Cambodia moves to take border dispute with Thailand to the International Court of Justice

# Cambodia moves to take border dispute with Thailand to the International Court of Justice

Cambodia said on 2025-06-02 that it will seek a ruling from the United Nations' International Court of Justice over disputed border areas with Thailand, turning a long-running territorial dispute into a formal legal move after a recent deadly clash.

According to the supplied AP reporting, Cambodia's National Assembly backed the government's decision on Monday. Prime Minister Hun Manet said his government would ask the court to rule on several disputed areas, including zones around the Ta Moan Thom, Ta Moan Toch and Ta Kro Bei temples.

The issue has immediate security as well as diplomatic consequences. A border dispute near Morokot village in Cambodia's northwest on May 28 left one Cambodian soldier dead. The AP report says Cambodian officials described that encounter as a routine patrol that came under Thai fire, while the Thai army said Cambodian soldiers entered a disputed area and opened fire when Thai troops approached to negotiate.

Thailand's foreign minister, Maris Sangiampongsa, said Cambodia has the right to file a case with the court but that this would not affect talks under existing mechanisms. Thai officials said they would meet later in the week to set out a clearer position. Thailand's deputy prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, said both countries were working to resolve the crisis and avoid further confrontation.

The border dispute carries historical weight. The AP report notes that the International Court of Justice awarded disputed territory containing a historic temple to Cambodia in 1962 and reaffirmed that ruling in 2013, a decision that remains a source of tension in bilateral relations. That history matters because the current dispute again centres on temple-adjacent land and the politics surrounding sovereignty.

Hun Manet's decision appears aimed at de-escalating repeated flashpoints by taking the matter out of military hands and into a legal forum. But the AP reporting also makes clear that the court move could trigger nationalist backlash in Thailand, where the 1962 ruling has long been used as a political touchstone.

The source does not say the dispute has been resolved, only that Cambodia wants the ICJ to determine ownership and that Thailand is preparing its response while keeping the door open to negotiations. For now, the story is one of two governments trying to manage a border crisis that already produced a fatal encounter and could still sharpen domestic pressure on both sides.

The event date is 2025-06-02.