By Artorn Pookasook and Chalinee Thirasupa
PONG NAM RON, Thailand, July 22 (Reuters) - Thailand has completed the first section of a permanent border fence along parts of its frontier with Cambodia, the Thai military said on Wednesday, as tensions persist between the two Southeast Asian neighbours following two rounds of fighting last year.
Chief of Defence Forces General Ukrit Boontanon described the 1.3-km (0.8-mile) stretch of reinforced concrete panels topped with steel mesh and concertina wire in the eastern Pong Nam Ron district as “stable, strong and durable”, saying it had been designed for long-term security.
“The concrete wall panels here have been test-fired. We have confirmed they can protect against small-arms fire,” Ukrit told reporters during a media tour of the site.
Ukrit said the military planned to build more than 7 km (4.3 miles) of additional fencing connected to the existing section, while assessing other areas of the 817-km (508-mile) frontier where terrain and environmental conditions would allow similar construction.
“Each area has different conditions,” he said. “We will build where it is beneficial and where it can be done without creating future problems.”
Troops remain deployed on both sides of the Thailand-Cambodia border, where longstanding territorial disputes erupted into violent clashes with the use of air strikes and artillery in July and December last year, killing nearly 150 people and displacing 300,000.
The July outbreak was settled after five days following an intervention by U.S. President Donald Trump, but clashes flared up again for 20 days in December before both sides agreed to a bilateral ceasefire.
(Writing by Panu Wongcha-um, editing by Andrei Khalip)
