Cambodia and Thailand ministers meet in China with no border outcome announced

Talks in China, no announced result

The meeting opened under the theme "Strengthening the Building of a Community with a Shared Future: Embarking on a New Chapter for Mekong-Lancang 2.0".

A statement from Cambodia's foreign ministry did not indicate whether the border dispute was raised. Prak Sokhonn used his remarks to mark a decade of cooperation and to set out priorities for Mekong-Lancang 2.0: maintaining peace, managing water resources, combating transnational crime and strengthening people-to-people ties. Ministers from Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam also attended.

Kin Phea, director-general of the Royal Academy of Cambodia's International Relations Institute, said he believed Cambodia's foreign minister did raise the border issue, since peace and stability are among the framework's objectives. The three countries' foreign ministers previously met in December 2025, at the Fuxian Meeting in Yunnan province, which led to the Fuxian Consensus. Phea said the current meeting could provide another opening for dialogue.

A day before the meeting, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said his government would not seek to restore normal relations with Cambodia, citing disputes over land and maritime boundaries and security concerns. Phea said Anutin's position served his political interests and that the ruling Bhumjaithai Party had benefited from rising nationalist sentiment in Thailand.

Displacement counts differ

Cambodia's Defence Ministry said on 3 November that 7,873 people from 1,869 families, including 1,847 children, remain unable to return home near the Boeung Trakuon checkpoint in Banteay Meanchey province. That figure covers one area; Cambodia says more than 20,000 people remain displaced along the whole frontier.

The figures were released as the ASEAN Observer Team visited the area. The ministry counted more than 10 months of displacement from the ceasefire the neighbours agreed on 27 December 2025 after deadly clashes. Phnom Penh alleged that Thai troops had installed razor wire, dug trenches, built fortifications and damaged civilian property since the truce.

Thailand rejected similar allegations the previous week, saying its barriers were security measures inside territory it claims. Maj Gen Winthai Suvaree, a Thai army spokesperson, said troops had not been deployed to establish a new border line. He put the number of people connected with three border areas at about 4,600. The two counts are not directly comparable: Thailand's covers three communities it has examined, while Cambodia's figure of more than 20,000 refers to the whole frontier. Thai Defence Minister Adul Boonthumjaroen said on 2 November that military-level discussions were continuing.

The camps become permanent

Prime Minister Hun Manet announced on 30 October that the six waiting villages, housing about 21,000 displaced people, would become permanent settlements, at a ceremony to hand out rice seed and food to flood-affected families in Battambang province.

About 10,000 of those in the camps are women and 6,000 are children, UCA News reported. Nearly 6,000 houses went up within several months, including roughly 3,000 in Banteay Meanchey province and more in Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear. Residents are to receive full ownership of their homes and a plot of land across roughly 400 hectares of camps. The government has also introduced livelihood programmes, including vegetable cultivation, livestock raising and small businesses.

UCA News reported that for many displaced residents, accepting permanent titles means conceding the loss of ancestral lands and livelihoods that Thai forces still occupy.

Hun Manet said the villages would remain even if the dispute is settled and people return to their original land, because part of the land has already been allocated.

He rejected suggestions that seeking a peaceful solution amounted to weakness. "Let anyone who wants to call us cowards do so," he said. "We are not running away from the problem". Thong Mengdavid, a lecturer at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, told UCA News the villages were a practical response to border reality but a painful compromise rather than a full remedy.

Why Bangkok keeps the crossings shut

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on 31 October that the crossings would not reopen until Thailand's security and territorial concerns are addressed. "I still don't know when we will reopen them," he said. In a TV appearance on 1 November, he said he had no timeline for reopening the border, UCA News reported.

He listed disputed land and maritime areas containing natural resources, plus cross-border crime including online scam operations, as outstanding issues. He said restoring relations would require rebuilding confidence and trust, and that national security must take precedence over economic activity.

Anutin cited cross-border crime, including online scam operations, as a reason to keep the crossings shut. An Amnesty International report this month tied five Cambodian security firms to scam compounds, findings that could weigh on Phnom Penh as it presses for reopened trade.

Amnesty interviewed more than 150 survivors from 86 compounds and used more than 25,000 videos and photos from guards' social media accounts, satellite imagery and corporate records. It said the firms were linked to politically connected businessmen and to members of the Cambodian military and police in at least 22 compounds. It named Leap Somnang Security, Security Response, ZD Security, Dara Security Service and Best (Cambodia) Security Service, and called for an investigation.

What happens next

Whether the border dispute was formally discussed at the Mekong-Lancang meeting remains open. The 27 December 2025 ceasefire statement called for both sides to maintain existing troop deployments, avoid provocations and resume survey and demarcation through the Joint Boundary Commission.

Hun Manet said Cambodia would keep pursuing diplomatic negotiations and legal mechanisms rather than renewed military confrontation. Cambodia hosts the Francophonie Summit of French-speaking nations in mid-November.