The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched diplomatic action under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (Ottawa Convention) after three recent landmine incidents injured Thai military personnel, allegedly from mines newly planted by Cambodian forces.
The incidents took place on July 16, July 23, and August 9, 2025, in the Chong Bok and Chong An Ma areas of Ubon Ratchathani Province, and in the Chong Don Ao–Krisana area of Kantharalak District, Si Sa Ket Province. Eleven soldiers were seriously injured.
In response, the Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations Office in Geneva submitted three separate letters to the President-designate of the 22nd Meeting of the States Parties to the Ottawa Convention.
The July 23 letter accused Cambodian forces of violating Article 1 of the Convention during a routine patrol in the Chong Bok area, citing evidence of a recently planted PMN-2 mine, a type held by Cambodia. Thailand requested the matter be circulated to all States Parties.
The July 24 letter reported a second violation in the Chong An Ma area and further accused Cambodia of launching indiscriminate armed attacks on Thai territory the same morning, breaching Thailand’s sovereignty and international law, including the UN Charter.
The August 9 letter detailed a third violation in the Chong Don Ao–Krisana area, a zone previously cleared of mines. The discovery came just two days after an Extraordinary General Border Committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur, where Thailand had proposed joint demining operations, a proposal Cambodia rejected.
Separately, on July 24, the Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations in New York wrote to the UN Secretary-General, invoking Article 8(2) of the Convention to request clarification from Cambodia. Under this provision, Cambodia is required to respond through the UN Secretary-General.
Thai envoys in Geneva and New York have also raised the matter with senior officials from multiple States Parties, the Ottawa Convention’s Committee on Cooperative Compliance, and civil society groups, urging appropriate measures. The diplomatic process remains ongoing.
The Ottawa Convention bans the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines, requiring their destruction. It has 165 States Parties.
Thailand, the first Southeast Asian country to join in 1999, destroyed all stockpiled mines in 2003 and those retained for training in 2019. Cambodia joined in 2000 but still holds anti-personnel mines, including PMN-2 models, for research and training purposes.
