Trump Thailand-Cambodia ceasefire under threat as Thai forces occupy territory

First on Fox: Last year, when Pres Donald Trump After helping broker a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, he achieved victory.

He said: “Who can say: I will make a phone call and stop the war between two very powerful countries, Thailand and Cambodia?”

Now, this agreement appears to be under pressure. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet told Fox News Digital that Thai forces had pushed into Cambodian territory they had long controlled outside the line of conflict. Thai soldiers sealed off villages with barbed wire and shipping containers, leaving 80,000 Cambodians unable to return home, according to Cambodian officials.

“The occupation goes beyond that Thailand’s claim is unilateral“Many villagers cannot return to their hometown,” Manet said.

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Cambodia and Thailand have raged for decades over parts of their 500-mile land border, much of which was drawn during the French colonial era and later interpreted differently by Bangkok and Phnom Penh. The conflict has occasionally turned into armed clashes, especially around areas near historic Khmer temple sites and rural villages where border demarcation is still incomplete.

Tensions rose again last year, with fighting erupting along disputed areas of the border and thousands of civilians displaced from both sides. The clashes led to diplomatic intervention and culminated in a ceasefire agreement reached with the participation of the United States during the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Images and local reports from recent fighting show damage to buildings near the border, including or near the UNESCO-listed Preah Vihear temple complex, raising concerns about safety. Cultural heritage sites In disputed areas. Cambodian officials blamed Thai forces for the damage, while Thai officials denied deliberately targeting religious or cultural monuments, saying military operations were limited to disputed security areas.

It was not possible to contact the Thai embassy to comment on this interview.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manit gave an interview to Fox News Digital during a trip to Washington, D.C. to attend President Trump’s Peace Council. (Fox News Digital)

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However, Manet rejected the threat of military retaliation.

“Our position is to always adhere to peaceful solutions,” he said. “We do not believe that using war to stop war is sustainable or practical.”

With a population of more than 70 million – nearly four times Cambodia’s population of 17 million – Thailand maintains a larger and better-equipped army, which increases the risk of renewed conflict.

With fighting once again threatening fragile stability along the border, Manet traveled to Washington this week to attend the inaugural meeting of the Trump Peace Council.

“The peace council can play an active role in promoting peace, stability and normalcy between Cambodia and Thailand,” Manet said.

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Hun Manet took office in 2023, succeeding his father Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for nearly four decades. The leadership transition marks the first formal handover of power in decades, although the ruling Cambodian People’s Party has maintained tight control over the country’s political system amid long-standing criticism from human rights groups over restrictions on opposition activity.

Manet, who graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point, has sought to maintain close ties with China while cautiously reopening channels with Washington, including restoring joint military exercises that were suspended in 2017.

While Cambodia faces tensions with Thailand, it is also balancing relations between Washington and Beijing.

Preah Vihear Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the border between Thailand and Cambodia, where cluster munitions, unexploded artillery shells and other munitions are marked around the temple grounds, after clashes between the two countries, in Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia, February 12, 2026. (Soviet Spin/Reuters)

Manet said managing relations with rival global powers “should not be a zero-sum game” and that Cambodia, as a small country, cannot “pick one country against the other.”

This balance has been centered in part on the Ream Naval Base, a strategic site on Cambodia’s southern coast that was rebuilt with Chinese funding.

the USS Cincinnati It docked at Ream in late January, the first visit by a US warship since the base was renovated with Chinese funding and technical support. The visit had a striking appearance, as the American ship USS Cincinnati docked approximately 150 meters away from a Chinese naval ship that was already docked at the base. For years, US officials have raised concerns that Cambodia has granted China exclusive access.

But Manet insisted that the base was still under Cambodian control.

“Our constitution stipulates that there should be no foreign military base,” he said [can] “It will be located on Cambodian territory,” Manet said.

Images and local reports from recent fighting show damage to buildings near the border, including or near the UNESCO-listed Preah Vihear temple complex, raising concerns about the safety of cultural heritage sites in the disputed areas. (Soviet Spin/Reuters)

Manet said managing relations with rival global powers “should not be a zero-sum game” and that Cambodia, as a small country, cannot “pick one country against the other.” (Samrang Pring/Reuters)

He said the US visit “clearly shows that Cambodia is not used exclusively as a country A naval base for cooperation with China“.

Manet also confirmed that the annual military exercises between the United States and Cambodia known as Angkor Sentinel, which were suspended in 2017, will resume this year, indicating improved defense relations.

“We hope to expand cooperation with the United States,” Manet said.

In recent years, Cambodia has emerged as a center for widespread online fraud, including so-called “pig slaughter” schemes that have defrauded victims around the world — including Americans — of billions of dollars. US authorities have imposed sanctions on Cambodia-linked entities linked to cryptocurrency fraud, and have pressured Phnom Penh to step up enforcement efforts amid concerns about trafficking and forced labor linked to some complexes.

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Manet said that his government had strengthened its cooperation with the American authorities and recently worked with the FBI to dismantle a major operation.

“We recently worked with the FBI on a major case involving a member of the Oknyak family,” he added, referring to an influential Cambodian figure. “We arrested him and closed one of the big complexes.”