Thai unilateral land border closures and the recent armed clashes between the two neighbouring Kingdoms saw Cambodia-Thailand bilateral trade drop by almost 40% in the third quarter of 2025.
According to an October 10 statement by the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE), from July to September 2025, bilateral trade between the two totalled $716.12 million, a 35.61% decrease compared to Q3 2024, when it topped $1.1 billion. Exports to Thailand were valued at $128.26 million, down 37.62%, while imports were $587.86 million, down 35.16%.
In September alone, trade between the two countries was $249.22 million, a 34.7% drop compared to September 2024. Of this Cambodia exported $41.41 million and imported $207.8 million.
In the first three quarters of 2025 (January to September), total bilateral trade reached $2.909 billion, a decline of 8.2% compared to the same period in 2024. Cambodia exported $576.31 million to Thailand, down 10.7% and imported $2.333 billion, down 7.6%.
Hong Vanak, an economist at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, told The Post on October 10 that the armed conflict and Thailand’s continued incursions into Cambodian territory have led to a growing trend among Cambodians to boycott Thai products wherever possible, beginning in Q2 2025.
He noted that prior to Thailand’s aggression, Thai products were extremely popular among Cambodians — a trend dating back to the early 1980s. Thai goods were widely used in Cambodia, especially food products, beverages, fruit, daily necessities, electronics, construction materials and fuel.
“The conflict initiated by the Thai side has continuously decreased the flow of trade between the two countries since Q2 2025,” he said.
He added that this trend is likely to continue if extremist elements among Thai leaders, military personnel and citizens persist in causing issues with Cambodia.
“I believe bilateral trade between the two countries could be completely severed if Thailand does not stop its aggression toward Cambodia,” he continued.
He expected that if the problems and border closures persist, Thai products will continue to lose favour among Cambodian consumers. They will instead turn to locally-made goods or imports from other countries like China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
He also noted that while Thai goods are still being sold in Cambodia, they are being imported via Laos, air routes, sea routes or are illegally smuggled into the country.
In 2024, total Cambodia-Thailand trade reached $4.29 billion, up 15.5% from 2023. Exports to Thailand were $844.9 million (up 3.3%), while imports totalled$3.44 billion (up 18.9%), according to the GDCE.
