Thailand has appointed two former presidents of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to represent the country in a compulsory conciliation process with Cambodia under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), marking a significant step in efforts to address a long-running maritime boundary dispute.
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The Foreign Ministry announced on 16 June 2026 that German jurist Rudiger Wolfrum and South African maritime law expert Albert Hoffman had been selected as Thailand’s conciliators. Both are former presidents of ITLOS and are regarded as leading experts in international maritime law.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow confirmed the appointments following a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 16 June 2026. He said the ministry had carefully chosen the two experts based on their credentials and extensive experience in the field.
Sihasak will lead Thailand’s negotiating delegation in the UNCLOS proceedings, while Ambassador to Kuwait Songchai Chaipattiyuth will serve as deputy chief of the Thai team.
The appointments come after Cambodia named its own representatives for the conciliation process. Cambodia’s team includes Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn as agent, alongside Danish diplomat Peter Taksoe-Jensen and French academic Jean-Marc Thouvenin as conciliators.
Under UNCLOS compulsory conciliation rules, each side appoints two conciliators. Once the panels are complete, both countries have one month to agree on a fifth member who will serve as chair of the commission before formal discussions can begin.
Sihasak emphasised that the conciliation commission is not a court and does not have the authority to decide the outcome of the dispute. Instead, its role is to assist both countries in finding ways to resolve their differences.
Thailand has stated that it wants the commission’s initial mandate limited to maritime boundary delimitation and continental shelf demarcation. According to Sihasak, clarifying overlapping maritime claims should be the first priority before moving on to any other issues.
Cambodia has sought to include joint development areas in the discussions. However, Sihasak described such talks as premature, arguing that the extent of overlapping claims must first be clearly established before any negotiations on the shared development of seabed resources can take place.
When asked how disagreements over Cambodia’s proposals would be handled, Sihasak said the conciliation panel would need to consider the matter while maintaining that maritime boundary issues should be resolved first. Khaosod reported that as the process moves forward, attention will focus on the selection of the fifth conciliator and the formal launch of the UNCLOS conciliation talks between Thailand and Cambodia.
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Adapted by ASEAN Now Khaosod 17 June 2026