President Trump Intervenes in the Threat of War Between Thailand and Cambodia

President Trump announced while in Scotland, that he is trying to stop another war. This time, it’s between Cambodia and Thailand.

Trump is speaking to the heads of state of both countries. He hopes to use tariff deals to obtain a ceasefire. It worked with Pakistan and India.

He said:

Just spoke to the Prime Minister of Cambodia relative to stopping the War with Thailand. I am calling the Acting Prime Minister of Thailand, right now, to likewise request a Ceasefire, and END to the War, which is currently raging. We happen to be, by coincidence, currently dealing on Trade with both Countries, but do not want to make any Deal, with either Country, if they are fighting — And I have told them so! The call with Thailand is being made momentarily.

The call with Cambodia has ended, but expect to call back regarding War stoppage and Ceasefire based on what Thailand has to say. I am trying to simplify a complex situation! Many people are being killed in this War, but it very much reminds me of the Conflict between Pakistan and India, which was brought to a successful halt.

Cambodia had called for an “immediate” ceasefire with Thailand, after days of cross-border fighting between the two South East Asian neighbors.

Cambodia’s ambassador to the UN, Chhea Keo, said his country asked for a truce “unconditionally”, adding that Phnom Penh also wanted a “peaceful solution of the dispute”.

Malaysia is also calling for a ceasefire.

Thirteen have been killed so far, but it is a very dangerous situation with the risk of it breaking out into an unstoppable war.

Times of India: What led to clashes?

• The clashes between the two countries were triggered after a Cambodian soldier was killed in May, and two Thai soldiers lost limbs in separate landmine blasts in July.
• Fighter jets, landmines, and diplomatic expulsions marked the sharpest escalation in years over a dispute that stretches back over a century and at the centre of it lies the 11th century Preah Vihear Hindu temple.
• The 11th century Preah Vihear temple, perched atop the Dangrek mountain range, is a longstanding symbol of national pride and dispute between the two countries.
• In 1962, the International Court of Justice ruled that the Preah Vihear temple lies in Cambodia, based on a 1907 French map.
• Thailand disputed the map, but the court found it had implicitly accepted it and ordered Thai forces to withdraw.
• Thailand, however, still claims a 4.6 sq km area around the temple. Tensions flared in 2008 after Cambodia registered the temple as a UNESCO site, leading to deadly clashes in 2011.
• In 2013, the ICJ reaffirmed Cambodia’s sovereignty over the temple and surrounding land — a ruling still contested by Thailand.