AdvertisementAdvertisementThai soldiers stand guard near barbed wires and tyres installed to mark the border with Cambodia during a military organised tour near Sadok Kok Thom Historical Park in Thailand's Sa Kaeo province on Feb 5, 2026. (Photo: AFP/Anthony Wallace)16 Jun 2026 02:42PM Bookmark Bookmark WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedInAdd CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results.Read a summary of this article on FAST.Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try.Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FASTFAST BANGKOK: Thailand has appointed conciliators from South Africa and Germany for a UN arbitration process that was initiated by Cambodia to resolve a long-running maritime dispute, Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow told reporters on Tuesday (Jun 16). Cambodia launched the compulsory conciliation process under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) earlier this month, after Thailand had unilaterally ended a 2001 agreement that provided a framework for negotiations over the disputed area in the Gulf of Thailand.Thailand appointed German jurist Rüdiger Wolfrum and South African maritime law expert Albert Hoffman as conciliators, the foreign ministry said.Earlier, Cambodia had appointed its Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn as its agent for the proceedings, alongside Danish diplomat Peter Taksøe-Jensen and French academic Jean-Marc Thouvenin as conciliators.The conciliators will have to meet within 30 days to choose a chairperson before commencing proceedings.The dispute relates to approximately 26,000 sq km of sea in the Gulf of Thailand, known as the Overlapping Claims Area, which is estimated to hold nearly 12 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and large quantities of oil, worth about US$300 billion. Ties between the Southeast Asian neighbours have been on edge after two rounds of intense border clashes last year killed nearly 150 people and displaced at least 300,000 on both sides, but a December ceasefire still holds.Asia Pacific can ‘no longer be classified as fully at peace’ amid growing security threats: IISS reportThailand ready for UN mediation on maritime dispute with CambodiaSource: Reuters/ecNewsletterMorning BriefSubscribe to CNA’s Morning BriefAn automated curation of our top stories to start your day.Sign up for our newslettersGet our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inboxSubscribe hereGet the CNA appStay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best storiesDownload hereGet WhatsApp alertsJoin our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat appJoin hereAlso worth readingContent is loading...Expand to read the full storyGet bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try.Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FASTFAST