US-backed Cambodia, Thailand peace deal on hold after Thai soldiers injured in land mine

Thailand suspended a peace process with Cambodia agreed last month alongside US President Donald Trump after Thai soldiers were injured by land mines.

Thailand suspended a peace process with Cambodia agreed last month alongside US President Donald Trump after Thai soldiers were injured by land mines along their border.

File photo of US President Donald Trump (R) looks on as Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet (C) and Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul hold up signed documents during a ceremonial signing of a ceasefire agreement last month. (AFP)

“All terms in the joint declaration will be suspended, and the plan to release Cambodian detainees will be terminated,” Defense Minister Nattaphon Narkphanit said Tuesday after a meeting of the National Security Council. His comments echo Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s commen ts on the issue Monday.

The suspension will remain in place until tensions between the two countries subside, government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat said. In the meantime, Anutin has instructed the defense ministry to step up military operations to protect Thailand’s sovereignty and secure the border, Siripong told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

The government may consider revoking the peace deal altogether unless Cambodia responds to Thailand’s formal protest, he added.

The prime minister plans to make a trip to Si Sa Ket province to visit soldiers injured by what the Thai army said were newly laid mines.

The blast was the seventh such incident in four months, following a wave of explosions in July that sparked the deadliest border clashes in years before Trump’s intervention.

The US president had threatened to scupper trade deals with both countries unless they halted fighting, and Thai officials have said holding a peace-summit style meeting during his Asia trip last month was a condition for agreeing to trade terms.

Anutin later referenced the peace deal when he made a direct plea to Trump last month for a “better” trade deal.

The so-called Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords outlined the removal of heavy weapons from border zones between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 and a cooperation on land-mine clearances as part of efforts to normalize ties. Thailand has also sought Cambodian crackdowns on cyber-scam operations there.

Cambodia’s defense ministry denied the mines were newly laid, adding that they likely were remnants of past conflicts that have not been cleared. The country “remains committed to working closely with Thailand to promote peace and stability” under the Trump-backed peace declaration, a defense ministry spokeswoman said in a statement on Tuesday.

A joint statement on the US-Thai trade deal last month outlined some preliminary agreements including Thailand’s elimination of tariff barriers on about 99% of US goods, especially industrial, food, and agricultural products. In return, the US will impose 19% tariffs on Thailand, with some products that are yet to be identified set to be tariff-free.

Thai authorities said that the framework is non-binding and detailed talks will follow, with the aim of concluding negotiations by the end of the year.