Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Monday that his country will implement military conscription starting next year, in an announcement that coincides with persistent border tensions with Thailand.

Relations between the neighbours have deteriorated sharply following an armed confrontation on May 28 in which one Cambodian soldier was killed in one of several small contested patches of land.

The two sides have agreed to de-escalate their dispute to avoid further clashes, but continue to implement or threaten measures that have kept tensions high, alongside exchanging sharp words.

The dispute has also roiled Thailand's domestic politics. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from office after making what critics saw as a disparaging comment about her country’s military in a phone call to Cambodia’s former prime minister Hun Sen, who leaked a recording of it.

Hun Manet, Hun Sen’s son and successor, said that starting in 2026, an existing law on conscription would be implemented to fill shortages and upgrade the military's capabilities.

“This is our commitment,” Hun Manet said in a speech to military forces in the northern province of Kampong Chhnang.

He wore his military uniform displaying his rank of a four-star general.

Hun Manet said that soldiers joining the ranks through conscription were more effective than a voluntary force and at least as professional.

The conscription law was passed in 2006, but never activated.

Meanwhile, Thailand's anti-graft body will investigate Paetongtarn for alleged ethnics violations over the leaked phone call with Hun Sen, an official and local media said on Monday.

The investigation will be another blow to the beleaguered government of 38-year-old Paetongtarn, Thailand's youngest premier, who the Constitutional Court suspended from duty earlier this month over the same issue.

The leaked June 15 call triggered a major backlash at home, with allegations she had undermined Thailand's integrity and sovereignty amid the territorial dispute.

Paetongtarn has apologised for the call and insisted she was trying to find a peaceful solution to an escalating row with Cambodia, which saw a troop buildup on both sides of their border. (AP/Reuters)