By 
14-11-2025
Nabil Ruhaizat
Asia Team Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
Within weeks of the Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire agreements, boasted by President Donald Trump as a success, a Khmer man was killed, and three others were wounded. The “peace declaration” signed by the two states is beginning to fragment as Thailand announced a stop to peace implementations after four soldiers were injured by a landmine in Sisaket. At the same time, Phnom Penh has denied planting new landmines and says the frontier is riddled with legacy contamination, as skirmishes began again on Wednesday.
Each government presented a different account in the immediate aftermath. On the one hand, Cambodia’s defence ministry accused Thai troops of opening fire twice on a contested village in Banteay Meanchey, killing a civilian. On the other hand, Thailand countered that Cambodian forces fired first in Sa Kaeo and that its soldiers returned “warning shots… in accordance with the rules of engagement.” Seemingly, this colonial-era boundary dispute has left civilians to become the frontline victims of the conflict, with no end in sight despite a formal agreement for peace.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States and witnessed in Kuala Lumpur during the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, promised to draw back weapons and troops from the frontlines. However, none of the agreements signed has taken place. Cambodia remains among the most mine-affected countries globally; clearance is extensive but far from finished, and cross-border operations demand trust that is presently in short supply. The suspension of cooperation, followed by mine blasts, turns de-escalation efforts into a security dilemma where each patrol party reads the other’s movements as an act of provocation.
On paper, the ASEAN regional guards exist, but their effectiveness is brittle. The regional bloc can convene and persuade, but it cannot compel the two countries to stop the fighting. The United Nations called the July flare-up “deeply concerned” and urged restraint, a reminder that international attention only increases when shots are fired, not when the slow violence of displacement and contamination accumulates. “We strongly condemn the use of force against innocent Cambodian civilians,” Prime Minister Hun Manet said, calling for an independent probe; Bangkok insists its forces acted defensively (Regan & Olarn, 2025).
