The Thai Foreign Ministry clarified on Thursday that the upcoming talks to jointly explore gas and oil in the overlapping claims area (OCA) in the Gulf of Thailand between Thailand and Cambodia must take place along with boundary demarcation talks.
Chatchai Viriyavejkul, director-general of the ministry’s East Asian Affairs Department, said that energy cooperation talks could not be separated from the boundary negotiations.
Earlier, the Thai Energy Ministry had proposed that the talks on joint exploration of oil and gas resources in the OCA in the Gulf of Thailand should be separated from boundary talks fearing the latter would bog down the progress of cooperation in energy exploration.
In full: https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40035405
