Thailand’s armed forces said they are fully prepared to carry out a “high-level operation” if necessary to defend the country’s sovereignty, marking their most forceful response yet in an ongoing border dispute with Cambodia that flared up again after a deadly confrontation last week.
The army said in a statement late on Thursday that its intelligence gathering indicated Cambodia had stepped up its military readiness at their border while diplomatic efforts were ongoing, describing that as “worrisome”.
The statement was in sharp contrast with one from the government just hours earlier, when it urged Cambodia to positively engage in dialogue via an existing mechanism between them.
Tensions reignited last week after a Cambodian patrol allegedly crossed into Thai territory, resulting in an exchange of gunfire that left at least one soldier dead and several others injured.
‘High-Level Operation’
“The army is now ready for a high-level military operation in case it is necessary to retaliate against the violation of sovereignty,” it said, ahead of a meeting of its armed forces top brass scheduled for Friday.
“Operations of units at the border have been conducted carefully, calmly and based on an understanding of the situation to prevent losses on all sides, but at the same time, are ready to defend the country’s sovereignty to the fullest extent if the situation is called for.”
Cambodia’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Thai military statement on Friday.
The governments of the two countries had for days exchanged carefully worded statements committing to dialogue after a brief skirmish in an undemarcated border area on May 28 in which a Cambodian soldier was killed.
Although the two countries have a historic rivalry, their governments enjoy friendly ties, partly due to the close relationship between their influential former leaders, Thailand’s Thaksin Shinawatra and Cambodia’s Hun Sen, whose daughter and son respectively are now the prime ministers in their countries.
(With inputs from Reuters)
