Cambodia has published an open letter to the international community

Cambodia has published an open letter to the international community.

accusing Thailand of planned, acknowledged, and deliberate military aggression along Cambodia’s western border since December seventh, two thousand twenty-five. The letter warns that silence or inaction risks undermining the credibility of the international legal order.

In the letter, Cambodia rejects any claim that the clashes were accidental or uncontrolled. Instead, it asserts that Thailand has carried out a coordinated war involving land, air, and naval forces.

According to the document, Thai troops have advanced onto Cambodian territory, planted flags on Cambodian soil, and launched attacks not only against military positions, but also against civilians, infrastructure, temples, and historic Khmer monuments.

“Wherever the Thai army advances, it plants its flag on Cambodian soil,” the letter states. It adds that the assaults have affected homes, schools, pagodas, refugee camps, and cultural heritage sites, including monuments listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Cambodia’s government structured the letter around what it described as five fundamental truths, beginning with a firm rejection of any allegation that Cambodia initiated the conflict.

It argues that, as a smaller country in terms of territory and military capacity, Cambodia lacks both the intention and the capability to attack a neighbour three times more powerful.

The letter points to Cambodia’s repeated calls for a peaceful settlement of border disputes, including its acceptance of a ceasefire on July twenty-eighth, two thousand twenty-five, and the Joint Declaration for Peace signed on October twenty-sixth, two thousand twenty-five.

“Had Cambodia truly sought war,” the letter asks, “why would it have devoted such sustained efforts since nineteen ninety-eight to reconstruction, national reconciliation, and peacebuilding?”

On the legal front, Cambodia reaffirms that its position is grounded in internationally recognised treaties and maps, notably the Franco-Siamese Treaties of nineteen-oh-four and nineteen-oh-seven, and the two-thousand Memorandum of Understanding.

Thailand, the letter claims, relies instead on unilateral maps recognised only by itself, leaving no basis for accusations that Cambodia intended to violate Thai sovereignty.

The letter also contrasts Cambodia’s reliance on international law with what it describes as Thailand’s preference for military force.

It recalls Cambodia’s past recourse to legal mechanisms during border disputes in nineteen fifty-four, two thousand eight, and July two thousand twenty-five, and highlights rulings by the International Court of Justice in nineteen sixty-two and two thousand thirteen, affirming Cambodian sovereignty over Preah Vihear and surrounding areas.

“It would therefore be illogical and irrational for Cambodia to abandon the rule of law and embark on a war of aggression against Thailand,” the document states.

Emphasising the country’s historical trauma, Cambodia notes that its experience of two wars and a genocide between nineteen seventy and nineteen ninety-eight has made peace and stability its top national priorities.

It cites international recognition of this commitment, including peace-related awards in two thousand twenty-one, two thousand twenty-four, and two thousand twenty-five, as further evidence that Cambodia has no incentive to jeopardise decades of recovery.

The most serious accusations are reserved for Thailand’s recent military operations. Cambodia alleges that since December seventh, Thai authorities have publicly ordered large-scale offensives along more than eight hundred kilometres of the border, with incursions reaching eighty to ninety kilometres into Cambodian territory.

The operations, the letter claims, have involved F-sixteen and Gripen fighter jets, cluster munitions, armed drones, heavy artillery, long-range rockets, tanks, and armoured vehicles, deployed in coordinated land, air, and naval actions.

“These acts cannot be characterised as an exercise of the right of self-defence under international law,” the letter argues, calling them a deliberate and manifest armed aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

In conclusion, Cambodia calls on the international community to name this aggression for what it is, to uphold international law, and to assume its responsibilities.

Phnom Penh Post