Cambodia Pushes for Early JBC Border Demarcation During RBC Meeting
Cambodia Pushes for Early JBC Border Demarcation During RBC Meeting
PHNOM PENH, 15 July 2026 — Cambodia has called on Thailand to immediately stop road construction, land clearing and the installation of barbed wire in areas it says fall within Cambodian sovereign territory or remain undemarcated, during an informal meeting between the secretariats of the Cambodia-Thailand Regional Border Committee (RBC).
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of National Defence on 15 July, the informal coordination meeting was held at 11:00am at the Choam-Sangam International Border Checkpoint in Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province.
The Cambodian delegation was led by Brig. Gen. Nith Narong, head of the Cambodian RBC Secretariat, while the Thai delegation was headed by Maj. Gen. Kampanat Waphansu, chief of the Thai RBC Secretariat.
Cambodia welcomed the regular informal consultations between the two secretariats, describing them as an important mechanism for proactively resolving border issues through peaceful dialogue, preventing misunderstandings and reducing tensions along the shared frontier.
During the meeting, the Cambodian side urged Thailand to halt activities including land clearing for road construction, territorial expansion and the installation of barbed wire in areas Cambodia considers to be under its sovereignty or where the boundary has yet to be clearly demarcated.
Cambodia also stressed the urgent need for the Cambodia-Thailand Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) to begin border demarcation work as soon as possible, in accordance with existing bilateral agreements and the Joint Statement issued on 27 December 2025.
The Cambodian delegation also raised recent shooting and explosion incidents along the border, calling for thorough verification of the circumstances to prevent misunderstandings and urging both sides to adopt concrete measures to ensure such incidents do not recur.
The Defence Ministry said the meeting reflected Cambodia’s continued commitment to resolving border issues peacefully through established bilateral mechanisms and dialogue.
