ASEANEWS HEADLINE-MARITIME ZONE | Cambodia and Thailand to start maritime conciliation talks in Singapore next week

Synopsis: Two nations begin a UN-backed process on Monday to address overlapping maritime claims following the termination of a bilateral agreement.

Cambodia and Thailand will begin a new phase of efforts to resolve their long-running maritime differences next week, with a conciliation commission established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) set to hold its first meeting with the two countries in Singapore on Monday to Wednesday.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) announced that the Conciliation Commission constituted under Annex V of UNCLOS will hold the meeting, according to a statement from Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Cambodia welcomed the meeting as an important step in the peaceful process to resolve the two countries’ maritime differences, the ministry said.

Cambodia will be represented by Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Prak Sokhonn. His deputy is Lam Chea, Minister in Charge of the State Secretariat of Border Affairs, according to the ministry.

The opening statements by both parties will take place Tuesday, 8am Cambodia time. They will be webcast live in Khmer, English and Thai. Sokhonn will deliver Cambodia’s opening statement.

The ministry said the meeting marks another milestone in the peaceful process initiated by Cambodia to resolve the countries’ maritime differences. Cambodia resorted to compulsory conciliation after Thailand unilaterally terminated the agreed bilateral framework under which the two countries had negotiated their overlapping maritime claims for more than two decades.

Under Annex V of UNCLOS, compulsory conciliation is a non-adjudicatory process in which a neutral commission assists the parties in seeking an amicable settlement, the ministry said. The mechanism had previously been used successfully by Timor-Leste and Australia, whose conciliation process culminated in the signing of a treaty establishing their maritime boundary in 2018.

Cambodia hopes the process can similarly help the two countries reach a fair and lasting resolution of their maritime differences, including potentially unlocking oil and gas resources for the benefit of both countries at a critical time for regional energy security, the ministry said.

Thailand has said it is fully prepared to participate in the first meeting and will do so on the basis of international law, according to a statement from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Thai delegation will be led by Foreign Affairs Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow with Thai Ambassador to Kuwait Songchai Chaipatiyut, as the deputy.

Sokhonn has emphasised that the process is a rules-based, peaceful and non-confrontational diplomatic path rather than an escalation, reaffirming Cambodia’s commitment to resolving the overlapping maritime claims with Thailand through peaceful means and expressing Cambodia’s hope that both countries will achieve a fair and lasting settlement.

Representatives of Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies will also take part, including officials from the Hydrographic Department and Naval Operations Department of the Royal Thai Navy, as well as the Department of Mineral Fuels of the Ministry of Energy, according to the Thai ministry.

Thailand said the opening statements by both parties will be broadcast live on Tuesday, providing the public with an opportunity to hear the positions of the two sides in the conciliation proceedings.

The first meeting will also consider adopting the Rules of Procedure, which will establish the framework for the commission’s work and provide guidance for subsequent meetings and related proceedings, the Thai ministry said.

Thailand said it is prepared to cooperate with and support the work of the Conciliation Commission as a state party to UNCLOS. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies also remain committed to safeguarding Thailand’s national interests, according to the statement.

The upcoming proceedings are to be led by a five-member Conciliation Commission, with Australian diplomat and international lawyer Katrina Cooper serving as chair, according to previous reports. The commission’s four other members are Ambassador Peter Taksoe-Jensen of Denmark, Professor Jean-Marc Thouvenin of France, Judge Albert Hoffmann of South Africa and Judge Rüdiger Wolfrum of Germany.

Cambodia appointed Taksoe-Jensen and Thouvenin, while Thailand picked Hoffmann and Wolfrum. The four conciliators subsequently chose Cooper as chairperson following consultations with both parties.

Cooper is an experienced Australian diplomat and international lawyer with expertise in international law and negotiations. She has held senior diplomatic positions, including serving as Australia’s Ambassador to Mexico, and previously served as co-agent for Australia in compulsory conciliation proceedings under UNCLOS between Australia and Timor-Leste.

Ambassador Pou Sothirak, a retired diplomat and senior adviser to the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies, has told Khmer Times that Cambodia’s decision to pursue compulsory conciliation under UNCLOS is consistent with established international legal mechanisms and reflects the Kingdom’s status as a party to the convention.

Sothirak said the process would help protect Cambodia’s legal position in future negotiations over maritime delimitation.

“Cambodia only wants to resolve the issues peacefully. Cambodia does not want conflict or difficult problems in maritime areas,” Sothirak said, adding that anything can be settled through negotiation and diplomacy.

He noted that Thailand’s unilateral termination of the agreement may have been influenced by domestic political considerations, particularly during election campaigns when political leaders sought to demonstrate their commitment to protecting national interests.

However, he said the central issue remains the overlapping maritime claims area, rather than sovereignty over Koh Kood Island, which Thailand considers settled.

Government spokesman Pen Bona said yesterday that Cambodia welcomed the meeting following the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s announcement on September 9.

Bona said the meeting represents another step in Cambodia’s efforts to resolve its maritime differences with Thailand peacefully, following Thailand’s unilateral termination of the 2001 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), a bilateral framework that had served as the basis for negotiations on their overlapping maritime claims for more than two decades.

The Thai cabinet approved the revocation of the agreement, known in Thailand as MoU 44, on May 5, prompting Cambodia to announce it would initiate compulsory conciliation under UNCLOS to resolve the overlapping claims area.

Bona said Cambodia believes international law provides the foundation for peacefully resolving disputes between states. “Cambodia enters these proceedings in good faith and in a spirit of cooperation, with full confidence in the Conciliation Commission,” he said.

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg in July, Prime Minister Hun Manet said Cambodia turned to the UNCLOS mechanism only after Thailand unilaterally cancelled the 2001 MoU.

He said Cambodia decided to pursue compulsory conciliation after Thailand proceeded with the cancellation despite Phnom Penh’s requests for the agreement to remain in force.

“The reason why we go to the UNCLOS compulsory conciliation is because Thailand decided to cancel the only existing bilateral agreement between Cambodia and Thailand on maritime issues, the MoU 2001,” he said.

Mr Hun Manet said successive Cambodian and Thai governments had worked under the agreement for more than 15 years in an effort to resolve their maritime differences, including during the administrations of former Thai Prime Ministers Srettha Thavisin and Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

“For more than 15 years, both Cambodia and various Thai governments continued to work based on that agreement to try to find a solution, including the previous Thai prime ministers. During my time, we also tried to find solutions on joint development and other areas,” he said. “But unfortunately, after our request that Thailand not cancel the MoU 2001, the Thai government continued to cancel it anyway. So we had no choice but to go to conciliation.”

Mr Hun Manet rejected suggestions that Cambodia had previously agreed to make maritime conciliation conditional on progress in negotiations over the land border. “There were no conditions, no agreement or anything before,” he said.

On whether Cambodia would consider limiting the scope of the UNCLOS proceedings to maritime boundary delimitation rather than also pursuing discussions on joint development in the overlapping maritime areas, Mr Hun Manet said such questions were premature.

Thailand expects the conciliation process to take around 12 months, after which the commission will issue a report containing its conclusions or recommendations. The recommendations will not be binding upon either party, according to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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