ASEAN chief urges Thailand, Cambodia to deepen diplomacy
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- Kao Kim Hourn urged Thailand and Cambodia to step up diplomatic engagement during a meeting with regional media at the 10th ASEAN Media Forum in Manila.
- The ASEAN Secretary-General noted that the 2025 conflict displaced people on both sides of the border and that "the issue remains" despite a ceasefire being in place.
- The Putrajaya Peace Accord was reached in July 2025 during Malaysia's ASEAN chairship and was supported by US President Donald Trump, with an immediate ceasefire brokered on July 28, 2025, by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
- At a Special ASEAN Ministers' Meeting on December 22, 2025, in Kuala Lumpur, Thailand and Cambodia agreed that military authorities would hold discussions before the ceasefire agreement officially took effect on December 27, 2025.
- Kao also outlined ASEAN's major milestones and key deliverables under the Philippines' Chairship of ASEAN in 2026 during the same forum session.
Why it matters: ASEAN's frontline mediation — the July 2025 Putrajaya Accord and the December 2025 Special Ministers' Meeting — has produced ceasefires but not settlement, leaving displaced populations on both sides of the Thailand-Cambodia border in limbo. Kao's call for intensified diplomacy signals the bloc is treating the Dec 27, 2025 ceasefire as a starting point, not a resolution.
