
On 27 May 2026, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters at the Thaifex Anuga Asia 2026 exhibition in Bangkok that the 1:200,000 scale "no longer exists" for Thailand's administration. He said Thailand uses 1:50,000 maps in specified sectors and asked UNESCO to hear Thailand before publishing any heritage assessment. The Thai-language Naewna report carried an additional clause translated as: if Cambodia still uses the 1:200,000 scale, they "do not need to come and talk to Thailand."
On 26 October 2025, Anutin had told Nation Thailand that Thailand had never accepted the 1:200,000 map and that LiDAR survey would render the older instrument obsolete.
On 25 May 2026, Anutin met President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace. Both sides announced they would advance the France-Thailand 2026-2028 Joint Action Plan toward strategic partnership.
The 1:200,000 Annex I map was prepared in Paris by French officers under the 1904 Franco-Siamese Boundary Convention. A Mixed Commission with Siamese members worked the demarcation 1904-1907. In 1908, fifty sets were allocated to the Siamese Government from a full distribution of approximately one hundred and sixty sets. The ICJ in 1962 found Thailand bound to the map through acceptance. The 2013 interpretation judgment reaffirmed the Annex I line.
On 15 June 2025 in Phnom Penh, Cambodian Minister in charge of Border Affairs Lam Chea recorded at the sixth JBC session Cambodia's position that only the 1:200,000 map is recognised on the 1904 and 1907 basis. The same day, Cambodia submitted a formal request to the ICJ Registrar concerning Prasat Ta Moan Thom, Prasat Ta Moan Toch, Prasat Ta Krabei, and the Mom Bei area. Delivery was made at The Hague at 11:30 on 16 June.
On 4 February 2026, Hun Manet wrote to Macron requesting French archival access to the Franco-Siamese Border Commission records at the Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer. On 25 February 2026, French FM Jean-Noël Barrot met Cambodian DPM and FM Prak Sokhonn in Paris. The French foreign ministry readout stated France was ready to facilitate both parties' access to the archives in its possession linked to the demarcation of the border, and described its engagement as completely impartial.
On 10 December 2025, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre cited obligations under the 1954 Hague Convention and the 1972 World Heritage Convention and communicated geographic coordinates of inscribed sites to all parties.
The MoU 2000 was registered at the United Nations Treaty Series as No. 48557.
Open: whether Thailand requests the same French archives. Whether the ICJ proceedings advance.
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