Landmine dispute escalates tensions between Thailand and Cambodia

Audio By Carbonatix

BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand has accused Cambodia of placing landmines in a disputed border area after three soldiers were injured, but Phnom Penh denied the claim and said the soldiers had veered off agreed routes and triggered a mine left behind from decades of war.

Thai authorities said the three soldiers were injured, with one losing a foot, by a landmine while on a patrol on July 16 on the Thai side of the disputed border area between Ubon Ratchathani and Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province.

Cambodia’s foreign ministry denied that new mines had been planted, and said in a statement on Monday night that the Thai soldiers deviated from agreed patrol routes into Cambodian territory and into areas that contain unexploded landmines. The country is littered with landmines laid during decades of war.

“The Royal Government of Cambodia categorically denies these baseless and unfounded allegations,” the ministry said. It added the country was fully committed to the Ottawa Convention, an international agreement banning antipersonnel landmines.

On Monday, the Thai army said that 10 freshly laid Russian-made PMN-2 type landmines, which are not used or stockpiled by Thailand, were found between July 18 and July 20 in areas near where the soldiers were injured.

“This is a clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Thailand and an outright breach of principles that are fundamental to international law,” Maratee Nalita Andamo, deputy spokesperson for the Thai Foreign Ministry, said on Monday in Bangkok.

Figures from the Cambodia Mine Action Centre, which estimates there are still 4 to 6 million landmines scattered across the country, show five people were killed and a dozen injured by mines and unexploded ordnance in Cambodia in the first four months of 2025.

The area where the Thai soldiers were injured is near where a Cambodian soldier was killed in May after a brief exchange of gunfire between troops on both sides. 

The shooting has since flared into a broader diplomatic dispute between the Southeast Asian neighbours that has destabilised the Thai government and seen the Prime Minister suspended from office.

Thailand said it will issue a formal condemnation and call for accountability from Cambodia for breaching the landmine treaty, and the army will also increase vigilance during border patrols.   

Cambodia said the landmine incident showed the need for both countries to settle the border dispute at the International Court of Justice.

Bangkok has previously said it has never recognised the court’s jurisdiction on the issue and prefers to settle the dispute through bilateral mechanisms.

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by John Mair)