Interior Minister Sar Sokha criticized Thailand for the closure of border crossings and their alleged manipulative tactics on the border issue following the May 28 fatal clash.
On Tuesday, a Thai media outlet published an article quoting the Thai-Cambodia Border Command Center that “all checkpoints remained open and power supply to Cambodia will not be cut off”. However, Cambodian officials have rebuffed this, saying that the border remains closed.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Sokha rebuked Thailand for saying that all the border crossings had been opened, “but Cambodia continued to close them, contrary to Thailand’s stand”. He instead asked the public to consider Thailand’s action. “Only opening the checkpoint without allowing people to cross — what sort of behavior is that?” he said.
“Don’t only open the main gates for show while restricting general entry and exit. This is what we call ‘open but closed’ […] it’s a deceptive tactic. As if the world would not see their real intention,” his post read.
He said if Thailand has good faith and intends to reopen all border crossings, they must issue an official announcement to Cambodia and the international community or a public statement declaring the restoration of operations, which Thailand had closed unilaterally.
Hours earlier, a video clip of a foreign tourist being stopped by Thai authorities from entering their country from Cambodia via O’Smach International Checkpoint at Oddar Meanchey was widely shared on Facebook.
Sokha alleged that the Thai government, military, and opposition groups were deliberately causing trouble and manipulating information to mislead Thai people and the international community.
He said these actions are designed to cover up the incident in the Mom Bei area, “distract people from Thailand’s deep political factions, and conceal the fragile state of the current government”. Sokha added that the international community is “getting tired” with Thailand’s repetitive acts of deception and political games.
A CamboJA News reporter spoke with several senior provincial officials along the Cambodian-Thai border, who confirmed that the border crossings remain closed to all travelers, trade and vehicles, except for students, and humanitarian reasons.
One of them, Battambang provincial governor Sok Lou, said “The border crossings are still closed.”
Meanwhile, thousands of Cambodian migrant workers have returned home since the closure by the Thai military on Monday night.
