Thailand-Cambodia border talks enter second day as clashes ease

BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH -- Thailand's military announced on Thursday that border negotiations with Cambodia have entered the second day, with overall clashes along the frontier showing a downward trend.

According to Thai media reports, the secretariat meeting of the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) kicked off at around 9:00 am local time on the Thai side of the border in Chanthaburi province.

Around 30 Cambodian delegates attended the meeting, while Malaysian members of the ASEAN observer team in Thailand also presented.

In a press briefing held on Thursday, a Thai military spokesperson stated that the intensity of border skirmishes between the two countries has generally decreased, with exchanges of fire remaining confined to localized areas.

Separately, Thailand's 2nd Army Area Command reported on Thursday that two Thai soldiers were injured by a landmine while conducting demining operations in the Ta Kwai Temple area.

Meanwhile, another Cambodian civilian was killed during the conflict on Thursday, raising the civilian death toll in Cambodia to 31, said a press release from the Cambodian Ministry of Defense.

The secretariat meeting will be held from Wednesday to Friday, and if these preliminary discussions proceed smoothly, they will be followed by a meeting between the defense ministers of both nations on Saturday, said Thai Ministry of Defence spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri on Wednesday.