By Panu Wongcha-um, Reuters
People look at a damaged bridge after Thailand carried out air strikes in an area between Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey and Siem Reap provinces on 20 December, 2025. Photo: STR / AFP
Thailand and Cambodia agreed on December 27 to halt weeks of fierce border clashes, the worst fighting in years between the Southeast Asian countries that has included fighter jets sorties, exchange of rocket fire and artillery barrages.
"Both sides agree to maintain current troop deployments without further movement," their defence ministers said in a joint statement on the ceasefire, to take effect at noon (local time).
"Any reinforcement would heighten tensions and negatively affect long-term efforts to resolve the situation," according to the statement released on social media by Cambodia's Defence Ministry.
Evacuated Thai residents gather at a temporary shelter following clashes along the Thailand-Cambodia border in Buriram province on December 8, 2025. Photo: AFP
The agreement, signed by Thai Defence Minister Natthaphon Nakrphanit and his Cambodian counterpart Tea Seiha, ended 20 days of fighting that has killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides.
The clashes were re-ignited in early December after a breakdown in a ceasefire that U.S. President Donald Trump had helped broker to halt a previous round of fighting in July.
-Reuters
