Name: Why Thailand and Cambodia don't really want to end the fighting | DW News
Uploaded: 2025-07-27T16:53:26.000Z
Duration: 6 min 59 s
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After days of clashes between Thailand and Cambodia, the leaders of the two countries say they are willing to hold talks over a possible ceasefire.

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They are due to meet in Malaysia on Monday to settle a border dispute that broke out into open fighting last week.

So far, more than 30 people have been killed in the cross-border conflict, and at least 150,000 displaced.

President Donald Trump said the leaders of both countries had agreed to work on a ceasefire, fresh artillery clashes erupted on Sunday morning.

In the frontier region between northern Cambodia and northeast Thailand, each country blamed the other for continued shelling while still signaling readiness to negotiate an end to the fighting.

In response to President Trump, Prime Minister Hun Manet made clear to him that Cambodia has agreed with his proposal to the immediate and unconditional ceasefire between the two countries.

Thailand's acting prime minister said his country agreed to pursue a ceasefire with a reservation.

Donald Trump said that if there is no ceasefire, the U.S. wouldn't be ready to hold trade talks with either of our countries.

I told him that's not a problem, as we also want a ceasefire.

We adhere to this principle, but our condition is that Cambodia must give assurances to stop shelling the Thai people, because we base our negotiations and decisions on the safety of our people.

For the thousands of civilians displaced by the fighting, like these Thai evacuees sheltering in a university, the uncertainty is hard to bear.

Living like this makes me feel quite uneasy.

Across the border in Cambodia, a lone Buddhist monk remains at his temple in the evacuation zone.

As a monk living in a province bordering Thailand, I would like to call on both sides to work together to find a solution that is a win-win for all.

For now, most civilians near the border are staying out of artillery range.

Both sides say the other needs to show signs of de-escalation before any ceasefire talks can begin.

Let's cross over now to DW correspondent Georg Matus, who's near the Thai city of Udon Ratchathani, close to the border with Cambodia.

Georg, we're hearing reports that the fighting is continuing.

It's another fourth day of intensive fighting along this 800 kilometers long border.

It's a very remote area where the fighting is taking place.

One of those pockets of fighting is not far from here in Sisaket province, where I got reports today that there was early in the morning intensive fighting.

We then had helicopters flying past us here.

We had a lot of ambulances coming on the roads where locals told me these are victims.

These are mainly soldiers coming from the front lines being brought back, but also along the rest of the border in Surin province, for instance, there's currently fighting going on.

And we also saw in the southeast where there are some contested islands fighting on the sea.

You've been talking with people who've had to flee their homes.

Of course, people are growing increasingly desperate here.

People at the beginning thought this would be just for two or three days maybe, and now they're being told it might be a week that they have to stick in these evacuation centers.

So a lot of internally displaced people who are asking themselves, you know, how long will this go on?

And also, if you talk to the evacuation centers, they are concerned that they will run the logistics for the next week or potentially weeks to come where they want to make sure that they keep people in safe areas.

Another concern is that new weapons that could be brought in from the Cambodian side would shift that perimeter by another 50 kilometers and would again displace people.

So these are the concerns of people here who have really just one hope, and that is to return back home.

We've been reporting for days now that both Thailand and Cambodia say they're open to ceasefire talks.

Any word on when or if those might happen?

I'd say that's probably the million-dollar question.

You know, the conflict started with both sides finger-pointing at each other that they started, fired the first shot.

Now you have both sides claiming that the other side violated and potentially agreed ceasefire because both sides, they would want a ceasefire.

But then again, I read a number of quotes from politicians today who basically said, you know, the military might still have to complete certain operations.

So one suspicion many observers here have is that before the two sides really go into ceasefire negotiations or into negotiations how to live together in the future, they do want to secure a few hillsides more to have a better negotiation position at the negotiation table.

Georg, there are fears, obviously, that if a ceasefire doesn't come quickly, that this conflict could turn into a full-blown war.

It is, of course, a concern, and it's a concern publicly voiced by Thailand's current caretaker, prime minister.

I don't see it really on the cards here, a full-blown war.

Obviously, Thailand is militarily the stronger nation, economically the stronger nation, that could last longer.

But what I also don't see is a real incentive for both sides to end this soon.

Both sides want to appear strong and powerful and not giving in to the other side, and that is the key problem at the moment.

DW correspondent Georg Mattis near Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand.