Lieutenant General Khamlieng Outhakaysone (right) and Mr Phumtham Wechayachai, displaysigned Minutes of the first Extraordinary Meeting of the Lao-Thai Joint Committee on Peace and Order along their shared border.

Laos, Thailand step up border securityoperations

Lao and Thai security forces are intensifyingcooperation in peace-keeping activities along the two countries’ shared border.
The two sides held an extraordinary meeting of the Cooperation Committee on Maintaining Peace and Order along the Lao-Thai Border in Vientiane on May 25-26 to discuss ways to jointly resolve current and future unrest in the border area.
The meeting was led by Laos’ Minister of National Defence, Lieutenant General KhamliengOuthakaysone, and Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Mr PhumthamWechayachai.
The Committee will meet once a year to discuss urgent situations along the Lao-Thai border, with meetings to be held in each country in alternate years.
The two sides unanimously agreed to actively enforce the Agreement on Security Cooperation in the Lao-Thai Border Area, signed on December 22, 2023.
The agreement prohibits any individuals or groups who pose a threat to Lao-Thai security to use areas under their sovereign territory to carry out attacks aimed at the neighbouring country.
Any such individual or group that operates or takes up occupancy in the territory of either side shall be required to engage in resolution of the situation in line with the legal framework of the country concerned and in compliance with international law.
The meeting instructed participants to quash the spreading of fake news by either individuals or legal entities that distorts the truth, causingmisunderstanding among the citizens of Laos and Thailand and negatively affect Lao-Thai relations and the maintenance of peace and security in the two countries.
It was agreed to regularly issue information aboutthe activities of the cooperation mechanism for maintaining peace, the cooperation mechanism for tackling the drug trade along the Lao-Thai border, and other Lao-Thai cooperation mechanisms at both the central and local levels.
The Lao and Thai delegations attending the meeting were advised to act upon the Minutes of the 22nd Lao-Thai Joint Committee Meeting on Cooperation by conducting joint patrols in both land and water border areas, starting in locationswhere it is agreed that steps must be taken to strengthen law enforcement with regard to border crimes.
The meeting agreed that both sides should share more information, take necessary measures under each country’s laws, and actively enhance cooperation in border management to crack down on illegal immigration and human traffickers, as well as drug trafficking and the smuggling of goods across the border, as stated in the Minutes of the 22nd Lao-Thai Joint Committee on Cooperation.
The two sides also agreed to follow up on the Minutes of the 10th meeting of the Lao-Thai border provincial governors on the regulation of shipping and navigation along the Mekong River.
This will be done by assigning the cooperation subcommittee to maintain peace and order along the Lao-Thai border together with relevant parties from both sides, who will discuss the details of a plan of action.
The chairpersons of the Lao and Thai delegations signed the Minutes of the first Extraordinary Meeting of the Lao-Thai Joint Committee on Peace and Order along their common border for the year 2025.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update May 29, 2025)