Cambodia will conduct a “large-scale” emergency evacuation drill with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam “in near future”, Ministry of National Defence spokesman Chum Socheat told The Post on Tuesday.

Without specifying the number of soldiers that will be involved in the exercise, Socheat said the drill will not be used as a joint military combat exercise. “It is purely in preparation for a humanitarian mission,” he said.

While he was unable to confirm a specific timeframe for when the drill would be held, Socheat said the training commander would draw up a proposal and submit it to the ministry.

National press agency Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP) recently cited Moeung Samphan, the Ministry of Defence secretary of state, saying the drill would be held near the Vietnamese border in Svay Rieng province.

“It will be arranged at the end of the year on [such] a scale we have never witnessed before”, he said.