After a five-day conflict along the Cambodia-Thailand border killed dozens of people, including civilians, and displaced more than 260,000 others, negotiations led by Malaysia and bolstered by United States economic pressure led to a ceasefire in late July 2025.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the truce alongside Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai in Putrajaya, near Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is the 2025 chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Cambodia and Thailand. “This is a vital first step towards de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security,” Ibrahim said, according to Reuters news agency.
Military leaders from both sides vowed to uphold the agreement, halt troop movements and repatriate victims of the violence. Displaced residents began returning home, and Cambodian and Thai military leaders in early August reiterated their commitment to honor the ceasefire, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
Washington helped arrange the meeting that engendered the truce, with U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia Edgard D. Kagan attending, The New York Times newspaper reported.
“The U.S. really pushed for the meeting,” a Thai official told Reuters. “We want a peaceful solution to the conflict, so we had to show good faith and accept.”
U.S. President Donald Trump had said the U.S. could suspend trade negotiations with Bangkok and Phnom Penh unless the combatants stood down. The economic pressure gave both sides a reason to stop hostilities, observers said.
A durable diplomatic settlement remains the only way to resolve the nations’ decades-long border dispute and ensure long-term peace, Australia’s Lowy Institute think tank stated.
The latest fighting began after a land mine exploded along the border in July, wounding five Thai Soldiers. That followed a May clash in a disputed area that left a Cambodian troop dead.
The border dispute has sparked sporadically since the 1950s. A 2008-11 confrontation also centered on part of the disputed 800-kilometer-long border, which includes ancient temples claimed by both countries. It ended when the nations, facing a United Nations Security Council mandate, agreed to a ceasefire.
