Thailand is recalling its ambassador from Phnom Penh and expelling Cambodia’s envoy as an investigation into landmine explosions ratcheted up a long-running border dispute.
The Thai Foreign Ministry downgraded its diplomatic relations with Cambodia and lodged a formal protest after an investigation by the Thai military allegedly found evidence that Cambodia had laid new landmines in a disputed border area, Phumtham Vejjayachai, the acting prime minister, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The government has also ordered the closure of all border checkpoints under the jurisdiction of Thailand’s Second Army, he said.
Cambodia’s undersecretary of state, Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata, rejected the Thai allegations, saying in a press statement that the border area “still contains landmines left over from past wars that have not yet been fully cleared.”
Five members of a Thai military patrol were wounded by a landmine on Wednesday in the Nam Yuen district of northeastern Ubon Ratchathani province, the Thai army said, with one soldier losing a leg. The incident follows another landmine explosion on July 16 in which a Thai soldier lost a foot.
Tensions have remained high since a Cambodian soldier was killed in a shooting incident on May 28 in the disputed border area. Since then, the neighboring countries have waged a tit-for-tat political conflict, with Thailand closing border crossings and Cambodia petitioning the International Court of Justice and banning some Thai imports.
A leaked phone call between former Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Hun Sen, Cambodia’s former prime minister and current Senate leader, led Thailand to suspend Shinawatra.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, meanwhile, cited the conflict as he announced last week that Cambodia would begin conscripting its younger citizens. He also began a wave of raids on some of its many scam centers after Shinawatra cited them as a national threat to Thailand.
Includes reporting from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
