PM calls NSC meeting as GBC talks stall

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has called a special meeting of the National Security Council this afternoon to consider Thailand’s options should Cambodia continue to reject Thailand’s three preconditions for a ceasefire, on the third day of the General Border Committee (GBC) meeting being held today in Chanthaburi.

Meanwhile, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said in a social media post that he called US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last night, asking him to push for an immediate ceasefire and the implementation of a peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand.

Hun Manet quoted Marco Rubio as saying that the United States wants to see sustainable peace restored and will help arrange a ceasefire as soon as possible.

The GBC secretariats of Thailand and Cambodia have failed to make any progress after two rounds of talks since Wednesday, as the Cambodian side has rejected Thailand’s conditions for a ceasefire and submitted a counterproposal.

Thailand wants Cambodia to be the first to announce a ceasefire, which must be genuine and sustained, with observers in place, and to cooperate sincerely and in good faith on mine clearance.

Thai Defence Minister Gen Nattaphon Nakpanich has made it clear that he will not attend the final GBC meeting tomorrow if Cambodia continues to reject Thailand’s conditions for a ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s First Army Region reported today that 112 houses in the Khon Sung and Ta Phraya districts of the eastern province of Sa Kaeo have been destroyed or heavily damaged, and that about 960 hectares of farmland were damaged by Cambodia’s indiscriminate shelling between December 8 and 26. Public utilities were also damaged.

The army said the indiscriminate shelling of civilian targets clearly demonstrates Cambodia’s lack of sincerity in resolving the border conflict and its disregard for humanitarian principles.