Information Minister: Border Claims Must Rest on Evidence and Law, Not Narratives

Cambodian Information Minister Neth Pheaktra has said that competing accounts of the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute should be assessed through documented evidence and international law, not through publicity, political messaging or military presence.

He pointed to a warning he associated with the late Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, an experienced diplomat who worked on Cambodia’s long-running border disputes with Thailand. Pheaktra said Sok An once observed that skilled Thai communicators could make an enormous issue seem small and a minor incident appear enormous.

According to the minister, that remark was meant to describe communication tactics, not to condemn all Thai diplomats. He said a serious violation could be presented as trivial, while a limited event could be turned into a major controversy.

Applying the idea to the current dispute, Pheaktra alleged that Thai forces had taken control of locations he described as inside Cambodian territory, installed razor wire and shipping-container barriers, and tried to create a fait accompli by altering conditions on the ground. He said Cambodia had filed repeated diplomatic protests and was compiling evidence to support its position.

A map released with the minister’s remarks illustrated trajectories of Thai artillery fire, drones and fighter jets said to have struck Preah Vihear Temple last year.

Thailand has denied Cambodia’s claims of illegal occupation. In its statement on the border situation, the Thai foreign ministry said troops remaining in place after the ceasefire were consistent with agreed measures and should not be treated as occupation.

Bangkok has also accused Cambodia of laying new landmines along the frontier, a charge Phnom Penh rejects. Pheaktra said Thai officials were focusing on mine blasts that wounded Thai soldiers in order to divert attention from damage Cambodia attributes to Thai aircraft bombs, including MK-82 and MK-84 weapons, and from alleged territorial encroachment.

Referring to Sok An’s work related to Preah Vihear, the minister said historical records, evidence, international law and peaceful mechanisms remain necessary for resolving the dispute. He urged the public to separate assertions about events from proof capable of establishing what happened, and said truth must be grounded in evidence while borders should be decided by law, not propaganda or force.