Thailand and Cambodia signed a strengthened ceasefire agreement after five days of deadly clashes along the border in July.
Published October 26, 2025
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Thailand and Cambodia signed an expanded ceasefire agreement in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump, building on the deal that ended the deadly border conflict in July.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the agreement on Sunday, shortly after President Trump’s arrival, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur.
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“We did what many said was impossible,” President Trump, who co-signed the agreement with summit host Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, said on his first trip to Asia since returning to the White House.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin said the deal creates “the foundations for lasting peace” and Cambodian Prime Minister Hung called it a “historic day”.
Tariffs are used as a threat
The agreement builds on a three-month-old ceasefire agreement in which President Trump used threats of higher tariffs on both countries to persuade the two sides to end five days of fighting that left dozens dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
The first phase of the deal called for Thailand to release 18 Cambodian soldiers, remove heavy weapons from the border area and deploy Malaysian troops to prevent fighting from resuming.
The territory along the 800-kilometre (500-mile) border between Thailand and Cambodia has been disputed for decades.
Following the signing of the ceasefire agreement on Sunday, President Trump signed separate economic agreements with Cambodia and Thailand, including a reciprocal trade agreement with Phnom Penh and a key minerals agreement with Bangkok.
Malaysia’s Anwar, who also attended the signing, praised the agreement in his opening remarks at the summit, saying, “It reminds us that reconciliation is not a concession, but a courageous act.”
Thai people are cautious
Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from Sa Kaeo, Thailand, said the deal signed on Sunday essentially strengthens “agrements that have already been concluded.”
Malaysian troops were due to be deployed under the original peace agreement signed in July, but they have not yet arrived, he said.
He said that while the Thai people welcome “any move towards peace”, they see the deal as “the beginning of the end” of the conflict, rather than crediting it with resolving the conflict itself.
“The devil will be in the details of this agreement,” he said.
He said the Thai military has been working in recent weeks to clear some disputed border areas, at the same time as new air raid shelters are being built in some villages.
“So people here are still concerned that this could go either way,” he said.
