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The agreement follows talks aimed at ending weeks of deadly clashes along the Thai-Cambodian border.
Published December 27, 2025
Thailand and Cambodia say they have signed a ceasefire agreement to end weeks of heavy fighting along the border that has left more than 100 people dead and more than 500,000 civilians displaced on both sides.
“The two countries agree to an immediate ceasefire following the signing of this joint statement,” the defense ministers of Thailand and Cambodia said in a statement on Saturday.
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“Both sides agreed to maintain current troop deployments without further movements,” the minister said.
The ceasefire will take effect at noon local time on Saturday (5pm Japan time) and covers “all types of weapons” and “attacks on civilians, civilian goods and infrastructure, military targets of both sides in any case and in any area.”
Al Jazeera’s Ased Baig, reporting from the Cambodian border city of Poipet, said “the gunfire has fallen silent” as both sides abide by the ceasefire.
“But I have to tell you, right up until the moment the ceasefire was implemented, there was heavy gunfire…really, really intense. Up until that moment. And it makes you realize how fragile this really is,” Baig said.
“That doesn’t give much confidence to the people here who want to go home and are watching closely to see if this ceasefire holds,” he said.
The agreement, signed by Thai Defense Minister Nataporn Narukpanit and Cambodian Defense Minister Tee Seiha, ended 20 days of fighting, the worst in years between the two Southeast Asian neighbors.
As part of the deal, Thailand agreed to return 18 Cambodian soldiers captured in previous clashes 72 hours after a ceasefire was “fully maintained.”
At the same time, the two countries agreed to refrain from “provocative actions that may escalate tensions” and avoid “spreading false information” to reduce tensions.
The agreement states that an observer mission from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will monitor implementation of the current agreement, adding that the two countries also agreed to maintain open communication “to resolve” any issues that may arise on the ground.
Al Jazeera’s Baig news agency reported that the “next 72 hours are critical” to the success of the ceasefire agreement, and that hundreds of thousands of displaced people are likely not to make any move to return home until their safety is assured.
