“Paethongtarn” declared that Thailand is ready to fight without retreating when Cambodia started shooting first. She has talked to the Deputy Minister of Defense and that our military equipment is complete. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is fully advancing its explanation on the world stage. She suggested that Thai people must unite right now. She said that Cambodia may not be happy with Thailand’s aggressive crackdown on call centers, which has conflicted with certain interests. She pointed out that even if the Shinawatra family is not in the government, this matter must be addressed.

On July 26, 2025 at 3:31 p.m., Ms. Paethongtarn Shinawatra, Prime Minister and Minister of Culture, gave a press conference after a meeting to follow up on measures to cope with and provide assistance to the injured and deceased in areas affected by the situation along the Thai-Cambodian border. She said that the violent situation was something the government did not want to happen until Cambodia opened fire first on July 24. International news agencies have noted and have evidence that Thai students in border provinces went to school as usual that day, but Cambodia did not go and ordered them to stop studying. Further information must be examined to see if it is true or not, because if Thailand knew that they would shoot, they would have given advance warning. At this time, even though she herself cannot perform her duties as Prime Minister, We continue to listen and follow closely. Yesterday, we had an update with General Nattapol Nakphanich, Deputy Minister of Defense, who emphasized that Thailand's military equipment is ready and there is no need to worry. As for Thailand using F-16 aircraft, it is because Cambodia fired into a residential area with children and it really affected the people.

In any case, the government, the army and the security sector have been coordinating continuously and looking into this matter carefully. If you ask what will happen next, we will have to let the situation assess. But we will try our best to protect our Thailand. And I confirm that Thailand never started it and does not want to use violence. But when violence comes, we must fight and not retreat.

In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has presented evidence of Cambodia's injustice, including violations of treaties and international law, human rights law and severe inhumanity, such as the planting of landmines, which have evidence that they were newly planted, which is a serious violation of human rights and international law. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the world and explained to the media, and they believe what we say.

Ms. Paethongtarn added that the current situation encourages Thais to have national unity. Let's fight with people outside the country first. The conflict in the country can wait. Right now, all parties must cooperate and encourage each other, which is the most important thing. And I firmly believe that Thais love each other very much. As for the many accusations that are being stirred up to create hatred, saying that the two families are fighting, do you remember that several months ago I seriously cracked down on the call center gang and it has clearly decreased. I was confused because at that time I was still able to contact Cambodia. The person who was in charge of translating said that Cambodia was angry with me. I called to talk to him privately without recording the clip. Therefore, I do not know if he lost any benefits because we insisted on suppressing drugs, suppressing call center gangs, and online gambling, which was the government's intention and must be done. But he wanted us to talk to only 2 countries, not joining other countries, which were Laos and Myanmar. So I asked to bring the matter to the cabinet meeting. When I think back, I know that it was an expression of dissatisfaction since then with the suppression of the call center gang because no country was dissatisfied with the suppression of the call center gang. When people were deceived, the government came to help, which was a good thing. So it made me understand that we must have conflicted with some interests, which led to this kind of thing happening. I am confident that the government, whether it is the Shinawatra surname or not, must suppress this matter because it affects Thai people just like drugs. We cannot not do it.