BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH, May 30 (NNN-TNA/AKP) – The Thai and Cambodian armies, agreed yesterday, to withdraw troops from a disputed border area, where a brief exchange of gunfire took place on Wednesday, the Thai army said in a statement.
The agreement was reached after a meeting between Thai Army chief, Phana Klaewplodthuk and the commander of the Royal Cambodian Army, Mao Sophan, at the Chong Chom border crossing, a border checkpoint in Thailand’s north-eastern province of Surin, said the statement.
According to Thai Army spokesperson, Winthai Suvaree, commanders of the two armies also agreed to use the Joint Boundary Committee (JBC), a bilateral government-level framework, to expedite the resolution of border disputes.
Meanwhile, a statement from the Royal Cambodian Army said, the meeting between commanders of the two armies lasted 45 minutes at a border checkpoint.
“The two sides will continue to resolve the situation through all existing mechanisms, such as the Joint Boundary Committee, the Cambodia-Thailand General Boundary Committee, and the Memorandum of Understanding in 2000, on the Measurement and Demarcation of the Cambodia-Thailand Land Border,” it said.
Both sides will exercise restraint and resolve all issues through the JBC, which will be held within the next few weeks, it added.– NNN-TNA/AKP
