Cambodia Rejects Thai Pressure to Censor Border Dispute at Francophonie Summit

Cambodia's Ambassador to France, Mr. Luy Davit, has revealed that Thailand has attempted to pressure Cambodia, through a third country's ambassador, to refrain from raising the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute at the upcoming Francophonie Summit to be hosted by Cambodia. He stated that this request has been rejected. In a post on his official Facebook page on the morning of September 2, 2026, Mr. Luy Davit stated, "There is no reason for Cambodia to remain silent regarding what Thailand has done." He wrote: "Your country has invaded mine and is even trying to distort the truth, turning black into white and white into black. As a Cambodian diplomat, I have a duty to protect national interests, defend the truth, and make the international community clearly understand who the aggressor is and who the victim is. Therefore, there is no reason for me to remain silent." Cambodia is scheduled to host the 20th Francophonie Summit in Phnom Penh from November 14 to 16, 2026, which will be attended by heads of state and government from 93 member countries of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) around the world. Dr. Sin Sarun, a former diplomat and political analyst, opined that the reason Thailand does not want the border dispute issue to be raised at the Francophonie Summit is its fear of the truth, which would cause the international community to lose confidence in Thailand. He wrote in response to a question from Kampuchea Thmey via Telegram: "Siam is employing a strategy of pretending to be a victim and defaming Cambodia, portraying Cambodia as the aggressor. They have hired three major newspapers globally to stand by them. However, they cannot hire international forums to stand by them. This is where Thailand faces increasingly severe difficulties as public forums accept the truth from Cambodian diplomats." Dr. Sin Sarun further stated that in border issues with Cambodia, Thailand uses three pretexts: acting as a victim, avoiding the use of international law, and using the excuse of building confidence to negotiate bilaterally. He added that every time Cambodia brings border issues to the international stage, Thailand always accuses Cambodia cowardly of being unable to maintain confidence with it. He further wrote: "Thailand has no desire to negotiate bilaterally with Cambodia on the border dispute issue. This is because Thailand may have problems that prevent it from turning areas it occupied after the ceasefire into a new border, a fait accompli. However, despite the current situation in diplomacy, politics, and economics, Thailand continues to threaten Cambodia, making reckless attempts, only awaiting the day of its defeat." It is mentioned that in 2025, Thailand illegally occupied Cambodian territory twice, encroaching beyond the borders defined by the conventions and treaties signed with France in 1904 and 1907. At the annual meeting of the French-speaking Parliamentarians' Assembly (APF) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on July 11, 2026, the APF assembly demanded that Thailand respect Cambodia's sovereignty, de-escalate tensions by withdrawing all forces from the area, continue dialogue, and proceed with the joint border commission mechanism to resolve the issue peacefully in accordance with international law. International affairs experts believe that this decision by the APF assembly has political and diplomatic influence. Article by Hun Sirivath.