November 24, 2025
PHNOM PENH – Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to dispatch joint survey teams to carry out fieldwork near Chouk Chey and Prey Chan villages, in Bateay Meanchey province’s Ou Beichoan commune, Ou Chrov district, in order to determine the temporary placement of border markers 42-47.
The Secretariat of the National Authority for Border Affairs clarified the arrangement in an announcement released today, November 21.
The Secretariat informed the public that since 2006, the joint survey teams of both countries have been conducting field operations to survey and identify the precise locations of 74 concrete border markers which were originally placed by the Indochina–Siam Boundary Commission between 1919–1920.
“The work of surveying and determining the exact locations of these markers — including markers 42 to 47 — has been carried out with the utmost care and responsibility, based strictly on authentic documents left by the French protectorate, especially the Procès Verbaux of the Indochina–Siam Boundary Commission (1908–1909) and the Indochina–Siam Marker Installation Commission (1919–1920),” it said.
It noted that the previous work conducted in the section between markers 42–47 was limited only to identifying the precise locations of the markers. Actual demarcation work on the ground has not yet taken place.
Both sides agreed to send working groups to prepare plans and carry out fieldwork starting November 18, as part of a step-by-step approach toward full demarcation, in accordance with the 2000 memorandum of understanding (MOU), the 2003 Terms of Reference (TOR), the spirit of previous JBC (Joint Boundary Commission) meeting minutes, and the Technical Instructions which were mutually agreed upon by both sides.
The Secretariat called on the Cambodian people and the general public to maintain trust in the Royal Government and the Cambodian JBC, emphasising that the commission consistently upholds the highest level of professionalism and responsibility, prioritising national interests — especially the protection of Cambodia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty — while strictly respecting international law, the principle of the inviolability of borders and the Cambodia–Thailand international boundary, as established by the Indochina–Siam Boundary Commissions.