Cambodia launches UN-backed process to settle maritime dispute with Thailand

BANGKOK, June 2 (Reuters) - ‌Cambodia said ​on ​Tuesday it has informed the United Nations and Thailand that it has ‌launched a compulsory conciliation process under international ⁠law aimed at resolving a long-running maritime boundary dispute ‌with Bangkok.

The move follows ‌a Thai government decision last month to unilaterally terminate a 2001 agreement with Cambodia ​that provided a framework for negotiations over the disputed area in the Gulf of ⁠Thailand where the two countries' maritime claims overlap.

"We have taken ​this step to protect Cambodia's sovereignty and maritime rights in accordance with international ​law," Cambodian Prime Minister Hun ‌Manet said.

Thailand's cancellation was part of a campaign pledge by Thai Prime ⁠Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who won re-election in February on a wave of nationalistic sentiment, after two ⁠rounds of deadly military clashes between the countries last ​year along their disputed border.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, a ‌compulsory conciliation process allows a panel of independent experts to examine a ‌dispute and make recommendations, although its findings ⁠are not legally ‌binding on either ​party.

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by John Mair and David ‌Stanway)

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