Kuala Lampur, Aug. 5 -- Although the latest ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia offers a moment of relief, the roots of their territorial conflict run deep - stretching back more than a century to the 1907 Franco-Siam Treaty.

That agreement, drawn up between France and Siam (Thailand's predecessor), attempted to demarcate boundaries based on colonial-era cartography, primarily relying on the rivers and natural terrain that separated local communities.

At the time, borders were not defined by digital coordinates or satellite images, but by how rivers meandered through mountains, bushlands, and remote hinterlands.

These riverine boundaries served a functional purpose in the early 20th century but were never intended to be permanent, ...