Thailand is preparing to take legal action against Cambodian prime minister Hun Manet and his father, Hun Sen, for allegedly violating Thai sovereignty.
Thailand’s acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, announced on Monday that the National Security Council has resolved to sue the present and former Cambodian leaders in Thai courts for directing the military to infringe the borders.
Cambodia and Thailand agreed a ceasefire late last month after an armed conflict between the two neighbours left more than 40 people dead and displaced over 260,000 others.
Mr Phumtham said the Thai government will take legal action to address Cambodia’s military aggression even as negotiations to find a long-term agreement to the two countries’ border dispute continue.
However he clarified that the case would be heard domestically under Thai law as Thailand does not recognise the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
“We are preparing to sue Cambodia, including its leaders, for violating Thailand’s sovereignty through the use of military force and weapons, which has affected Thai lives and property,” Mr Phumtham said, according to Khmer Times.
He said the Cambodian leaders would be arrested if they entered Thailand.
The acting prime minister justified the measures, calling them necessary and appropriate to address attacks on Thai citizens and public property. He argued that failure to act could open officials up to charges of negligence.
The Thai Lawyers Council last week said it planned to assist victims of the military conflict through civil litigation to seek compensation.
Veerasak Chotiwanich, the deputy secretary-general of the council, said the body was encouraging citizens affected by the clashes to provide evidence for class-action lawsuits against the Cambodian government.
Border negotiations between the two Southeast Asian neighbours are scheduled to continue at the Thai-Cambodian Regional Border Committee meeting on 27 August and later at the General Border Committee meeting in Cambodia in September.
The clashes in July saw both sides trade artillery fire and air strikes along contested stretches of their 817km border. It was their deadliest border conflict in more than a decade.
The violence began at a flashpoint near the ancient Ta Moan Thom temple in Thailand’s Surin province, and quickly spread to other disputed areas. Cambodian officials accused Thailand of launching air strikes and dropping bombs on roads inside its territory.
Thailand blamed Cambodia for laying new landmines – one of which injured a Thai soldier and prompted a swift military response, including the deployment of F-16 fighter jets.
The latest conflict was preceded by escalating tensions over a Cambodian soldier’s killing during a confrontation in May.
A truce, brokered by Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, was reached on 28 July after US president Donald Trump said he had spoken to the leaders on both sides.
