An observer has alleged that Thailand has incorporated several areas of Cambodian territory along the border into its own unilateral maps at a scale of 1 to 50,000, many of them described as strategically significant locations.
Meas Nee, a social development researcher, wrote on Facebook that in the two recent rounds of conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, Thai forces appeared to follow the contours of this 1 to 50,000 scale map when advancing into contested areas. He argued that the map has also been used domestically to fuel nationalist sentiment, encouraging Thai citizens to view areas marked on it as their own territory.
According to Meas Nee, what he described as Thailand’s first step in pushing the border inward has involved leveraging political tensions between former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and current prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul. He questioned whether a second phase could see cooperation between the two figures aimed at pressuring Cambodia to accept a newly drawn boundary based on Thailand’s map.
Whether such a strategy succeeds, he said, depends largely on how Cambodia’s government responds.
The comments come amid renewed debate over which maps should guide border demarcation between the two countries.
On October 23, 2025, Prime Minister Hun Manet said both sides had agreed to continue technical discussions to carry out joint measurements and place temporary markers using 1 to 200,000 scale maps, in line with the 1907 Franco-Siamese Treaty and related boundary commission records.
However, a day later, Thai government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat said the most recent meeting of the Cambodia Thailand Joint Boundary Commission had not reached any agreement on using the 1 to 200,000 scale maps or the 1907 treaty as a basis.
Opposition figures in Cambodia argue that Thailand’s unilateral maps, known as L7016, produced in 1971, and L7017, produced in 1984, both at a 1 to 50,000 scale, lack international recognition.
They say Cambodia’s strongest legal evidence lies in the annexed maps attached to the 1904 and 1907 Franco-Siamese treaties, drawn by French authorities in 1908 and currently archived in the United States. These consist of 18 sheets at a scale of 1 to 200,000 and are internationally recognised.
According to the opposition, Thailand’s unilateral maps differ significantly from the treaty annex maps in their depiction of the boundary. If the dispute were brought before the International Court of Justice, they argue, the court would rely on the treaty annex maps and disregard Thailand’s later maps.
Cambodia’s defence minister, Tea Seiha, said in early June 2025 that as long as Thailand continues to use a different map scale from Cambodia, the two countries will struggle to find common ground in maintaining border stability.
