Bangkok scraps Memorandum: Halt to offshore exploration with Phnom Penh

Keeping a nationalist election promise made during the campaign, Anutin’s government has scrapped the 2001 agreement (which never got off the ground) for the joint exploitation of energy reserves in disputed maritime areas. This signals how tensions remain high despite the ceasefire in place since December. Cambodia is concerned about the intensification of Thai naval patrols.

Bangkok (AsiaNews) - The long trail of retaliatory measures that have marked the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia for a year – with peaks of outright conflict – having long involved the maritime areas between the two countries, has now extended to cooperation in joint hydrocarbon exploration in the Gulf of Thailand.

The Bangkok government has in fact announced that it has cancelled the 25-year-old agreement on cooperation in offshore energy exploration, ignoring calls from the Cambodian side to the contrary.

“The cancellation of the agreement is not linked to the border dispute with Cambodia, but is part of my policy. Twenty-five years have passed and there has been no progress,” Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul stated when announcing the news to the press.

The move is linked to an election promise made by Anutin, who was re-elected following the general election on 8 February, in which appeals to nationalist values played a key role. This was a card that Anutin had played unscrupulously, effectively allying himself with pro-monarchist and pro-military conservative movements to form a majority coalition, once again excluding the reformists who had soundly defeated his Bhumjaithai party in the capital and in most constituencies.

On the other hand, the end of the agreement aimed at promoting a regulatory framework for joint hydrocarbon exploration – in parallel with their national allocation in maritime areas where Thailand’s and Cambodia’s territorial claims overlap – had been in the air for some time, both due to the changed climate between the two countries and the difficulty in taking concrete action.

Despite numerous meetings and interest repeatedly confirmed by Phnom Penh, the Memorandum of Understanding 44 of 2001 has made little progress since its signing, with the process hampered by political instability in Thailand, intermittent disputes between the two neighbouring countries and strong opposition from Thai nationalists. The authorities in Bangkok have stated that they intend to rely on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for a possible resumption of negotiations; Cambodia has fully acceded to this convention, ratifying it last January.

As you may recall, a year ago claims over disputed areas – limited in size but crucial due to their location and historical-religious significance – along the 817-kilometre border between the two countries flared up again, leading to clashes that left 150 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced on both sides. For the time being, the region is experiencing relative calm, following the ceasefire signed in December 2025 with the mediation of Malaysia and the United States.

The tensions, however, inevitably also involve the 26,000 square kilometres of overlapping maritime zones believed to be rich in oil and natural gas. And in a situation made even more unstable by the regional fallout from the conflict in the Persian Gulf, Cambodia and all ASEAN countries are concerned about the intensified naval patrols by the Thai navy and the restrictions Thailand might impose on Phnom Penh’s sea supply lines.