Cambodia Says Thailand's MoU Exit Betrays 24-Year Maritime Deal
In a statement dated Friday and released publicly on Saturday, Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said the 2001 Memorandum of Understanding on Overlapping Maritime Claims to the Continental Shelf — known as MoU-2001 — represented far more than a procedural arrangement. The ministry described the agreement as an embodiment of both nations' genuine political will to jointly develop shared resources while simultaneously pursuing formal maritime boundary delimitation under international law.
"It is deeply regrettable if Thailand decides to unilaterally withdraw from the MoU-2001," the statement said, adding that such a move would mark a clear departure from the cooperative spirit that underpinned the document's signing.
Phnom Penh reaffirmed its own unwavering commitment to the agreement, stating that Cambodia remains "firmly and consistently committed to both the letter and the spirit of the MoU-2001, as well as to the goodwill and good faith that guided its conclusion in 2001."
The diplomatic pushback followed Thursday's announcement by Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul that the National Security Council had confirmed the abolition of the maritime MoU — originally signed during the tenure of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Anutin said the cabinet would review the decision as soon as possible. Under Thai procedure, National Security Council resolutions must receive cabinet approval before taking effect.
Thadawut Thatpitakkul, chief of staff of the Royal Thai Navy, offered the military's rationale to reporters, arguing the agreement had remained stalled for years without meaningful progress. He noted that Cambodia's accession to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea now opens a fresh legal pathway, allowing both countries to renegotiate within that multilateral framework.
The dispute centers on a strategically significant and resource-rich stretch of the Gulf of Thailand, where the two countries' maritime claims have long overlapped — an area believed to hold substantial natural gas reserves.
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