Thailand, Cambodia seek to calm escalating dispute over US$300 billion seabed

AI Summary

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to lower tensions over a contested, energy-rich maritime area in the Gulf of Thailand, using a hotline between their navy commanders to prevent incidents. The dispute sits alongside a long-running land-border dispute where clashes last year caused numerous deaths.

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to dial down the rhetoric and use a hotline between their navy commanders to avoid flashpoints over a vast contested patch of energy-rich seas in the Gulf of Thailand, according to a UN-backed mediation panel at The Hague tasked with helping to settle the dispute between the neighbours. The Southeast Asian countries have also squabbled for decades over the demarcation of their 800km (500-mile) land border, where clashes last year killed scores on both sides and...