The minimum you must know

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chantho announced plans to nominate U.S. President Donald J. Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize on August 2nd, 2025, because President Trump used trade opportunities to convince Cambodia and Thailand to prefer peace with each other.

The Kingdom of Cambodia is a thinly populated coastal country in Southeastern Asia that borders Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. It's densely populated capital isnamed Phnom Penh for Wat Phnom, a historic Buddhist temple. The agricultural country is considered developing by the United Nations. Textiles, garments, construction and tourism are growing sectors.

Cambodia was colonized by France for over a century, until Japan briefly occupied the country in the second global conflict. Cambodia tried to stay out of the conflict between the United States and Vietnam during the late 1960s, by remaining neutral between all sides. But the United States ordered a substantial air and limited ground incursion anyway on April 29, 1970. Cambodia was defended by the North Vietnamese, who installed the Khmer Rouge government. The country was destabilized and conflict broke out internally. A quarter of the population was lost in one of the worst genocides in modern history. Virtually every Buddhist temple was decimated. Nearly two million lives were reportedly ended prematurely. Hundreds of thousands of refugees sought safety in Thailand.

The Khmer Rouge ruled with an iron fist until 1979. Then they formed a multiparty democracy initially with internationally monitored elections. Former Khmer Rouge commander Hun Sen became Prime Minister, until recently. His son Hun Manet was appointed Prime Minister by King Norodom Sihamoni in August 2023.

Cambodia and Thailand have had occasional border skirmishes in the decades that followed, including a surprising one recently. Cambodia and Thailand were predominantly at peace for at least the past ten years. And both countries patterned “peace” eloquently at the United Nations. So there were reasons for cautious optimism about Cambodian and Thai relations. But after a misunderstanding about a border area, and an abrupt change of Prime Ministers in Thailand, Cambodia exchanged missals and dangerous sorties with Thailand in mid summer 2025 to contest a border area. The United States intervened diplomatically to successfully insist on peace. And Cambodia signed a peace truce with Thailand in Malaysia as a result. This earned U.S. President Donald Trump a Nobel Peace Prize nomination from Cambodia.

Cambodia is calling for Thailand to return twenty military prisoners. But Cambodia's peace truce with Thailand is holding for now. Foreign diplomats were invited by the two countries to travel to their border in July and August 2025.

Cambodia is currently at peace with all other countries.