Thailand, Cambodia Shut Land Crossings as Border Row Worsens

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(Bloomberg) — Thailand and Cambodia shut several border crossings in tit-for-tat moves, ratcheting up tensions between the two Southeast Asian neighbors as Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra fights to save her government from a political crisis triggered by a leaked phone call over the weekslong standoff.

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The closure of a border crossing in northeastern Buri Ram province was effective from June 21, according to an order by the Thai army late Saturday. Cambodia then retaliated with the permanent shutdown of the same passage as well as another checkpoint, according to Cambodian leader Hun Manet, who criticized the Thai army’s move. 

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The Thai army said it was its prerogative to restrict border movements to protect the country’s sovereignty for national security reasons, as it’s done since June 7. 

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The Cambodian leader also announced a suspension of all fuel and gas imports from Thailand from Monday, saying local companies are able to import sufficient quantity of energy from other sources to meet domestic demand. 

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A unit of Thailand’s state-controlled PTT Oil & Retail Business Pcl operates retail fuel stations and its Cafe Amazon coffee stores across Cambodia. 

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Relations between the two countries were tense after troops exchanged fire on May 28 in the disputed Chong Bok border area, resulting in the death of a Cambodian soldier. Both countries have massed troops along the frontier and closed or shortened the operational hours of several land crossings that act as vital trade links. 

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Cambodia has sought to get the International Court of Justice in The Hague to help settle land disputes in Chong Bok and three other border areas with Thailand. That’s angered Bangkok, which has said it doesn’t recognize the court’s jurisdiction. 

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Tensions escalated earlier this week, after former Cambodian leader Hun Sen — Hun Manet’s father — leaked his phone conversation with Paetongtarn, in which she held negotiations about a bilateral reopening of borders and appeared to criticize the Thai army’s role in the border standoff. 

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The phone leak has since unleashed fresh political turmoil in Thailand and pushed Paetongtarn’s government to the brink of collapse, with one coalition party leaving the bloc and saying the phone call had damaged the country. The exit left Paetongtarn with a wafer-thin majority government, while other coalition parties weighed options. 

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Thailand has called the phone leak “unacceptable conduct between states,” saying it’s undermined the trust and respect between the two countries. 

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There was no need for any bilateral agreement on reopening border checkpoints, Hun Manet said in a statement on Sunday. Thailand needs to lift all restrictions first and Cambodia will do the same within five hours, he said. 

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(Updates with Cambodian plan to halt Thai fuel imports in fourth paragraph.)

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