AKP Phnom Penh, August 26, 2026 --

The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has strongly protested against the visit by the Prime Minister of Thailand to the An Seh area in Choam Ksan district, Preah Vihear province, on Aug. 23, 2026, describing the visit as an unauthorised act in Cambodia’s sovereign territory.

In a press release issued on Wednesday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the RGC said the visit constituted a deliberate attempt to assert illegitimate claims over Cambodian territory, which had been illegally occupied by Thai armed forces since last year.

The RGC stressed that no legal right can arise from an unlawful act and that the alleged illegal occupation of Cambodian sovereign territory cannot be legitimised by a visit from the Thai Prime Minister.

It further described the visit as a grave violation of Cambodia’s sovereign territory as defined and delimited by the 1:200,000-scale maps produced by the Commissions of Delimitation of the Boundary between Indo-China and Siam, as well as Item I of the Joint Statement of the 3rd Special General Border Committee (GBC) Meeting on Dec. 27, 2025.

The Joint Statement explicitly prohibits provocative actions that could escalate tensions along the border, the press release noted.

The RGC underscored that neither a unilaterally drawn map nor a visit based on such a map can alter the internationally recognised boundary.

Cambodia also reiterated that it does not accept any boundary line or territorial claim unilaterally asserted by Thailand, stressing that the Thai Prime Minister’s visit would not prejudice Cambodia’s legal rights or position concerning its international boundary.

The RGC called on Thailand to cease such actions in the An Seh area and other areas unlawfully occupied by Thai armed forces since last year.

Cambodia said such measures would help de-escalate the situation, build mutual trust, facilitate the peaceful settlement of disputes, and restore peace, stability and good-neighbourly relations along the Cambodia-Thailand border.

The RGC reaffirmed its commitment to resolving all boundary disputes with Thailand, as with all neighbouring countries, exclusively through peaceful means, in accordance with international law and existing bilateral agreements.

At the same time, Cambodia reiterated its principled position that international borders must not be changed by force.

By C. Nika