Ceasefire accord offers fragile hope

With the signing of a ceasefire accord by the defence ministers of Thailand and Cambodia, the borders were to be quiet as of noon yesterday.

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The immediate challenge now is how to sustain peace between the two neighbours that share an almost 800-km-long border.Representing Thailand at the 3rd General Border Committee meeting where the agreement was reached was Defence Minister Nattaphon Narkphanit, alongside his Cambodian counterpart Gen Tea Seiha.

The joint statement committed both sides to a 72-hour truce and deescalation measures. These include maintaining troop deployments without reinforcement, refraining from provocation, cooperating on landmine destruction under the Ottawa Convention and using the Asean Observation Team as well as bilateral mechanisms such as the Joint Border Commission (JBC).

Hotline channels between army leaders are to prevent misunderstandings and counter misinformation, disinformation and aggressive information operations (IO). If the 72-hour truce passes without incident, Thailand will release 18 Cambodian soldiers held in captivity. As normalcy gradually returns, hundreds of thousands of evacuees on both sides are expected to go home. Families should be reunited during this festive season.