Background
The Ministry of National Defence reported that on 7 October 2026 at 10:24 a.m. the Cambodian Liaison Group (CLG) facilitated a field visit by the ASEAN Observer Team in Cambodia to observe and report on the Cambodia–Thailand border at the An Ses checkpoint in Choam Ksan Commune, Preah Vihear Province.
Since the ceasefire on 27 December 2025, Cambodian authorities reported that 1,114 civilians (357 families), including 711 women and 597 children, have remained unable to return to their homes in the An Ses area. The ministry’s statement identified activities in the An Ses area that it described as including deployment of shipping containers, laying of barbed wire, trench-digging, construction of fortifications, destruction of infrastructure and houses, and alleged illegal occupation of Cambodian territory.
Key Developments
On 7 October 2026 the CLG escorted the ASEAN Observer Team in Cambodia (AOT-KH) to the An Ses border checkpoint to observe, verify, and report on reported incidents along the frontier with Thailand. The ministry’s press release repeats prior allegations that Thai military actions have continued in the area since the December 2025 ceasefire and that affected civilians remain displaced. The statement reiterates Cambodia’s invocation of the Indochina–Siam Boundary Commission records and the principle of the intangibility of inherited borders (Uti Possidetis Juris) in asserting its position on the boundary line.
Institutional Role
The Cambodian Liaison Group (CLG) functions as the domestic military coordination entity named in the press release that facilitates access for external observers to border sites. The ASEAN Observer Team in Cambodia (AOT-KH) is presented in the statement as an external monitoring mechanism tasked with observing and reporting on conditions along the Cambodia–Thailand boundary. The Cambodia–Thailand General Border Committee (GBC) is referenced as the bilateral mechanism whose Third Special Meeting joint statement (27 December 2025) and related instruments guide Cambodia’s official approach to border management and dispute resolution.
Policy Context
The ministry reaffirmed Cambodia’s stated legal posture that boundary determinations established by the Indochina–Siam Boundary Commission, relevant Franco–Siamese conventions and treaties, and recorded procès-verbaux remain the reference instruments for the international boundary. The statement also reiterated that Cambodia does not recognize any territorial changes that result from the use of force and reaffirmed commitment to implement the Joint Declaration on the Peace Agreement of 26 October 2025 and other bilateral agreements cited in the release.
