00:00Political will is now the deciding factor in keeping the peace along the Thai-Cambodian border.
00:06Political analyst Dr. Phong Phisud-Buswarath from the Institute of Security and International Studies, ISIS,
00:12Thailand warns that without genuine commitment from both sides, trust will remain fragile.
00:18I think in the short to medium term, both parties have to have the political will to follow up with this agreement.
00:28At least ceasefire has to be warranted, it has to be honoured by both parties to at least build the first trust that you're not going to use the force.
00:43And then the bilateral mechanisms that we'll agree to use should be continued, should not be stopped,
00:51even though, of course, the conflicts prolong, but this is the mechanism that both parties want to use.
00:58On August 5th, Malaysia brokered a ceasefire after several days of fighting near the Priyavia Temple,
01:04which involved artillery exchanges and forced villagers on both sides to evacuate.
01:09But just a week later, the truce was tested when a landmine blast injured at least three Thai soldiers on patrol.
01:17Phong Phisud also said ASEAN could provide the new ground needed for dialogue, helping both governments slowly rebuild confidence.
01:24But in the long term, right, of course, ASEAN can help facilitate and, you know, like ASEAN has a lot of meetings that both countries have to come to talk to each other, to compromise, to accommodate.
01:37So that could build the long term trust, or rebuild the long term trust, right.
01:43And for both countries, it needs to make their own peoples, right, to understand this is like a, you know, neighboring countries, we should have like a goodwill, right.
01:56I mean, we can't really get away from each other physically, you know, we can't, we can't, we can't move, we cannot move Thailand out of Southeast Asia or next to Cambodia and, you know, vice versa.
02:09So, you know, like mutual coexistence should be, should be the long term tool to, to, to, to, to both countries to, to, to, to, to keep the, the cooperation going on.
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