The Cambodia–Thailand border is the international border between

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. The border is 817 km (508 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Laos in the north-east to the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...

in the south.

Description

The border starts in the north-east at the tripoint with Thailand at Preah Chambot peak in the

Dângrêk Mountains The Dângrêk Mountains (; km, ជួរភ្នំដងរែក, ; th, ทิวเขาพนมดงรัก, ), also the Dângrêk Range, is a mountain range forming a natural border between Cambodia and Thailand. Geography Despi ...

and the follows the crest of the mountains westwards. Upon leaving the mountains the border turns south-westwards in a broad arc, occasionally utilising rivers such as the Svay Chek, the

Sisophon Serei Saophoan ( km, សិរីសោភ័ណ, UNGEGN: ; lit. 'Beautiful Freedom') is the capital and largest city of the Banteay Meanchey Province and the fourth most populous city in Cambodia. The city separates Cambodia's National H ...

, the Phrom Hot and Mongkol Borei. It then proceeds south, partly along the

Cardamom Mountains The Cardamom Mountains ( km, ជួរភ្នំក្រវាញ, ; th, ทิวเขาบรรทัด, ), or the Krâvanh Mountains, is a mountain range in the south west of Cambodia and Eastern Thailand. The majority of the rang ...

, terminating at the Gulf of Thailand coast. This latter section runs very close to the Gulf, producing a long, thin

strip Strip or Stripping may refer to: Places * Aouzou Strip, a strip of land following the northern border of Chad that had been claimed and occupied by Libya * Caprivi Strip, narrow strip of land extending from the Okavango Region of Namibia to ...

of Thai territory.

History

The boundary area has historically switched back and forth between various Khmer and Thai empires. From the 1860s

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

began establishing a presence in the region, initially in modern

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

, and later Laos, with the colony of

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

being created in 1887. In 1867 a Franco-Thai treaty confirmed Thai ownership of the

Battambang Battambang ( km, បាត់ដំបង, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) is the capital of Battambang Province and the third largest city in Cambodia. Founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire, Battambang is the leading rice-pr ...

and

Angkor Angkor ( km, អង្គរ , 'Capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura ( km, យសោធរបុរៈ; sa, यशोधरपुर),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-Engl ...

(Nakhou Siemrap) regions. In 1896 Britain (based in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

) and France agreed to leave Siam (the then name for Thailand) as a

buffer state A buffer state is a country geographically lying between two rival or potentially hostile great powers. Its existence can sometimes be thought to prevent conflict between them. A buffer state is sometimes a mutually agreed upon area lying between ...

between their respective colonies. However France continued to expand at the expense of Siam, annexing northern Cambodia in 1904 and then

and Siam Nakhon/

Siem Reap Siem Reap ( km, សៀមរាប, ) is the second-largest city of Cambodia, as well as the capital and largest city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia. Siem Reap has French colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old F ...

in 1907, whilst ceding

Trat Trat ( th, ตราด, ), also spelt Trad, is a town in Thailand, capital of Trat province and the Mueang Trat district. The town is in the east of Thailand, at the mouth of the Trat River, near the border with Cambodia. Etymology ''Trat'' i ...

to Siam. The modern Cambodian-Thai border was as such delimited through several treaties between France and Siam between 1867 and 1907. Following Japan's

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing co ...

of French Indochina in 1940 the areas ceded to France in 1904 and 1907 were returned to Thailand, however this was reversed following Japan's defeat and the pre-war border restored in 1946. Cambodia - Thailand border

Cambodia gained independence in 1953, and the two state since then have had a fractious relationship. A dispute arose in the late 1950s over the ownership of the

Preah Vihear Temple Preah Vihear Temple ( Khmer: ប្រាសាទព្រះវិហារ ''Prasat Preah Vihear'') is an ancient Khmer temple built during the period of the Khmer Empire, that is situated on the top of a cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains, i ...

, which lies adjacent to the border in the Dângrêk Mountains. In 1962 the case was referred to the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

, which ruled in favour of Cambodia, however Thailand expressed reservations as to the outcome. The mid-1960s also saw a dispute over ownership of Ko Kut island. These disputes faded as Cambodia became engulfed in a series of conflicts in the following decades and the disastrous rule of the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 197 ...

, with thousands of refugees crossing the border. By 1981, over 250,000 Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees lived in twenty camps along the border, supported by international aid agencies and the

United Nations Border Relief Operation The United Nations Border Relief Operation (UNBRO) was a donor-nation funded relief effort for Cambodian refugees and others affected by years of warfare along the Thai-Cambodian border. It functioned from 1982 until 2001. Establishment In Janua ...

. Sporadic

fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

broke out along the border following Vietnam's

of Cambodia in 1979, continuing throughout the 1980s until Vietnam withdrew from the country in 1989. In an effort to stop Khmer Rouge infiltration from Thailand, Cambodia built a large fortified fence along the border in the second half of the 1980s.Margaret Slocomb, "The K5 Gamble: National Defence and Nation Building under the People's Republic of Kampuchea", ''Journal of Southeast Asian Studies'' (2001), 32 : 195-210 Cambridge University Press Since the advent of peace in Cambodia in the early 1990s relations with Thailand have once again soured over the Preah Vihear issue, as well as, to a lesser extent, Ko Kut island. A border commission was set up in 1995 in an attempt to settle the issues peacefully, however it has made little progress and a full border demarcation satisfactory to both sides remain outstanding.

Border crossings

As of 2019, there were 7 permanent border crossings, 1 temporary border crossing, 9 checkpoints for border trade and 1 checkpoint for tourism which is currently closed.

Permanent Border Crossing

Temporary Border Crossing

Temporary border crossing for the construction of the Thai-Cambodia Friendship Bridge only, which will become a permanent border crossing in the future.

Checkpoint for Border Trade

Border crossing open for cross-border local trade only. There are 9 checkpoints for border trade officially recognized by the Ministry of Interior, located in

Ubon Ratchathani Ubon Ratchathani ( th, อุบลราชธานี, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan (with Khorat/Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen), also known as the "big four of Isan." The city is on the Mun River in the so ...

Buriram Buriram (, , , 'city of happiness') is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in Thailand, capital of Buriram Province, about northeast of Bangkok. The town occupies '' tambon'' Nai Mueang of Mueang Buriram District. In 2012 it had a population of 27,8 ...

Sa Kaeo Sa Kaeo ( th, สระแก้ว, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in Thailand, about 48 kilometers from the Thai-Cambodian border and 200 km east of Bangkok. It is the capital of Sa Kaeo province. As of 2005, it had a population of 16,591. Th ...

Chanthaburi Chanthaburi ( th, จันทบุรี, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in the east of Thailand, on the banks of the Chanthaburi River. It is the capital of the Chanthaburi Province and the Mueang Chanthaburi District. The town covers t ...

and

provinces. Entering the opposite country beyond these checkpoints and their associated markets is illegal.

Checkpoint for Tourism

There is one checkpoint for tourism, which is currently closed since June 2008 due to the

Preah Vihear dispute Preah Vihear Temple ( Khmer: ប្រាសាទព្រះវិហារ ''Prasat Preah Vihear'') is an ancient Khmer temple built during the period of the Khmer Empire, that is situated on the top of a cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains, i ...

and eventual cession of