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Cambodian and Thai officials concluded their first meeting Wednesday under a U.N.-backed process to resolve a maritime dispute, after Thailand’s foreign minister opened Tuesday’s session with pointed criticism of Cambodia’s conduct.
Neither side had released a statement about what was discussed as of Wednesday evening.
The dispute centers on overlapping claims in the Gulf of Thailand believed to hold large, exploitable amounts of natural gas and other hydrocarbons.
Cambodia in June launched a compulsory conciliation process under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, after Thailand unilaterally withdrew from a 2001 agreement that provided a framework for talks on the overlapping claims. The agreement allowed for discussions on joint exploration but had largely stalled since its inception, and returned to Thai political discourse after relations with Cambodia deteriorated following two bouts of deadly border clashes last year.
The UNCLOS mechanism allows a panel of independent experts, a five-member Conciliation Commission that Cambodia and Thailand each helped select and that is chaired by Australian diplomat Katrina Cooper, to examine the dispute and issue recommendations, though its findings are not legally binding. This week’s meeting, which included the two nations’ foreign ministers and their legal teams, took place at the Asia office of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Singapore.
The process is expected to take about a year, when the Conciliation Commission will issue its report, including its conclusions and recommendations. No date has been set for a second round of talks, and it remains unclear whether further sessions will be held before the Commission delivers its report.
Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said in his opening statement Tuesday that Thailand entered the conciliation process with a clear purpose: “to seek a solution on maritime delimitation that protects our rights.”
He also accused Cambodia of “playing the role of a victim” with “self-righteousness” and “hypocrisy” when it comes to international law.
He said Thailand wished to “give negotiations a fresh start” and that it had offered Cambodia an opportunity to hold direct talks, an offer he said Cambodia disregarded before moving to the UNCLOS conciliation process.
“Thailand stands ready to engage in this process constructively, with the aim of achieving, with the Commission’s assistance, a negotiated and equitable solution,” Sihasak said.
His Cambodian counterpart, Prak Sokhonn, said Cambodia is seeking a peaceful resolution that “serves the peoples of both nations.”
Sokhonn also said Cambodia is open to a joint development agreement for sharing resources, while Sihasak said the proceedings concerned only maritime boundary delimitation.
The Thai embassy in Phnom Penh did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sides’ diverging positions reflect a deeper disagreement over sequencing, according to Seng Vanly, an independent Cambodian political analyst and former lecturer at the University of Cambodia’s Techo Sen School of Government and International Relations.
Cambodia has said it wants a final maritime boundary agreement, but if that cannot be reached soon, it is also open to joint development and the equitable sharing of resources while negotiations continue. Thailand, however, has stressed that maritime delimitation should come first, Vanly said.
“In my view, a realistic compromise would be to allow both tracks to move forward at the same time,” he said. “The biggest risk is allowing the dispute to remain unresolved for another decade […and] it could also allow the maritime dispute to become more closely connected with wider political and border tensions between Cambodia and Thailand.”
