Share :

Download PDF :

The Straits Times (5 May 2026)

Thailand on May 5 cancelled a longstanding agreement with Cambodia to work towards joint offshore energy exploration, Thailand’s Prime Minister said, defying calls from its neighbour to stay the course on the 25-year-old pact.

The Thai Cabinet’s cancellation of the 2001 agreement, which seeks to develop a framework to jointly explore hydrocarbons in parts of the Gulf of Thailand where the claims of Thailand and Cambodia overlap, had long been expected and follows two rounds of armed conflict between the two countries in 2025.

The withdrawal was an election campaign pledge of Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who earlier in 2026 rode a wave of nationalism stoked by the fierce fighting with Cambodia to become the first Thai prime minister to be re-elected in two decades.

Click for more