Is Cambodia reinforcing its military near Thailand's border following tension around a disputed island called Koh Kood? No, that's not true: There is no substantive evidence supporting this claim. Videos circulating on TikTok claiming to show military activity in the area appear to be old footage of past military exercises and military parade preparation.
A video on TikTok posted by @noknakav2 on January 30, 2024 (archived here), had the caption (translated from Thai to English by Lead Stories staff):
Cambodia is ready, collecting new modern weapons from China. Soon to Koh Kood. Hoping Thailand won't surrender like Prasat Preah Vihear
This is what the first post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Mar 26 12:14:25 2024 UTC)
In the video, a narrator commented on the area between Cambodia and Thailand known as the Thailand-Cambodia Overlapping Claims Area (OCA). It featured video footage of Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin speaking at a Parliament meeting on January 3, 2024, about ongoing talks regarding the OCA with Cambodia. The video was part of a Thai Public Broadcast Service's program called "Keep Up With The World," which aired on January 25, 2024 (archived here). Prasat Preah Vihear refers to Preah Vihear Temple in Cambodia. Thailand and Cambodia have fought over its ownership for more than 100 years.
The second half of the video featured rows of military vehicles, tanks and military personnel. Cambodian flags can be seen throughout the video. An "Asian Military" watermark was embedded in the video. The caption suggests that Cambodia got new weapons from China to prepare for an occupation of the island Koh Kood.
As reported by the Phnom Penh Post (archived here and here), Cambodia and China have a strong military partnership, but there is no reported evidence that Cambodia is preparing and staging new weapons in the area to attack Thailand. Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Manet's speech on January 24, 2024 (archived here), to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces only referred to the need to strengthen the army to maintain peace within the country and the region and respond to threats from terrorism. He did not mention Thailand in his remarks.
According to the Khmer Times report (archived here), the prime minister stated that "Cambodia has no ambition to invade anyone." Furthermore, there is no news of a possible military escalation with Thailand in the Cambodian press, and no comments from international security missions and observers including the United Nations, which would not be the case if a military escalation between the two countries was real.
Thai Defense Minister Sutin Klungsang told local media March 21, 2024 (archived here), before his visit to Cambodia, that he has spoken, both officially and unofficially, with Cambodian officials, and the topic of Koh Kood never came up. He said the island is 100 percent Thai-owned.
Lead Stories contacted the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Royal Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh with questions about this claim. This fact check will be updated, if appropriate, if the agencies respond.
Lead Stories wasn't able to determine the origin of video featured in the second half of the post showing military vehicles and personnel. Reverse image searches resulted in similar videos, but no exact match. However, from looking at angles, locations and clues in the background from different pictures and videos here, here and here (archived here, here and here), it appears to be from a preparation ahead of a military parade to mark the army's 25th anniversary in January 2024.
