00:00Now, Thailand has formally ended a 25-year agreement with Cambodia on joint offshore energy exploration, despite repeated calls from
00:09Phnom Penh to preserve the deal.
00:11Thailand's cabinet approved the termination of the pact, which was designed to guide oil and gas exploration in distributed areas
00:19of the Gulf of Thailand.
00:22Prime Minister Anutin Chanvirakul said that cancelling the agreement was part of his policy direction, noting that no meaningful progress
00:30had been achieved over the past 25 years.
00:33Meanwhile, Cambodia's foreign minister Praksoknon expressed regret over the move and confirmed that Cambodia will now seek resolution through mechanisms
00:42under international maritime law.
00:44The agreement, known as MOU-44, was intended to guide negotiations over overlapping maritime claims between Thailand and Cambodia, with
00:55the aim of enabling joint development of resources offshore.
00:59But the agreement saw limited advancement due to political instability, recurring dispute and sustained nationalist opposition from both sides.
01:08Anutin said any future talks on shared maritime resources would have to start afresh, under a different framework.
01:17Thailand will attend the ASEAN summit in the Philippines this week, at which Cambodia's leader will also be present.
01:23Anutin said he would have no problem discussing the matter with Prime Minister Hun Manet.
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