Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan announced Tuesday (October 14) that US President Donald Trump was “looking forward” to witnessing the signing of a ceasefire deal between Thailand and Cambodia later this month. “During the summit, we hope to see the signing of a declaration, known as the Kuala Lumpur Accord, between these two neighbours to ensure peace and a lasting ceasefire,” Mohamad said. Hasan said that Trump planned to visit Kuala Lumpur between October 26 and 28 to attend the meeting of the leaders of the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) grouping. The White House has yet to officially confirm the visit. Malaysia, with a little assistance from the US president, had played an integral role in brokering the ceasefire after the two Southeast Asian neighbours witnessed a five-day deadly conflict in July over their shared 817 km land border. The ensuing violence resulted in the deaths of at least 48 and temporarily displaced thousands on both sides. We recall. The border dispute, the temple at its midst The two countries have disputed their land border ever since it was drawn in 1907 by France, then the colonial administrator in Cambodia. This dispute was fuelled in part by nationalism, despite their shared ethnic and linguistic ties, social norms, culinary traditions, and cultural activities. Both the predominantly Theravada Buddhist neighbours claim the mantle of being the “original” owners of their heritage, fueling the animosity. Scholars argue that these claims of cultural ownership are based on contesting readings of history, which the governing elites on both sides tend to prop up to strengthen their domestic positions. Thus, every border skirmish has the potential to devolve into a much larger conflict, a situation that has held since Cambodia’s independence from France in 1953. At the centre of the border dispute is the Preah Vihear temple, known in Thai as Phra Viharn. “The temple has meaning — both as a cultural symbol and a religious place of worship — to people on both sides of the border,” John D Ciorciari, a professor of international politics at Indiana University, wrote in ‘Thailand and Cambodia: The Battle for Preah Vihear’ (2009). It was built in the 11th and 12th centuries during the golden age of the Khmer Empire, which at the time governed much of South Asia, including Siam. As the empire declined, Siam made inroads into Cambodian territory. In 1867, Cambodia officially handed the area around Preah Vihear to Siam. However, France colonised Laos and Cambodia around this period, sending the Siamese kingdom from a position of relative strength in its neighbourhood to weakness. In 1904, Siam and France signed a border treaty that defined Cambodia’s northern frontier as running along the watershed line of the Dangrek Mountains. While this principle would put most of the Preah Vihear complex in Siam, the official map, drawn by the French in 1907, placed the temple in Cambodia. Siam offered weak resistance to this move at the time, but in 1941, its alliance with Japan empowered it to seize control of Preah Vihear. It returned control to France after World War II ended. Both Thailand and Cambodia have disputed the temple’s ownership since the latter’s independence from France. Thai troops occupied Preah Vihear in 1954, prompting Cambodia to take the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In 1962, it upheld its claim over Preah Vihear. In 2008, tensions arose after Cambodia sought to list the Preah Vihear temple as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Thai opposition used the issue to attack the government, accusing it of “forfeiting Thai dignity and sovereignty,” Ciorciari wrote. Cambodian leaders also used the issue to rally nationalist sentiment in the country. Over the next several years, Cambodian and Thai troops frequently skirmished at the border. In 2013, the ICJ reaffirmed Cambodia’s position vis-à-vis Preah Vihear, creating a demilitarised zone around the temple, although this was never implemented. Thailand has since rejected the ICJ’s jurisdiction. Besides Preah Vihear, clashes unfolded at a second disputed temple, Prasat Ta Muen Thom. You may read about this here. What unfolded in July The latest iteration of the conflict unfolded in May after both sides skirmished at the border in a contested area, resulting in the death of one Cambodian soldier. This fuelled nationalist rhetoric in both countries and spurred a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic actions. Thailand withdrew its ambassador from Cambodia and expelled the Cambodian ambassador after a land mine blast in which a Thai soldier lost a leg. Thailand claimed that the mine was freshly laid by Cambodian troops inside sovereign Thai territory. Cambodia denied Thailand’s claims and recalled all Cambodian staff from its embassy in Bangkok. Military clashes broke out along the border between the Thai provinces of Surin and Sisaket, and the Cambodian provinces of Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear. Thailand launched air strikes on Cambodian military sites, to which Cambodia responded with rocket and artillery fire. Among other things, Cambodia banned the import of Thai fruits and the broadcast of Thai films and soap operas, while Thailand closed all land crossings. While Thailand had rebuffed an initial attempt by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to mediate, an ultimatum by Trump on resuming tariff negotiations proved to be the deciding factor. “When all is done, and Peace is at hand, I look forward to concluding our Trading Agreements with both!” Trump had written in a social media post. Despite the ceasefire, tensions have remained high after Thai soldiers were injured in a landmine explosion in August while patrolling a buffer zone between the two countries. Thailand accused Cambodia of laying new mines in violation of the ceasefire. Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has demanded that Cambodia meet four conditions, including the removal of heavy weapons from the border, clearing land mines, assistance to curb cross-border crime and management of sensitive border zones to avoid further conflicts, the Associated Press reported.
