Eighteen Cambodian soldiers have been repatriated after spending more than five months in detention in Thailand.
The soldiers crossed back into Cambodia at around 10am local time on Wednesday through a prominent border checkpoint linking Pailin province in western Cambodia with Thailand’s Chanthaburi.
The Prum-Ban Pak Kard Permanent Border Checkpoint remains the only operational crossing since fighting erupted along the border earlier this year.
The men were among 20 Cambodian troops captured on 29 July in their trenches in Preah Vihear province, just hours after a ceasefire was signed a day earlier by the prime ministers of Cambodia and Thailand in Kuala Lumpur following five days of intense fighting.
Two of the soldiers were released shortly afterwards due to serious health and psychiatric conditions, leaving 18 in Thai custody.
“The repatriation of the 18 Cambodian soldiers was undertaken as a demonstration of goodwill and confidence-building, as well as in adherence to international humanitarian principles,” Thailand’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Cambodia’s defence ministry said the release “creates an environment conducive to peace, stability, and the full normalisation of relations for the benefit of both nations and their people in the near future”.
The release of the Cambodian soldiers followed a renewed ceasefire agreement reached over the weekend after meeting with China’s foreign ministry officials – which halted nearly 20 days of renewed hostilities that had killed at least 101 people and displaced more than 500,000 civilians on both sides of the border.
The fighting included air strikes, rocket fire and heavy artillery exchanges.
Cambodia’s defence ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata confirmed the timing of the transfer, saying the soldiers were handed over after spending 155 days in detention. Battambang provincial governor Sok Lou hailed the returning troops as “heroic soldiers” as they were welcomed home by officials and members of the public.
The latest ceasefire comes after an earlier truce brokered by US president Donald Trump and Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim collapsed earlier this month, leading to a fresh surge in violence along the disputed frontier.
The return of the detained soldiers is widely seen as a confidence-building measure that could help stabilise the fragile ceasefire and open the door to further diplomatic engagement between Cambodia and Thailand.
