Thailand has formally submitted its response to Cambodia’s 2 June notification to enter compulsory conciliation proceedings over their maritime boundary dispute under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), reaffirming its preference for maritime delimitation over joint development.

Thailand has formally appointed two former presidents of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea as its conciliators for its maritime dispute proceedings with Cambodia. The move marks the latest step in a compulsory conciliation process that emerged after Thailand moved to terminate the maritime MoU that had long served as the framework for bilateral negotiations. Prachatai brings together the key facts on how Thailand's push to scrap the maritime MoU with Cambodia led the two countries to compulsory conciliation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

It has become clear that the Thailand-Cambodia maritime demarcation dispute will be subject to an international mechanism as Cambodia has recently invoked UN-backed compulsory conciliation in response to Thailand’s unilateral cancellation of a 25-year-old maritime MoU. Here’s all you need to know about the long-standing maritime dispute and the compulsory conciliation process.

Military conscription law in Cambodia has once again come under global media attention after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet stated that the Cabinet had approved a draft conscription law at the Peace Palace on 23 April 2026. All Cambodian citizens aged 18–25 will be required to serve in the military, while women may be recruited on a voluntary basis under the new law. A Thai activist calls it a threat to democracy.

Thailand’s decision to terminate the 2001 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Cambodia on maritime claims in the Gulf of Thailand may satisfy long-standing domestic political demands, but the harder challenge lies ahead. The legal, diplomatic, and political consequences that follow could prove significantly more complex than the act of cancellation itself.

Thailand has resolved to unilaterally cancel the 2001 maritime MoU with Cambodia, moving forward with international mechanisms to address the maritime disputes. Cambodia swiftly responded, reaffirming its commitment to pursue “compulsory conciliation” under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

On 30 April 2026, the Phnom Penh Court of Appeal upheld the politically motivated conviction of the Cambodian political opposition leader Kem Sokha, Human Rights Watch said today (30 April). The court extended Sokha’s de-facto house arrest and 27-year sentence that had been imposed in March 2023 and added an additional five-year ban on international travel. Cambodian authorities should immediately quash the conviction and release Sokha from custody.

A new investigation by Amnesty International shows that a dozen casinos in Cambodia are directly linked to scamming compounds where torture, forced labour, child labour and human trafficking have taken place.

16 media organizations and civil society organizations have issued a joint statement demanding that the Cambodian government release and drop charges against two journalists, Phorn Sopheap and Pheap Pheara, who were sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges of supplying a foreign state with information prejudicial to national defence.

CIVICUS, a global civil society alliance, calls for the immediate release of five detained Mother Nature Cambodia environmental rights defenders charged with “plotting against the state” and “insulting the King” due to their peaceful environmental advocacy. 

Amnesty International calls on both Thailand and Cambodia to protect civilians from further risks amidst renewed hostilities along the border.

Cambodian authorities have arbitrarily arrested and charged at least 16 people for expressing their views on social media about the Thai-Cambodia border conflict in July and August 2025, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday (5 November).