The Cabinet approved the appointment of Mr. Sihasak as head of Thailand's negotiation team, with Ambassador Songsai as deputy, and appointed two former presidents of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea as Thailand's representatives to the conciliation commission for UNCLOS negotiations.
On 16 June 2026, Mr. Benjamin Sukanjanajati, Director-General of the Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced at the Government House that The Cabinet resolved to appoint Mr. Sihasak Puangketkaew, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, as head of Thailand's negotiation team, and Ambassador Songsai Chaipatiyut, Ambassador to Kuwait, as deputy head of Thailand's negotiation team to join the conciliation commission under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Later, Mr. Sihasak added that the Cabinet also appointed two additional members to Thailand's conciliation commission, one South African and one German. Both experts were carefully selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and are former presidents of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. They are widely respected and experienced. Once both Thailand and Cambodia have appointed two conciliators each, they must jointly select a fifth member to serve as chair within one month to initiate discussions.
The head of Thailand's negotiation team affirmed that the scope of the conciliation commission is not judicial; its role is to support approaches to resolve issues. Thailand will continue talks with Cambodia, but initially, the conciliation should focus on defining maritime and continental shelf boundaries clearly. Cambodia's desire to discuss joint development areas is inappropriate; the focus should remain on maritime boundaries.
When asked who would decide on Cambodia's proposals if the two countries disagree, Mr. Sihasak said the conciliation commission must consider this. He emphasized that efforts should prioritize clearly defining maritime boundaries and assessing the extent of overlapping claims before addressing undersea joint development areas.