AKP Phnom Penh, January 05, 2026 --

Cambodia has once against condemned in the strongest possible terms the Thai military’s illegal occupation in certain areas of Cambodian territory, including the deployment of shipping containers and barbed wire, the planting of national flags in unlawfully occupied areas, and the destruction and looting of Cambodian civilians’ property, describing these acts as grave breaches of international law and serious human rights violations.

Speaking at a press briefing on Jan. 5, H.E. Pen Bona, Head of the Royal Government Spokesperson Unit, said The Thai military has been relentlessly destroying civilian houses and infrastructure on Cambodian sovereign territory. These destructions were carried out during their full-scale military operations from Dec. 7 to 27, 2025, targeting Cambodian civilians. The Thai military continued its acts of destruction on civilian targets by deploying both mechanical forces and personnel even after the ceasefire came into effect. Additionally, Thai soldiers have fenced off land and houses of many innocent Cambodian civilians while continuously destroying, stealing, and looting their property in the most anarchic manner possible. 

“Such actions not only caused severe loss and damage to civilian properties and infrastructure but also hindered the return of displaced civilians to their homes and normal livelihoods, which clearly contravenes the spirit of Point 4 of the Joint Statement adopted on Dec. 27, 2025,” he underlined.

The Royal Government of Cambodia demands that Thailand immediately cease all such hostile military activities and calls on the Thai side to firmly honour the mandate of the Joint Boundary Commission of the two countries to demarcate the boundary based on existing agreements and international law.

H.E. Pen Bona also reaffirmed Cambodia’s firm position in safeguarding the Cambodia-Thailand international boundary as inherited from the Commission of Delimitation of the Boundary between Indo-China and Siam, in full respect of international law principles, the principle of intangibility of frontiers (Uti Possidetis Juris), the Franco-Siamese conventions and treaties, the maps, and the procès-verbaux of the Commission of the Abornement of the Boundary between Indo-China and Siam, as well as all relevant agreements and documents mutually agreed upon by both parties. 

“Cambodia reiterates that it will not recognise any alteration of the boundary line resulting from the use of force,” he emphasised. 

The Spokesperson further stated that the deployment of shipping containers and barbed wire, as well as the planting of national flags in areas illegally occupied by Thai forces, constitute a clear violation of Cambodia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, while the demolition of innocent civilians' homes is a serious violation of international law and international humanitarian law. 

“Worse, the evidence shows that the Thai military committed the act of looting civilian property in the area it surrounded, which is an unacceptable, inhumane act and prohibited under international law,” he said.

According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Interior last evening, Thai armed forces in Pursat province were observed cutting locks and forcibly entering civilian homes in Sangkum Thmei village, where they confiscated valuables from eight houses, including four motorcycles and two village garbage carts.

By C. Nika