The accusation came just one day after the two Southeast Asian neighbors signed an “immediate” ceasefire agreement, aimed at ending weeks of intense border clashes that have claimed dozens of lives and displaced over a million civilians.
The ceasefire deal was supposed to lock the front lines in place right where they were, stop any more troops from moving up or digging in, and let the people who’d been forced out of their homes finally get back safely.
It also had a clear side agreement: Thailand would hand over the 18 Cambodian soldiers they’d captured back in July, but only within 72 hours—and only if both sides actually stuck to the truce.
According to a Royal Thai Army statement, the drones were detected flying from Cambodian positions and intruding into Thai sovereign airspace on Sunday evening.
The military labeled the action “provocative” and inconsistent with the joint statement signed by both countries’ defense ministers, warning that it threatened the security of Thai personnel and civilians along the border.
Bangkok added that the incident could force a reconsideration of plans to release the detained Cambodian soldiers.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn described the drone incident as “a small issue related to flying drones seen by both sides along the border line. He said on Cambodian state television on Monday that the two sides had discussed the issue and agreed to investigate and “resolve it immediately”.
Thai army spokesman Winthai Suvaree said in a statement that the drone activity reflected “provocative actions” and a “hostile stance toward Thailand, which could affect the security of military personnel and civilians in border areas.
Thailand’s army “may need to reconsider its decision regarding the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers, depending on the situation and the behaviour observed”, it said.
Five days of border clashes in July killed dozens of people before a truce was brokered by the United States, China, and Malaysia, the chair of the ASEAN regional bloc.
Trump witnessed the signing of a follow-on declaration between Thailand and Cambodia in October, but it was broken within months, with each side blaming the other for instigating the fresh fighting.
Cambodia, Thailand, and China issued a statement at the end of talks in China’s Yunnan province on Monday, saying they had discussed “working step by step through mutual efforts to resume normal exchanges, rebuild political mutual trust, improve Cambodia-Thailand bilateral relations, and safeguard regional stability”.
Cambodia also said on Monday it had called on Thailand to join another bilateral meeting in Cambodia in early January “to discuss and continue survey and demarcation work” at the border.
Cambodia’s Drone
China is the most likely country to have supplied UAVs to Cambodia, as it has long relied on Beijing as its primary arms supplier.
Beijing provides the majority of Cambodia’s military hardware, including small arms, vehicles, artillery, and even UAVs. While Cambodia does not have a large, advanced fleet of military drones, Chinese-origin commercial and dual-use UAVs are widely available in the country, which can be repurposed for multiple roles, including strike missions.
China is Cambodia’s top military donor and supplier. This includes surveillance and light armed UAVs, often based on models such as the CH-series or on commercial platforms from DJI and other Chinese firms, which can even perform reconnaissance missions.
In the current ceasefire violation, Thai military assessments described the drones as resembling FPV “kamikaze” types from the Russia-Ukraine war.
While it is unlikely (not impossible) that Cambodia would have imported the fully assembled drone due to export restrictions, there are chances that the UAV components may have originated from Chinese supply chains.
