” the statement said, adding that neither military forces nor local authorities have the authority to indicate boundary lines on the ground.
The ministry further emphasised that clarification of the international boundary must be carried out through Joint Survey Teams under the JBC structure, in accordance with existing bilateral mechanisms.
Cambodia also rejected any attempt to alter the border “by force, in the past, present or future”, and urged the Thai side to resume joint field surveys and convene a meeting of the JBC “at the earliest possible time”.
The statement referenced a series of legal and diplomatic instruments underpinning Cambodia’s position, including Franco–Siamese conventions and treaties, historical demarcation maps and meeting records of the boundary commissions, as well as the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding and the 2003 Terms of Reference.
The Cambodian government reaffirmed its commitment to implementing the Joint Statement of the Third Special Meeting of the Cambodia–Thailand General Border Committee (GBC) held on December 27, 2025, and the Joint Declaration on the Peace Agreement signed on October 26, 2025.
Officials said these agreements are intended to support “rapid recovery, normalisation, and long-lasting peace and stability” along the border.
While the ministry did not explicitly detail any change on the ground during the AOT visit, such missions are increasingly viewed as confidence-building mechanisms in sensitive frontier areas where administrative control and boundary interpretation remain politically delicate.
Seila Khmer village lies within a corridor that has periodically drawn attention in Cambodia–Thailand border discussions, particularly around unresolved segments awaiting formal joint demarcation under the JBC process.
Cambodia has consistently maintained that such issues must be resolved through bilateral technical mechanisms rather than unilateral action or field-level marking outside agreed procedures.
The AOT, established under ASEAN-related confidence-building arrangements, is expected to continue monitoring compliance with ceasefire terms and report findings to relevant stakeholders as part of broader regional efforts to stabilise border tensions.
-Khnom Penh Post-
