Thailand’s Own Military Map Confirms Tamone Thom Temple Lies in Cambodia
Thailand’s Own Military Map Confirms Tamone Thom Temple Lies in Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, 8 July 2026 — Thailand’s own L7017 military map, as well as the internationally recognised 1:200,000-scale map produced through the Franco-Indochina–Siam boundary demarcation process, places Tamone Thom Temple within Cambodian territory, according to a senior Cambodian border official.
The 11th-century Khmer temple in the Dangrek Mountains is currently under what Cambodia describes as illegal occupation by the Thai military following two rounds of armed conflict in July and December. Phnom Penh has repeatedly protested the occupation and maintained that historical, legal and technical evidence confirms its sovereignty over the site.
Speaking in an interview with state broadcaster TVK, Ith Sotha, Permanent Secretary of State at the State Secretariat of Border Affairs (SSBA), said both historical records and modern technical evidence clearly establish the temple’s location inside Cambodian territory.
Sotha said the evidence includes the internationally recognised 1:200,000-scale map produced during the Franco-Indochina–Siam boundary demarcation process and Thailand’s own L7017 map at a scale of 1:50,000, prepared by the Royal Thai Survey Department.
According to Sotha, a comparison of the boundary reproduced from the 1:200,000-scale map with the unilateral boundary line shown on Thailand’s L7017 map demonstrates that Tamone Thom Temple lies within Cambodian territory.
“It is also very clear that Tamone Thom Temple is located within Cambodian territory,” he said.
Sotha also referred to satellite imagery showing the temple’s location, saying the images could be enlarged to clearly identify the ancient site in relation to the boundary lines.
Further historical evidence, he said, is provided by the Indications Topographiques, or Topographic Indications Map, annexed to survey records produced during the Franco-Indochina–Siam Boundary Commission’s work in 1908.
According to Sotha, the historical map identifies Khmer temple ruins in the area and corresponds with findings made by the Cambodia-Thailand Joint Survey Teams during fieldwork to locate Boundary Marker No. 23.
He said the combination of historical documents, official maps and joint field surveys provides both documentary and factual evidence supporting Cambodia’s sovereignty over Tamone Thom Temple.
“I would like to reiterate once again that Tamone Thom Temple is situated within Cambodian territory, based on the 1:200,000-scale map and the Indications Topographiques map, which were jointly produced by the French and Siamese authorities during the border demarcation work in 1908,” Sotha said.
The senior border official also rejected Thailand’s continued reliance on newly drawn boundary lines, arguing that unilateral maps cannot alter an internationally established boundary or provide legal justification for occupying Cambodian territory.
“Although Thailand is now attempting to draw a new boundary line in order to incorporate areas that it has invaded and illegally occupied into Thai territory, such maps cannot be regarded as having any legal validity or legal effect,” he said.
Cambodia has consistently maintained that its border disputes with Thailand must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law, existing treaties and agreements, and established bilateral border mechanisms.
