PAILIN PROVINCE, CAMBODIA – DECEMBER 27: Thailand-Cambodia Bangpakkad border crossing near the site where ceasefire talks will be held in Pailin province, Cambodia, on December 27, 2025. Ceasefire negotiations between Thai and Cambodian defense officials will take place near Bangpakkad border crossing in Pong Namrong district, Chanthaburi province, Thailand. The ceasefire is scheduled to take effect today, December 27th (Photo by Daniel Ceng/Anadolu, Getty Images)
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Thailand and Cambodia signed their second ceasefire in recent months on Saturday, ending weeks of violent border clashes. It is the worst fighting between Southeast Asian countries in years.
Thai Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Surasant Khongsiri told Reuters the ceasefire took effect at noon (5 p.m. Japan time), about two hours later.
“There are no reports of shootings at this time,” he said.
Cambodia’s defense ministry did not report any clashes after what it said were Thai airstrikes early Saturday before the ceasefire was announced.
The agreement, signed by Thai Defense Minister Nataporn Narukpanit and Cambodian Defense Minister Tee Seiha, ends 20 days of fighting that left at least 101 people dead on both sides and more than 500,000 displaced, and included fighter jet sorties, exchanges of rocket fire and barrages of artillery fire.
ASEAN monitors ceasefire, bilateral talks continue
Clashes flared up earlier this month after a ceasefire that U.S. President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had helped broker a previous cessation of fighting broke down.
“Both sides agreed to maintain current troop deployments without making further movements,” the two ministers said in a joint statement on the ceasefire.
“Any reinforcements would escalate tensions and negatively impact long-term efforts to resolve the situation,” a statement released by Cambodia on social media said.
A person passes through the closed Bang Klong Luk border crossing from Thailand to Cambodia in Aranyaprathet town, Sa Kaew province on the Thai border, December 12, 2025.
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Cambodia’s top diplomat Prak Sokhon and Thai diplomat Sihasak Phunketkeo will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in China’s Yunnan province on Sunday and Monday to discuss the border situation, Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry and Thai officials said.
For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have disputed sovereignty over various unbounded points along their 817-kilometer (508-mile) land border, a dispute that has occasionally escalated into skirmishes and fighting.
Natapong said the new ceasefire would be monitored by observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc, as well as direct coordination between the two countries.
“At the same time, there will be direct communication between the defense ministers and the military commanders of both sides at the policy level,” he told reporters.
Civilians returned, demarcation work unaffected
Tensions between the two neighbors came to a head in July, with five days of clashes in parts of the frontier that left at least 48 people dead and 300,000 displaced before President Trump intervened for a ceasefire.
The ceasefire broke down in early December, with both sides blaming the other for moves that led to the clashes.
Mr. Anwar, who currently chairs ASEAN, and Mr. Trump were unable to reach another cease-fire as fighting spread from forest areas near Laos to provinces on the Gulf of Thailand.
On December 8, 2025, a Thai soldier injured by Cambodian soldiers’ gunfire is transported by helicopter to a hospital for treatment.
Royal Thai Army | Handouts | Anadolu | Getty Images
The new ceasefire was announced after a special meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, followed by three days of talks between the warring sides at border crossings, and the two defense ministers met on Saturday.
The two leaders agreed to the return of those evacuated from the affected border areas, while stressing that neither side would use any force against civilians.
According to the agreement, Thailand will also return 18 Cambodian soldiers detained since the July clashes if the ceasefire holds for a full 72 hours.
However, Saturday’s agreement does not affect ongoing border demarcation efforts between the two countries, leaving the task of resolving disputed areas along the border to existing bilateral mechanisms.
“War and conflict do not make both countries and people happy,” Thai Air Force Commander Prapas Sonjaidi told reporters. “I would like to emphasize that Thai and Cambodian people are not at odds with each other.”
