The China Mail - Thailand and Cambodia agree to 'immediate' ceasefire

At least 47 people were killed and more than a million displaced in three weeks of fighting with artillery, tanks, drones and jets, according to official tallies.

The conflict spread to nearly every border province on both sides, shattering an earlier truce for which US President Donald Trump took credit.

"Both sides agree to an immediate ceasefire after the time of signature of this Joint Statement with effect from 12:00 hours noon (local time) on 27 December 2025," said the statement signed by the two countries' defence ministers.

The truce applies to "all types of weapons, including attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructures, and military objectives of either side, in all cases and all areas", it said.

Both sides agreed to freeze all troop movements and allow civilians living in border areas to return home as soon as possible, the statement added.

They also agreed to cooperate on demining efforts and combatting cybercrime, while Thailand is to return 18 captured Cambodian soldiers within 72 hours.

Thai Defence Minister Nattaphon Narkphanit said that initial three-day window would be an "observation period to confirm that the ceasefire is real".

In a speech Saturday morning he called the truce "a door to a peaceful resolution" of the border issue.

Oeum Raksmey, 22, who was evacuated with her family from their home near the border to a shelter in Cambodia's Siem Reap province, said she was "very happy" to hear news of the ceasefire.

"If they stop fighting from now, I am very happy so that that people can return home," she told AFP by telephone.

"But I dare not return home yet. I am still scared. I don't trust the Thai side yet."

- Broken ceasefires -

The ceasefire comes after three days of border talks announced following a crisis meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which both Cambodia and Thailand are members.

The United States and China also pushed for the neighbours to cease fighting.

The conflict stems from a territorial dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) border, where ancient temples are claimed by both sides.

Five days of fighting between the two countries in July killed dozens of people before a truce was brokered by the United States, China and Malaysia.

Trump witnessed the signing of an expanded agreement between Thailand and Cambodia in October, but it was broken within months.

Each side blamed the other for instigating the fresh fighting this month and traded accusations of attacks on civilians.

At least 25 Thai soldiers and one Thai civilian were killed in the latest round of clashes, officials said.

Cambodia, which is outgunned and outspent by Bangkok's military, said 21 civilians were killed but reported no military deaths -- even as the wife of its leader Hun Manet attended a funeral of troops killed in the fighting, according to an official Facebook post.

- 'Final signing' -

The fighting was still raging on Friday, with Cambodia accusing Thailand of intensifying its bombardment of disputed border areas and Thai media reporting overnight Cambodian attacks.

The contested temples are claimed by both nations because of a vague demarcation made by Cambodia's French colonial administrators in 1907.

Those demarcations will still need to be resolved following the ceasefire.

But Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul sounded an upbeat note Friday night, announcing that the two countries' defence ministers would meet the following day and potentially sign a truce.

"You can trust Thailand. We always uphold our agreements and commitments. Let this be the final signing, so that peace can be restored and our people can return home," he said.

General elections are scheduled to take place in Thailand on February 8.

A.Sun--ThChM