BANGKOK: Thailand announced a curfew in its southeastern Trat province on Sunday as fighting with Cambodia spread to coastal areas of a disputed border region, two days after US President and would-be peacemaker Donald Trump said the sides had agreed to stop. The Southeast Asian neighbours have resorted to arms several times this year since a Cambodian soldier was killed in a May skirmish, reigniting a conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the border.
"Overall, there have been clashes continuously" since Cambodia again reiterated its openness to a ceasefire on Saturday, Thai Defence Ministry spokesman Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri told a press conference in Bangkok after announcing the curfew. Thailand is open to a diplomatic solution but "Cambodia has to cease hostility first before we can negotiate," he said. Thai forces said they had destroyed a bridge that Cambodia used to deliver heavy weapons and other equipment to the region and launched an operation targeting pre-positioned artillery in Cambodia's coastal Koh Kong province. Cambodia accused Thailand of striking civilian infrastructure.
Thailand's curfew covers five districts of Trat province that neighbour Koh Kong, excluding the tourist islands of Koh Chang and Koh Kood. The military had previously imposed a curfew in the eastern Sakeo province, which remains in force. Thailand and Cambodia have exchanged heavy-weapons fire at multiple points along their 817 kilometre (508 mile) border since Monday, in some of the most intense fighting since a five-day clash in July that ended with Trump and Malaysian mediation.
Trump said he spoke to Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian premier Hun Manet on Friday, and said they had agreed to "cease all shooting". On Saturday, Anutin vowed to keep fighting "until we feel no more harm and threats to our land and people".
A White House spokesperson later said Trump expected all parties to honour commitments and that "he will hold anyone accountable as necessary to stop the killing and ensure durable peace".
Meanwhile, Thailand's military said it was considering blocking fuel exports to Cambodia. Thai military commanders have been discussing blocking fuel exports to Cambodia, including asking the navy to be "vigilant against" ships carrying strategic supplies and designating maritime zones near Cambodian ports as "high-risk", a navy official told a press conference on Sunday. "At this time there are no orders on these measures," said Captain Nara Khunkothom, assistant spokesperson for the Royal Thai Navy, adding that the matter would be discussed at a security meeting on Monday. The Thai energy ministry said on Friday that Thailand had halted exporting oil to Cambodia since June. Thailand last year exported 2.2 billion litres of fuel to Cambodia, according to the energy ministry's data.
At least 16 soldiers and 10 civilians have died, and hundreds injured since the latest round of clashes which started on Monday with 258,626 civilians displaced, according to the Thai authorities. Cambodia did not report any new deaths or injuries on Sunday. At least 11 have died, 74 injured and 394,706 have been displaced since Monday, according to Cambodia's interior ministry. — Reuters
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