CAMBODIAN and Thai soldiers stationed along the two countries’ shared border are set to let off some steam later this month during an inter-military sports meet, officials said.

“We are arranging for a competition of volleyball, petanque and possibly boxing between the Thai and Cambodian militaries,” Leu Chandara, deputy chief of the Thailand-Cambodia relations office at the Poipet border crossing, said Tuesday.

He said the purpose of the event would be to strengthen communication and promote friendship between troops at the border, and to ensure that the simmering standoff does not erupt in violence.

“We have tried to hold competitions in different places along the border so soldiers on both sides can get close, communicate well and make peace at the border,” Leu Chandara said.

Srey Doek, commander of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Division 3, said the two sides have tentatively scheduled the competition for May 17-21. “We want to have such competitions frequently because it is helping our soldiers to get to know each other and to make peace along the border,” he said.