Deputy Prime Minister and Protection Minister Phumtham Wechayachai has additionally referred to as an pressing Nationwide Safety Council assembly on June 6 to arrange countermeasures.
On June 4, Phumtham visited Suranaree Job Pressure in Ubon Ratchathani, receiving briefings earlier than touring by highway to Statement Base 500 (Emerald Triangle). At this key hotspot, Main Common Sompop Pharawet, commander of the Suranaree Job Pressure, confirmed proof of Cambodian navy encroachment roughly 200 metres into Thai territory from Chong Bok Ton Satabann to Lao Intersection.
Notably, Main Common Sompop led the operation that expelled Cambodian troops from this very space in 2011 — an operation that left a number of Thai troopers wounded or lifeless. Now, veterans of that mission are reportedly distraught to see Cambodian forces reoccupy the land.
The rising stress on the land border has even spilled over to Ko Kut Island in Trat Province, as former Cambodian opposition chief Sam Rainsy proposed that Cambodia take the dispute to the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice — not just for land border areas but in addition together with Ko Kut.
This space falls below the accountability of the Royal Thai Navy’s Ko Kut Operations Unit, which additionally oversees contested maritime zones that embrace oil and fuel assets claimed by each nations.
The Navy has been monitoring exercise at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, the place a live-fire naval drill is scheduled between June 11–13 round Poulo Wai and Tung Islands close to Preah Sihanouk. That is the primary such train in over two years.
Analysts see the drill as a present of pressure and maritime readiness, geared toward boosting Cambodian nationalist sentiment and demonstrating the Navy’s rising capabilities.
Admiral Natthaphon Diewwanich, Commander of the Royal Thai Fleet, acknowledged, “We’re getting ready to designate Ko Kut — a disputed space — as a particular activity pressure zone to assist peace negotiations. On the identical time, we’re amassing intelligence from the Cambodian naval workout routines involving dwell ammunition.”
Although the state of affairs round Ko Kut stays calm for now, whether or not land-based tensions will lengthen to the maritime entrance stays unsure. The Royal Thai Navy is reviewing its disaster response protocols and has ordered all fleets to be on standby for attainable activation below a joint operations heart.
If Cambodia makes an attempt to grab maritime areas the identical means it has on land, such motion is unlikely to succeed — as Cambodia’s naval energy stays considerably inferior to Thailand’s.
In sum, two main disputes — land on the Chong Bok checkpoint and maritime rights close to Ko Kut — are unfolding in parallel with 4 politically important occasions in Thailand linked by the dates 11, 12, 13, and 14, forming an eerily interconnected timeline.
