TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsThe guns must be silenced
The armed clashes must be quickly brought to an end, without prejudice to the principled position of the two sides on the underlying issues.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Evacuees displaced by the ongoing conflict between Thailand and Cambodia rest on July 26, 2025, at an evacuation center in the Thai border province of Si Sa Ket. (AFP/Lillian Suwanrumpha)
S
outheast Asia’s long decades of peace, amid the strategic trust and amity that countries of ASEAN have earnestly built and nurtured between them, have been broken. The guns and mortars are no longer silent. Unlike conflict situations internal to Member States, the recent outbreak of armed clashes is between two of ASEAN’s Member States, Cambodia and Thailand.
Its gravity cannot therefore be exaggerated. It is fundamentally inconsistent with the treaty commitment within the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) and the ASEAN Charter for the settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful means, as well as the renunciation of the threat or the use of force.
The armed clashes must be quickly brought to an end, without prejudice to the principled position of the two sides on the underlying issues. Conditions conducive for dialogue and amicable solution must be secured.
A surge for diplomacy is needed. To prevent the armed clashes from escalating into further violence, to be directly informed of the views of both sides and in accordance with the provision of the ASEAN Charter, a special ASEAN Summit should be convened.
Such efforts must not be consumed by debate about forms, whether bilateral or regional/multilateral. ASEAN has traditionally demonstrated the dexterity, agility and resourcefulness to navigate the complexities, including political sensitivities, of conflict situations and offer an appropriate and acceptable pathway toward a negotiated solution. Such a pathway was secured in 2011 when the prospect of an escalation of armed clashes between Cambodia and Thailand loomed. It is not entirely impossible to secure a similar outcome in 2025.
To assist and support the efforts of both sides to end the armed clashes and to initiate dialogue and negotiations, they may wish to invite – as appropriate and without prejudice to their respective position – the engagement of a third party, state or individual, formally or informally.
In our increasingly fragmented world, Southeast Asia has been a shining exception. Benefiting from the peace dividend, it is a region positively transformed. The recent outbreak of armed clashes between Cambodia and Thailand risks the painstaking gains that have been made. It is inconsistent with the idea of the ASEAN Community. Diplomacy must be placed front and center. Peace waged.
