Thailand Suspends Enhanced Ceasefire With Cambodia After New Blast, Halts Return of POWs
Thailand announced on Thursday that it would pause implementation of an enhanced ceasefire agreement with Cambodia and delay the return of 18 Cambodian prisoners of war after a landmine blast injured four Thai soldiers, in a fresh sign that a fragile truce between the neighbours is fraying.
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Defence Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit told reporters the government in Bangkok would not proceed with elements of the October accord — signed last month at a regional summit and publicly showcased in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump — until it was satisfied that Phnom Penh was fully committed to halting hostilities.
“We will hold off on implementing the enhanced ceasefire, and we are also pausing the transfer of the 18 prisoners of war now in our custody,” Natthaphon said, declining to say whether Thai forces would be redeployed to the border. His terse announcement underscored how quickly diplomacy can be undone by isolated incidents on the ground.
What happened
The move follows a landmine blast on Wednesday that injured four Thai soldiers, one of a series of dangerous incidents since the two countries’ worst fighting in recent memory. The five-day clash in July involved rockets and heavy artillery and left at least 48 people dead and an estimated 300,000 temporarily displaced.
Cambodia’s defence ministry issued an immediate denial that it had laid new mines and urged Thailand to avoid patrolling in known old minefield areas, while saying Phnom Penh remained committed to working with Bangkok under the October deal. The ministry’s statement framed the blast as a hazard of leftover ordnance rather than fresh provocation.
Thailand’s foreign minister, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, said the government would explain its decision to the United States — which has sought to mediate — and to Malaysia, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has been facilitating the ceasefire process.
“What they (Cambodia) have said is not sufficient. We have to see what Cambodia’s stance is from now on,” Sihasak told reporters, signaling that Bangkok wants clearer, demonstrable steps before it resumes confidence-building measures.
Why the pause matters
The pause is more than a diplomatic rebuke. It freezes elements of a deal negotiated amid high-profile external pressure — including personal appeals from Washington after the July fighting — that was intended to stabilize a volatile border and prevent renewed escalation.
For months, analysts and officials have warned that the border theatre between Bangkok and Phnom Penh is littered with risks: ambiguous demarcation of contested land, the presence of mines from earlier conflicts, and the ease with which small border incidents can spiral into heavy exchanges when national pride and domestic politics are at stake.
Stopping the return of prisoners of war adds a human and political element. POW exchanges are often used to build trust and signal goodwill; suspending them makes reconciliation harder and keeps families waiting. The four troops wounded in the mine blast are a vivid reminder that the war zone’s hazards persist even when guns are quieter.
Regional and global stakes
The spat has drawn attention beyond Southeast Asia. The U.S. role — illustrated by President Trump’s ostensible involvement in July and the public signing of an enhanced ceasefire — highlights a pattern: external powers can broker temporary freezes, but long-term peace requires durable local mechanisms. Washington’s leverage in the region, tied to security and trade relationships, has played a mediating role, but it cannot physically de-mine contested fields or redraw maps.
ASEAN’s capacity to manage inter-state conflict is also on display. The bloc prides itself on quiet diplomacy and consensus-building, but its mechanisms can be slow and lack enforcement. Malaysia, as ASEAN chair, has been tapped to help shepherd the process. Whether the grouping can prevent a return to open hostilities will be a test of its relevance for security disputes.
There are also broader humanitarian and development implications. The July clashes temporarily displaced hundreds of thousands and damaged livelihoods. Landmines and unexploded ordnance do not respect ceasefires and frequently cause civilian casualties for years after fighting stops, hampering agricultural cycles and returning refugees.
What comes next
For now, both sides appear to be trading accusations without de-escalating visibly. Cambodia’s denial and Thailand’s suspension of the pact set up a diplomatic impasse in which each country seeks assurances the other will not resume offensive operations. The most immediate questions are whether fresh confidence-building measures can be agreed, whether international monitors will be allowed more access to contested areas, and how the POWs issue will be resolved.
If diplomacy stalls, the danger is that local commanders could interpret the pause as a green light for more assertive posture, or that third-party actors will deepen their involvement, complicating resolution. Conversely, a renewed, verifiable de-mining effort and agreed patrol protocols could restore some trust — but those fixes take time and political will.
The episode invites larger questions about how fragile peace processes can be made resilient in an age of proxy diplomacy and public posturing: Can regional institutions be strengthened to provide credible verification? How can the risks of residual ordnance be tackled more quickly to protect civilians and soldiers alike? And what role should outside powers play when their public involvement raises expectations that local actors cannot immediately meet?
For the thousands displaced in July and for families of the soldiers and the 18 detainees, the answers are urgently needed. As Bangkok and Phnom Penh exchange statements, the people who live along the border remain the ones who will feel the immediate consequences of whether the ceasefire endures or collapses anew.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
