Cambodia Accuses Thailand of "Annexing" Border Village

SadaNews - Cambodia announced late Friday to Saturday that Thai forces have taken control of a disputed border village, accusing Thailand of "annexing" the area after a ceasefire that ended fighting along the border between the two countries a week ago.

Military confrontations between the neighboring countries in Southeast Asia occurred several times last year, with battles in December resulting in the deaths of dozens and displacing more than a million people from both sides.

The countries agreed to a ceasefire on December 27, committing to freeze troop movements and put an end to three weeks of clashes.

Cambodia's Minister of Information, Neth Vicktra, told "Agence France-Presse" that the Thai army has begun the "illegal annexation of Cambodian land to Thailand, especially in the village of Chouk Chee."

For its part, the Thai army stated in a statement, without mentioning specific locations, that it had taken control of areas that had long been under Thai jurisdiction but were "occupied" by Cambodia.

The Cambodian minister noted that Thai forces had damaged civilian buildings, set up barbed wire, and shipping containers to establish a "border wall," and had deployed to manage the disputed areas.

The minister asserted that "Thailand's unilateral claim of sovereignty by force was evident through the raising of the Thai flag."

A map provided by the Cambodian Ministry of Information to "Agence France-Presse" showed a Thai military presence in lands claimed by Cambodia in the Chouk Chee area.

According to the Cambodian map, Thailand has now taken control of an area at its furthest point, about 750 meters from the border line drawn by Phnom Penh through the village.

Neth Vicktra stated that "Cambodia will not recognize any change in borders resulting from the use of force."

The Thai army rejected Phnom Penh's narrative and recent media reports indicating that it used force to seize Cambodian lands.

It reported that the sites not mentioned in the army's statement were, in fact, places where Cambodian forces had deployed troops and where Cambodian civilians had settled, which infringed on Thailand's sovereignty.

The army continued, "Therefore, the reality is that Cambodia has occupied parts of Thai territory," affirming that there is no "invasion or occupation of Cambodian land."

Chouk Chee, whose residents were displaced due to fighting last month, is located in a border area between Cambodia and Thailand.

Thailand hosted Cambodian war refugees in the region during the 1980s, with some families remaining in the area long after the fighting in the Cambodian civil war had stopped.

The Thai army stated that Cambodian civilians had "illegally established communities on Thai land."

Cambodia claims that about 3,000 people were residing in Chouk Chee before the confrontations that took place in December.

The roots of the dispute between the two countries date back to the demarcation of their 800-kilometer border during the colonial period, with both sides claiming land and centuries-old temples.