KhmerTimes-Sept 11, 2026
Cambodia and Thailand will begin a new phase of efforts to resolve their long-running maritime differences next week, with a conciliation commission established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) set to hold its first meeting with the two countries in Singapore on Monday to Wednesday. The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) announced that the Conciliation Commission constituted under Annex V of UNCLOS will hold the meeting, according to a statement from Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Cambodia welcomed the meeting as an important step in the peaceful process to resolve the two countries’ maritime differences, the ministry said. Cambodia will be represented by Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Prak Sokhonn. His deputy is Lam Chea, Minister in Charge of the State Secretariat of Border Affairs, according to the ministry. The opening statements by both parties will take place Tuesday, 8am Cambodia time. They will be webcast live in Khmer, English and Thai. Sokhonn will deliver Cambodia’s opening statement. The ministry said the meeting marks another milestone in the peaceful process initiated by Cambodia to resolve the countries’ maritime differences. Cambodia resorted to compulsory conciliation after Thailand unilaterally terminated the agreed bilateral framework under which the two countries had negotiated their overlapping maritime claims for more than two decades.
Under Annex V of UNCLOS, compulsory conciliation is a non-adjudicatory process in which a neutral commission assists the parties in seeking an amicable settlement, the ministry said. The mechanism had previously been used successfully by Timor-Leste and Australia, whose conciliation process culminated in the signing of a treaty establishing their maritime boundary in 2018. Cambodia hopes the process can similarly help the two countries reach a fair and lasting resolution of their maritime differences, including potentially unlocking oil and gas resources for the benefit of both countries at a critical time for regional energy security, the ministry said. Thailand has said it is fully prepared to participate in the first meeting and will do so on the basis of international law, according to a statement from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Thai delegation will be led by Foreign Affairs Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow with Thai Ambassador to Kuwait Songchai Chaipatiyut, as the deputy. Read more at:
