On 15 May 2026, at AmCam Exchange, the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies (CCRS) organized a public lecture on Cambodia-Thailand Maritime Overlapping Claims Area (OCA): Issues and Consequences by Distinguished Speaker, Amb. Pou Sothirak, Distinguished Senior Advisor to CCRS. Amb. Pou’s talk covered: (1)Undesirable diplomatic consequences; (2) Serious legal implication; (3) Lost of economic opportunities and increased regional tension.
However, the recent ASEAN Summit in Cebu provided a promising opportunity for face-to-face communication to discuss the next step after the cancellation of the MOU 2001 unilaterally by Thailand.
There is optimism that Bangkok and Phnom Penh appears ready for UNCLOS to climb down from the conflict of the previous year, and hopefully the coming AMM in July this year will provide the much-needed space to begin building back trust.
Link to Amb. Pou Sothirak’s presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MAkptEX3qPEH2w70tmpIXNwfEIaYrvZw/view?fbclid=IwY2xjawR18s1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFjRm1pVHpMNENNang2dDNqc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvwY-VXJol5t4M4VEfpRiwdy1pciQP-Y9Z4Oqx5zuf3sNLcL_9B68GPZAbKq_aem_My4Uaw0KdRDYSm6hV4627Q
