Thailand-Cambodia ‘deep mistrust’ tests Asean’s peacekeeping role
Last Updated on August 12, 2025 6:42 pm
By Sam Beltran
The deployment of Asean observers along the Cambodia-Thailand frontier marks a fresh test for Southeast Asia’s capacity to police its own peace, even as entrenched mistrust between the two nations threatens to expose the limits of the regional bloc’s effectiveness.
Cambodia and Thailand have consented to the stationing of observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to be stationed on both sides of their disputed border, tasked with monitoring a precarious ceasefire after last month’s deadly five-day conflict.
The agreement, reached on Thursday under the auspices of a General Border Committee jointly established by both countries, followed four days of intensive truce talks led by Asean chair Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. Security chiefs, including Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Seiha and Thailand’s acting defence minister Nattaphon Narkphanit, formulated a 13-point plan to de-escalate tensions.
Source : SCMP