Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has pledged to revoke a 2001 memorandum of understanding signed with Cambodia, known as MoU44, saying steps will be taken to prepare for its formal cancellation.
According to Thai PBS, reporting on February 10, 2026, Anutin Charnvirakul has instructed relevant agencies to proceed with legal procedures aimed at terminating the agreement. Although the revocation may not occur immediately under the current Thai government, preparations are now underway.
The Thai Prime Minister stated that maintaining the agreement no longer serves Thailand’s interests and emphasized that any withdrawal would follow legal procedures.
The 2001 memorandum concerns the joint development of oil and gas resources in what is known as the Overlapping Claims Area in the Gulf of Thailand, a maritime zone claimed by both countries. Cambodia’s Secretariat of State for Border Affairs published details of the agreement on July 5, 2025, describing it as a framework for cooperation signed in June 2001 to manage resource development in disputed waters.
Competing claims over the area date back to the early 1970s. The agreement was seen at the time as a way to sidestep sovereignty disputes while allowing energy exploration to move forward.
Separately, a memorandum signed on June 14, 2000, commonly referred to as the 2000 MoU, addresses the surveying and demarcation of the land border between Cambodia and Thailand. According to Cambodia’s border authorities, the agreement consists of nine articles and refers to earlier Franco-Siamese treaties of 1904 and 1907 as the legal basis for land boundary demarcation.
Some analysts argue that the overlapping maritime zone of about 26,000 square kilometres lies within a broader 30,000 square kilometre area that Thailand claimed following a 1997 bilateral agreement with Vietnam. That agreement was based on a 1982 treaty on historic waters concluded during the period when Vietnam maintained a strong presence in Cambodia.
The same analysts contend that of the 30,000 square kilometres of maritime territory at issue, around 4,000 square kilometres were claimed by Thailand without direct negotiation with Cambodia, while the remaining 26,000 square kilometres continue to be treated as disputed waters between the two countries.
At the time of publication, The Cambodia Daily said it had not yet been able to reach Cambodia’s government spokesperson for comment on Thailand’s pledge to revoke the 2001 memorandum.
The future of the agreement now adds a new layer of uncertainty to long-standing maritime and border disputes between the two neighbours, with potential implications for energy development and bilateral relations.
