Trump to call Thailand, Cambodia leaders and ‘stop war’ along disputed border

President Donald Trump said he plans to reach out to the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia as more than half a million people flee a revived border clash, one of eight conflicts the US leader says he has ended with tariff threats.

Fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours, which has killed at least 11 people, erupted over the weekend along their 800km frontier, with both sides exchanging artillery fire and Thailand using F-16 fighter jets after accusing Cambodia of firing rockets into civilian areas.

“Tomorrow I’ll have to make a phone call” to both countries, Trump said at an event on Tuesday evening in Pennsylvania.

Trump threatened the two nations with trade restrictions to stop fighting in July – which left dozens dead – and in October oversaw the signing of the so-called Kuala Lumpur Accords that sketched out a path to peace, as well as trade deals with both countries.

The tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have ebbed and flowed for decades, often fuelled by the nationalist imperatives of their leaders at the time. In the latest outbreak that began on the weekend, Cambodia and Thailand are trading barbs over who is at fault and accusing each other of escalation.