The Cambodian-Thai border is not closed at this time, just adjusting the closing and opening times, but if the border is closed only once a day, Thailand could lose about 500 million baht, or $15 million.
This adjustment occurred after Thailand decided to unilaterally close the border and adjusted the opening and closing times on its own without notifying the Cambodian side around June 7, 2025. The decision is believed to be a decision by the Thai military after the Thai government abdicated direct responsibility for border issues, handing over the right to the military to make decisions based on the actual situation.
According to the English-language newspaper the Nation, the closure of the Cambodian-Thai border could affect Thai trade worth up to 170 billion baht, or more than $5.2 billion. The Federation of Thai Industries warned on Tuesday. Federation of Thai Industries president Kriengkrai Thiennukul said the measures involving the military’s scheduled opening and closing of border crossings would disrupt the movement of goods across the border between the two countries.
He noted that some Federation of Thai Industries members had already started to feel the effects, although it was not yet possible to assess the extent of the damage. He explained that Thailand’s border trade with Cambodia is worth about $5.2 billion a year, with the Aran Phra That district, Sa Kaeo province, accounting for about $3.37 billion, or about 64 percent of the total.
He said that at this time it is difficult to assess the full impact, but if we calculate based on the total daily export value, it will be about $15 million per day. He expressed hope that the situation will not last too long, because the longer the delay, the greater the impact.
He asserted that of course the dispute will cause both Thailand and Cambodia to suffer. Thailand has a trade surplus from exports of consumer goods, fuel, machinery and equipment that will be affected. But no one wants this to happen. When it happens, Thailand has to temporarily close the border to facilitate negotiations on the table.
He believes that the talks will yield good results with mutual understanding allowing the border crossing to return to normal. So both sides can resume trade without further disruption.
He said there were no support measures at this time because the Federation of Thai Industries was awaiting the outcome of the ongoing negotiations. He noted that so far, the negotiations have been positive and fortunately, there has been no coup or war.
Separately, statistics from the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia show that in the first five months of 2025, Cambodia’s exports to Thailand were worth only nearly $400 million, with a growth of 3.4 percent, and imports from Thailand were worth $1.48 billion, with an increase of 11 percent.
