Cambodia will not outmaneuver Thailand at GBC meeting - Thai acting defence minister

Deputy Defence Minister Nattaphon Nakpanich offered an assurance today that Thailand will not be outmaneuvered in talks with Cambodia during the secretariat-level meeting of the General Border Committee (GBC) in Malaysia.

He noted, though, that he was somewhat surprised that the Cambodian secretariat team did not make any proposal at the meeting, which entered its second day today, while their Thai counterparts made an eight-point proposal.

He did not fully elaborate on the details of the Thai proposal, but said that one of the items concerned the movement of Cambodian troops close to the border, despite the ceasefire agreement.

The deputy defence minister said he was informed by a member of the Thai GBC secretariat that they found it unsurprising that Cambodia did not offer any proposals.

Explaining the meeting’s procedures, he said that, of the eight items proposed by the Thai side, only those agreed to by its Cambodian counterpart could be forwarded to the main GBC meeting this Thursday.

Gen Nattaphon said he is not concerned that Cambodia may breach the ceasefire agreement, if the GBC meeting fails to produce a positive result, pointing out that the meeting will be closely watched by observers present from the United States and China.