Thailand, Cambodia spar over landmine use

Thailand has accused Cambodia of planting landmines in disputed border areas, threatening the fragile peace following last month’s deadly border clashes.

Thailand and Cambodia may have stopped fighting following last month’s deadly border clashes, but tensions between the two Southeast Asian nations remain high.

The five days of cross-border combat in July, involving ground troops, artillery and jets, killed at least 43 and displaced over 300,000 civilians.

Both sides agreed to a ceasefire deal brokered by Malaysia, China and the United States. The peace pact came into effect on July 29.

Thailand and Cambodia have since traded allegations of truce-breaking skirmishes, but both nations declared they will prolong the ceasefire.

‘It is unacceptable’

The Southeast Asian neighbors have a long-running border dispute that goes back over a century. July’s fighting was sparked by Thailand’s claims that Cambodia planted landmines that wounded its troops.

Even after the ceasefire, landmines remain a major point of contention between the two neighbors, with Thai authorities accusing Cambodia of continuing to plant explosive devices in the region.

“In less than one month, there’s already five incidents of landmine explosions that have caused severe casualties and injuries to our soldiers. Five of them lost their legs. It is unacceptable,” Thailand’s Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa told reporters at a briefing in Ubon Ratchatani, near the Cambodian border, on August 16.

The Thai military and Foreign Ministry arranged several trips for foreign media, including DW, to present material supporting their claims.

Thai authorities say they have discovered over a dozen freshly laid PMN-2 type landmines in their territory bordering Cambodia this month.

“For Thai people, landmines are really cruel. Sometimes landmines not kill people, they cut off their legs making it painful for their whole life,” Captain Pakapron Sawangpiean of the Thai military told DW.

Soldiers from both sides threatened

Sergeant Tanee Paha is a Thai soldier who lost his leg after after stepping on a mine.

He was a machine gun commander who worked on the frontline of the conflict.

“On the day I stepped on the landmine, we were patrolling to find a spot to lay barbed wire for a new patrol route. I stepped on it and it exploded. Two of my men were also injured,” he said.

The sergeant is now recovering at a hospital in Ubon Ratchatani.

“Planting landmines on patrol routes is unacceptable because soldiers from both sides patrol along the route,” he added.

Mark S. Cogan, associate professor of peace and conflict studies at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan, said both countries need to be transparent.

“The issue for both sides is communication, in line with what was penned, where each country reports to the Thai-Cambodian Regional Border Committee. The danger is that recent meetings have become contentious and a venue for airing of grievances,” he underlined.

People in border villages remain concerned

The fighting in July forced hundreds of thousands of people in border areas to flee.

Many Thai villagers remain concerned about the situation.

Boon Thongleung and her family have stayed put at a makeshift evacuation center due to the landmine threat.

“Because of the landmines, we can’t forage,” she said.

“Even if this conflict ends, it will take like one or two months to clear the land. That means we can’t find wild products to sell. Even if the landmines are cleared, we can’t be sure if it is really safe to go,” Thongleung told DW.

Thai Foreign Minister Maris is visiting Geneva this week to persuade the international community to put pressure on Cambodia over the landmine dispute.

Both Thailand and Cambodia are parties to the Ottawa Convention, which came into force in 1999 and bans the production and use of anti-personnel landmines.

Cambodia meanwhile, has dismissed Thailand’s allegations.

“Cambodia rejects Thailand’s claim of new land mines being planted,” said Ou Virak, director of Future Forum, a Phnom Penh-based think-tank focusing on public policy.

He told DW that most people in Cambodia believe and support their government on this issue.

“Cambodians generally aren’t questioning these reasons or claims and counter claims. Most people are likely believing the Cambodian government on this. I don’t think it has any impact on the country unless there’s renewed fighting,” he added.

Cambodia’s Defense Ministry did not reply to DW’s query for further comment on the Thai claims.

A major stumbling block

Tita Sanglee, an associate fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said the landmine issue was “a major hurdle to peace efforts.”

“From the Thai perspective, the fact that Thai soldiers are still being injured by mines after the ceasefire signals insincerity on the Cambodian side,” she told DW.

“The mines appear to be in deploy-ready condition, which weakens Cambodia’s claim that they are decades old and worn out. Every new Thai injury fuels domestic frustration and puts pressure on the military to respond,” she added.

Cambodia, meanwhile, argues that the mines, even if newly laid, are inside the Cambodian territory, so Thai soldiers wouldn’t have gotten injured had they not been encroaching, Sanglee noted.

“That reflects a clear sovereignty angle and the complex border demarcation, which, objectively speaking, remains under dispute,” she said.

!But one can understand that from Cambodia’s perspective, as a smaller and militarily weaker country seeking to guard its claims, minefields serve as a tactical deterrent to Thai troop movements.”/DW/