The Royal Thai Armed Forces has denied claims by Cambodia that Thai troops violated its sovereignty and territorial integrity by digging trenches and making other incursions on its soil.
The Thai side had not respected agreements and had even escalated its activities, contrary to the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU 2000) between the two countries, the Ministry of National Defence said in a report published by the Khmer Times.
The Thai side has flown many drones, dug trenches, mobilised and increased various types of support weapons, built infrastructure and deployed additional troops along the border in Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey provinces, the ministry claimed.
It described the moves as posing “a serious threat to the peace and security of the two nations”.
In response, Rear Adm Surasant Kongsiri, an RTAF deputy spokesman, said the Thai military adheres to international protocols, saying all actions were strictly in line with the MoU 2000.
As well, he said, all these activities were conducted within Thailand’s sovereign territory.
The improvement of various areas and the operations of military forces in those zones, he said, were standard military practices, which required development to strengthen security.
As for the impact of Cambodia’s ban on the import of agricultural products from Thailand, Rear Adm Surasant said the Ministry of Commerce was trying to ease the impact by coordinating the redistribution to local supermarket chains of products originally destined for export.
The Thai embassy in Phnom Penh is also maintaining close contact with Thai nationals living in the Cambodian capital to ensure their safety, he said.