Renewed Border Violence Threatens Thai-Cambodia Peace

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00:00Thailand's military says it launched airstrikes along its border with Cambodia after clashes

00:05killed one Thai soldier and injured four. Both countries have accused each other of breaching

00:10a ceasefire agreement brokered by Malaysia and U.S. President Donald Trump. Let's cross

00:16to Bangkok and our Thailand reporter Randy Tantong Knight. Randy, what triggered this

00:21latest clash? And why is it escalating now? Just to recap, last month there was a landmine

00:30incident that injured several Thai soldiers and Thailand then suspended this U.S. brokered

00:37peace deal as a result of that. So that diplomatic guardrail is now gone. And that's part of the

00:43reason why we're seeing tensions flaring up again. What we're seeing now is another exchange

00:51of fire along the border, but this time it turned deadly. Now the latest death toll for

00:56Thai soldiers are now up to two fatalities. Both sides, of course, claim the other fired

01:03first, but Thailand responded this time with airstrikes, which is the first time we've seen

01:07this level of force since July. What does it mean then for regional stability and for President

01:16Trump's peace deal? I think it's a real setback. This is the worst fighting since July when dozens

01:23were killed at that time. And the big concern now is that the Trump-backed peace accord could fall

01:30apart entirely. And that, of course, has economic implications, especially for Thailand. The peace

01:36deal is tied to U.S.-Thailand trade talks. And Thailand has already suggested that it's willing to

01:44prioritize national security over securing better trade terms. If these clashes continue, those

01:51negotiations could slow or even stall. Should investors be worried, Randy?

01:58So markets haven't reacted much to this yet, but I think we should be watching this closely because

02:07if the fighting spreads, it could add another layer of uncertainty for Thailand, which is already

02:14dealing with slow growth, deflation pressures, major flooding in the South. And the bigger issue is

02:22is political risk. If this drags on, it could overshadow Thailand's economic agenda and priorities

02:28and make investors more cautious. And so, I mean, this is definitely something to keep on our radar.

02:35Have we seen, have we heard from Malaysia or President Trump, for that matter, because they

02:41were behind that peace accord? We haven't heard reactions from the U.S. president or the White House,

02:50but we have heard from President Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia. And he said, he just tweeted and saying,

02:58let me just pull that up right now. He's saying that he's deeply concerned by reports and,

03:05of course, asked both sides to work together to agree to the peace deal.