Thailand denies Trump ceasefire claim as clashes with Cambodia continue at borderNEWS | 13 December 2025Thailand’s caretaker prime minister has denied the existence of a ceasefire with Cambodia, despite Donald Trump announcing that both countries had agreed to halt fighting.
As heavy clashes continued along the border between the two countries, Thai prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Saturday that Thailand had not agreed to a ceasefire with Cambodia and that its forces would continue fighting. Cambodia, meanwhile, announced it had suspended all border crossings with Thailand.
Thai forces carried out strikes, including with fighter jets, while Cambodia fired rocket barrages along the border area on Saturday. The Thai army announced that at least two civilians had been seriously injured by Cambodian fire while running to a bunker.
The latest round of fighting was triggered by a clash on 7 December that wounded two Thai soldiers and appeared to violate an earlier ceasefire promoted by Trump that ended similar fighting in July. About two dozen people have been reportedly killed over the past week and hundreds of thousands have been displaced on both sides of the border.
Trump’s ceasefire announcement on Friday was met with a tepid reaction by leaders from both countries. Thai officials said they had not agreed to a ceasefire while Cambodia has not commented on Trump’s announcement.
Thailand foreign minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said that Trump’s remarks did not reflect “an accurate understanding of the situation”.
“We regret and we’re disappointed that some of the points made by president Trump have bearing upon the feeling of the Thai people, Thailand, because we consider ourselves – we are proud, in fact – to be the oldest treaty ally of the United States in the region,” he said.
Trump announced the agreement to restart the July ceasefire in a social media posting after calls with the Thai prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, and the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Manet.
“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” the US president said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
But neither the Thai nor the Cambodian leaders referenced the agreement in statements issued after the call, and Anutin said there was no ceasefire and that peace would depend on Cambodia ending its attacks first. When asked about Trump’s claim, Thailand’s foreign ministry referred reporters to his statement.
View image in fullscreen Thai prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul speaks during a press conference after his call with Donald Trump. Photograph: Chanakarn Laosarakham/AFP/Getty Images
In a statement on Saturday on Facebook, Manet did not mention the ceasefire, but instead referred to the call with Trump and said Cambodia continued to seek a peaceful resolution in line with an earlier agreement signed in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in October.
Still, Manet said he advised the US and Malaysia to use their intelligence gathering capabilities to “verify which side fired first” in the latest round of fighting.
Thailand’s prime minister said Thai forces had “retaliated” against Cambodian military targets.
“Thailand will continue to perform military actions until we feel no more harm and threats to our land and people,” Anutin Charnvirakul said in a Facebook post.
The original ceasefire in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through after pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalised in more detail at the October regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
Malaysian prime minister Ibrahim urged both countries to once again cease hostilities on Saturday.
Despite the deal, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued .
The roots of the Thai-Cambodian border conflict lie in a history of enmity over competing territorial claims. These claims largely stem from a 1907 map created while Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand maintains is inaccurate. Tensions were exacerbated by a 1962 international court of justice ruling that awarded sovereignty to Cambodia, which still riles many Thais.
Thailand has deployed jet fighters to carry out airstrikes on what it says are military targets. Cambodia has deployed BM-21 rocket launchers with a range of 30-40km (19-25 miles). The rockets are imprecise have a wide area of impact, with most landing in areas that have already been evacuated.
According to data collected by public broadcaster ThaiPBS, at least six of the Thai soldiers who were killed were hit by rocket shrapnel.
The Thai army’s northeastern regional command said on Thursday that some residential areas and homes near the border were damaged by BM-21 rocket launchers from Cambodian forces.
The Thai army also said it destroyed a tall crane atop a hill held by Cambodia where the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple is located, because it allegedly held electronic and optical devices used for military command and control purposes.Author: William Christou. Source
