Will land battles affect maritime territory?

In the Thai-Cambodian conflict, where the armies of the two countries clashed and the disputed areas along the border, there was a wave of concern about whether the land battle would affect Thailand's maritime territory, especially the CAO.

Admiral Pallphus Minon, former Chief of Naval Staff and former senator, said that the key area to be associated with the area at sea is the last area at Lek Beach, Trad Province, which is the 73rd, which in the 73rd is the Siam-France Treaty, which already indicates where on the coast it will be, and it may be shifted as appropriate.

But the point now is that the 73rd is linked to the land boundary, which must be shared along MOU 43. At this time, the 73rd boundary has long been ruled here, so if the land boundary is not associated with the 73rd boundary, there will be no impact on the sea boundary with overlapping claims and no impact on the OCA area.

As for Code 73, at this time a declaration was issued that caused claims to overlap, and overlap since the part that is the sovereign territorial sea, which is a 100% jurisdiction and law enforcement area, so the issue of this part must be expedited as soon as possible.

In Thailand, Thailand claims to use the principle of the Madhya Line (a line where all points on the line are at the same distance from the nearest point on the baseline of the two coastal states opposite each other), which is drawn from the 73rd border and equally from the tip of Thailand's Khud and Cambodia's Khun.

But Cambodia is dragging from the 73rd border to the middle of Goud Island, which is not right, which we have to negotiate in a hurry within the framework of MOU44 or the framework of the law of the sea (UNCLOS).

But the worrying point now is that Cambodia has built a stone dam near the 73rd border. According to the law of the sea, the dam is part of the coast. The dam of Cambodia, as if Cambodia had a little longer coastline. Now, in the future, our children and grandchildren, if necessary, will have to divide the border in the sea. Thailand will be at a disadvantage because we will be pushed out.

As for the solution, our agency has made several notifications since Cambodia was built in 1998, but no demolition has been done at this time. It can still be seen on Google Maps. If Cambodia is removed so that it does not become part of the coast, there will be no problem.

Or maybe create an agreement similar to the MOU that Singapore and Malaysia made with Indonesia that the area where the sea is reclaimed will not be considered part of the coast that will allow the territorial sea to be expanded. If Thailand can make an agreement with Cambodia that the part they built will not be considered a coast, it will solve this problem.

Asked about the problems of implementing MOU 43 and 44 during Thai Cambodia, Admiral Palphus said that the Cambodian leader had long held power, was involved in both MOU 43 and 44, and that, based on his behavior, he could see that he was a person who studied the matters of maps and sea law.

It is possible that in both MOUs there may be hidden or panels, which would put us at a rather disadvantage, for example, MOU43 Cambodia is linked to a 1-for-2 million map, and MOU44 referenced that we accept his shoulder line that comes through Koh Khud, which in the long run we will be at a disadvantage because MOU 44 is a trap for Thailand to lose territory in the future.

It should therefore be accelerated to complete the implementation of the boundary line above the 11th latitude line and the sharing of resources in the area below the 1st latitude line. According to the agreement in MOU44, it must be carried out in parallel.

But in the past, Cambodia would only ask for the division of resources, which if the government continues to focus on the division of resources without negotiating the completion of the border, is an incorrect operation because it would disadvantage Thailand.

Because Cambodia draws too much from the Over Claim, while in Thailand we draw the line according to the law of the sea, there are over 12,000 square kilometers in Cambodia, which will disadvantage Thailand.

"So if you're going to negotiate according to MOU44, if the government doesn't cancel, then you're going to have to speed up the negotiations, but if you can't move forward, because it's also stuck that the 11-year-old zone zoning negotiations and the 11-year-old south resource zoning negotiations can't move forward, you're going to have to cancel MOU44 by offering Congress.

I have learned that the political parties have proposed a two-council meeting soon to consider MOU 43 (and) 44, so it will be discussed again as to how we have an opinion on the matter in the parliament. If we think that it is not beneficial, we should cancel, "Admiral Pallus said.

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For this interview with Admiral Pallus, The Structure and Radio Free Asia team were honored to share an interview with Admiral Pallus on Aug. 4, 2025, on the occasion of Admiral Pallus's chairmanship of the One Marine Chart, a seminar organized by the Logistics Faculty of the University of Burpa with the Marine National Interest Treatment Center.

At this seminar, feedback from all sectors involved in maintaining the 24 trillion baht per year marine benefit was presented with an integrated map of the marine situation that included information from all sectors related to maintaining the national interest in security-economy-environment.

The map shows a visualization map that identifies merchant ships, fishing vessels, coral reefs, and marine resources, and also identifies areas vulnerable to harassment by pirates and areas vulnerable to illegal labour.

It is an interesting idea to take advantage of digital information technology to manage the maintenance of national maritime interests almost in Real Time, enabling government agencies to respond quickly and effectively to threats.

Interview Operator

Siravudh Bhummakorn - The Structure Columnist

Bhikok Rakklang - Radio Free Asia Special Editor Correspondent and Consultant

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