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Cambodia has raised concerns, filing protests over the Thai military’s continued infrastructure development along the border, urging them to refrain from unilateral activity.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry on April 19 said that the Thai military has been building and clearing land in several provincial border areas in Preah Vihear, Oddar Meanchey and Pursat provinces, with the aim of asserting control over Cambodian soil.
Near Preah Vihear temple, the Thai army has built an observation post, while in Oddar Meanchey, a road has been constructed close to the present boundary pillar No. 2 in Deouem Ta Trav in Trapaing Prasat district.
The ministry said Thai troops have also dug bunkers in the Chup Koki international checkpoint in Banteay Ampil district and built an observation post in Samroang city’s Kon Kriel commune, and continued to clear land. In the Thmar Daun area, the troops built a concrete walkway, bunkers and a road.
In Pursat’s Veal Veng district, Thai troops used heavy machinery to clear more land in the O’Plok Damrey area.
“These activities are in breach of Thailand’s own commitment under the United Nations Charter, ASEAN Charter and Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia,” read the statement.
The ministry called for resolving disputes peacefully, respecting territorial sovereignty, and refraining from the use of force against another state.
“Cambodia rejects any attempt to discharacterise these activities as defensive,” it said, urging Thailand to halt further “unilateral actions” in the present areas or other areas.
Since the ceasefire in December which ended weeks of clashes along the shared border that killed over 100 people and displaced nearly a million on both sides, Phnom Penh has repeatedly called out Thai forces for occupying Cambodian territory along the border zones. The government also pushed for dialogue with Thailand at the Joint Boundary Committee meeting, which Bangkok has postponed a few times.
Presently, thousands of Cambodians from frontier villages remain displaced, with authorities building temporary housing for those affected.
In a press briefing today (April 20), government spokesperson Pen Bona said that Cambodia continues to closely monitor the activities of the Thai forces at all the sites they illegally occupied since the ceasefire in December 2025.
“These formal protests are an obligation and important in defending Cambodia’s territorial integrity, and especially [serves] as a warning to the Thai side that Cambodia is the rightful owner of those areas. Thailand cannot occupy them,” Bona said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts issued a strong protest against the “illegal” and “forceful” occupation of the Thai armed forces over Cambodia’s cultural heritage sites such as Tamon Thom, Ta Krabey temple, K’nar temple, and others within the sovereign territory.
The protest letters follow Thai media reports that the Thai army opened Ta Krabey temple and Hill 350 to visitors for Songkran from April 13 to 16, marking the first access to people after the border clashes.
