Thai fruit & vegetable trucks blocked at Cambodian border after dispute

Cambodia has prevented the entry of trucks delivering Thai fruits and vegetables a day after it threatened to ban such imports amid border disputes with Thailand.

The Khmer Times reported that on Jun. 17, the director general of Cambodia's General Department of Immigration, Sok Veasna, said all border gates in Cambodia would cease to permit the entry of fruit and vegetable imports from Thailand.

According to a report by the Bangkok Post earlier in the day, roughly 30 trucks carrying fresh and frozen Thai produce waited at Ban Hat Lek checkpoint, a border gate between Cambodia and Thailand.

Though soldiers reportedly allowed the entry of trucks carrying seafood at 8am, fruit and vegetable imports continued to be blocked.

Other imports, including construction materials, were still permitted, according to Khong Yai district chief, Cherdsak Chumnasiaw. Cambodian students attending Thai schools in the Trat province could also still cross the border.

According to The Nation, Cambodia had similarly blocked Thai agricultural imports at the same checkpoint on Jun. 14 and ordered delivery trucks to turn back, though the ban was lifted a day later following negotiations between Thai and Cambodian authorities.

Cambodia’s ultimatum

The ban was imposed a day after Cambodia declared an ultimatum on Thailand demanding the full reopening of all border checkpoints, which have been under the Thai army’s control since Jun. 7.

“If Thailand does not fully reopen all its border checkpoints with Cambodia from tomorrow onwards, we will impose bans on Thai fruit and vegetables from entering all our border checkpoints,” Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen said prior to a senate meeting on Jun. 16, as quoted by the Khmer Times.

He added that Cambodia would lift border restrictions if opening hours for Thailand’s borders returned to what it was before the dispute.

“It was the Thai army who restricted the borders, and when Cambodia did the same, you wanted to negotiate to save your face?” he questioned, ruling out any negotiations with Thailand on border restrictions.

“We will not put our reputation on the line for others’ mistakes.”

Deadly skirmish

While Thailand and Cambodia have long contested sovereignty over various undemarcated points along their land border, which stretches 820 km, tension heightened after a Cambodian soldier was killed there in a brief gunfight on May 28.

According to Reuters, Thailand made threats following the incident to shut the border and cut off its electricity supply to Cambodia.

Cambodia retaliated, ordering local television stations not to screen Thai films and announcing that it would no longer buy electricity, internet bandwidth and produce from Thailand.

Despite the exchange of threats, both sides pledged to a dialogue to resolve the dispute.

Both sides met on Jun. 14 in a bid to ease tensions, with Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra establishing that Thailand hopes to “resolve the situation peacefully” despite pressure in Thailand for her administration to take a firmer stance towards border disputes.

However, the meeting did not appear to produce a straightforward resolution.

Cambodia escalated its dispute with Thailand to the International Court of Justice on Jun. 15, while Thailand continues to insist on a bilateral solution.

"I would like to confirm that Thailand does not accept the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice and will not participate in the process because the government believes in the sincere bilateral mechanism of both countries, which is an effective approach and can be expected to be successful," said Shinawatra.

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Top image via Khmer Times & Unsplash