Thailand and Cambodia Implement Ceasefire With ASEAN Oversight

Overview

• Defense ministers signed a joint declaration making the truce effective at 12:00 local time on December 27 after days of negotiations.
• Measures freeze current military positions, enable safe returns for border residents, initiate demining and police cooperation, and set a 72‑hour pathway for Thailand to release 18 Cambodian soldiers.
• ASEAN observers will monitor compliance, and China says it is steering follow‑up diplomacy by hosting the countries’ foreign ministers in Yunnan to consolidate the agreement.
• Official tallies diverge, with reports ranging from about 47 to 101 deaths and from hundreds of thousands to roughly one million people displaced in December’s fighting.
• Competing accounts persist over recent strikes, including a Cambodian claim of Thai F‑16 bombing on December 26 that Thai media reports contradicted.