4:00 PM, August 16, 2025
Keynote Address by H.E. LTG. Maly Socheata, the Ministry of National Defense Spokesperson:
Greetings, members of the press. For this afternoon’s press briefing, I would like to inform you all of the outcomes of the Cambodia-Thailand Extraordinary Regional Border Committee (RBC) meeting between Cambodia Military Region 3 and Thailand, Chanthaburi, and Trat Province border defense command, which concluded this Saturday afternoon. The press release of the outcomes of the meeting reads as follows:
The outcome of the Cambodia-Thailand Extraordinary Regional Border Committee (RBC) Meeting on 16 August 2025, Trat Province, Kingdom of Thailand.
The Cambodia-Thailand Extraordinary Regional Border Committee (RBC) Meeting was held on 16 August 2025 in the Kingdom of Thailand, hosted by the Thai side. The Cambodian delegation was led by His Excellency Major General Uy Hieng, Commander of the 3rd Military Region and Co-Chairman of the Extraordinary RBC Meeting. The Thai delegation was led by His Excellency Vice Admiral Aphichat Sapprasert, Commander of the Chanthaburi and Trat Border Defense Command and Co-Chairman of the Extraordinary RBC Meeting.
Both sides committed to implementing the outcomes of the Special Meeting between Samdech Moha Borvor ThipadeiHun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and His Excellency Phumtham Wechayachai, Acting Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, held in Putrajaya on 28 July 2025, hosted by Malaysia and co-organized by the United States, with the active participation of the People’s Republic of China. They also reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the outcomes of the Extraordinary General Border Committee (GBC) Meeting held in Kuala Lumpur on 7 August 2025.
In addition, both sides agreed to maintain regular communication between all army areas, military regions, and units along the Cambodian-Thai border, and to strive to resolve all issues peacefully while avoiding clashes. They underscored the positive momentum and forward-looking spirit in strengthening relations through these engagements. Both sides also underlined the importance of further intensifying communication at all levels to build trust and promote good neighbourliness.
Both sides agreed in principle to establish a coordinating group (CG) to enhance communication at all levels, including between commanders, border liaison working groups, standing forces in the border areas, and operational units along the Cambodia-Thailand border, with the aim of resolving all issues peacefully and avoid clashes. The details will be discussed in the next RBC Meeting.
During the Meeting, Cambodia reaffirmed the importance of advancing humanitarian demining, noting that progress depends on the full implementation of the ceasefire and a return to normalcy along the border. As border demarcation is currently underway, demining can be considered in areas that are demarcated or in non-disputed areas, as agreed upon by the Joint Boundary Commissions (JBC) of the two countries. Since the RBC does not have the mandate to make decisions on demining, this issue should be addressed at the upcoming GBC Meeting, which is scheduled to take place soon, as already agreed by both sides.
With regard to online scams, Cambodia stressed that it takes this matter seriously, alongside with other forms of transnational crime. Cambodia has made significant efforts to combat these issues, working closely with ASEAN and other international partners, and has achieved tangible results. Cambodia and Thailand have already cooperated in tackling online scams, and this issue can be further discussed at the upcoming GBC Meeting, as both countries are equally affected.
Cambodia also underscored the importance of avoiding actions that could inadvertently increase tensions, including the laying of barbed wire, destruction existing infrastructure-particularly civilian residential structures and the dissemination of fake news or false information, as such developments risk eroding trust and undermining efforts to maintain a stable and peaceful environment.
In an effort to restore normalcy along the border, Cambodia strongly urged both sides to explore all necessary and practical measures to normalize relations in all areas as soon as possible. This would help promote mutual trust and confidence, while also minimizing any adverse impacts on the lives and livelihoods of the people in both countries.
This Extraordinary Meeting concluded with a strong commitment by both sides to build on this positive momentum to further strengthen bilateral relations and foster closer people-to-people ties. Both sides also agreed to convene another RBC Meeting within one month after this Extraordinary Meeting, with Cambodia as the host.
Thank you,
