Thailand and Cambodia began a United Nations conciliation process in Singapore on Tuesday to resolve a long-running dispute over maritime territory believed to contain significant reserves of natural gas and other hydrocarbons.
The foreign ministers of the two Southeast Asian countries exchanged opening statements at the first meeting held under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which provides for compulsory conciliation in certain maritime disputes.
Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn led their respective delegations at the meeting with a five-member UNCLOS commission. The talks began Monday and are scheduled to continue through Wednesday.
The dispute involves overlapping claims to an area believed to hold large and commercially exploitable deposits of natural gas and other hydrocarbons.
Cambodia initiated the UNCLOS process in June after Thailand unilaterally ended a 25-year-old memorandum of understanding aimed at resolving the overlapping maritime claims.
Thailand withdrew from the agreement following a sharp deterioration in relations with Cambodia and armed clashes between the two countries last year. The neighbors fought over disputed territory along their land border in July and December, leaving several dozen soldiers and civilians dead and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
Cambodia called for a peaceful settlement of the maritime dispute.
The process, Prak Sokhonn said, should “serve the peoples of both nations and contribute to peace, cooperation and shared prosperity in the region.”
He said Cambodia had decided to pursue the UNCLOS proceedings after considering other peaceful options, in line with its commitment to international law and the peaceful settlement of disputes.
Sihasak said Thailand remained committed to international law and resolving disputes peacefully. He argued that the previous agreement had made little progress, with the two countries holding only two meetings over 25 years.
Thailand wants to “give negotiations a fresh start,” Sihasak said, adding that Bangkok had offered Phnom Penh an opportunity for direct talks before Cambodia turned to the UNCLOS process.
“Thailand stands ready to engage in this process constructively, with the aim of achieving, with the Commission’s assistance, a negotiated and equitable solution,” he said.
A fragile ceasefire was agreed between the two countries in late December, but tensions have continued, with sporadic incidents and large-scale military deployments reported along the border.
Any decision from the UNCLOS process will not be legally binding on the two countries, although both are signatories to the international agreement.
Thailand has traditionally opposed having territorial disputes decided by third parties, preferring bilateral negotiations. Bangkok has also long viewed a 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice, which awarded Cambodia the hilltop Preah Vihear temple along their border, as unfair. The ruling has contributed to continued tensions between the neighboring countries.