Thai–Cambodian Border Erupts Again: Airstrikes, Casualties, Mass Evacuations Shake Fragile Ceasefire
By Passman Akpos
Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia exploded into the region’s fiercest confrontation in more than a year as airstrikes, artillery fire and ground clashes ripped through contested border areas early Monday, shattering a fragile U.S.-brokered truce.
Thai authorities confirmed that one soldier was killed and eight others wounded after what officials described as “intensified” combat shortly before dawn. The Royal Thai Air Force said it launched airstrikes in response to Cambodian forces allegedly repositioning heavy weaponry and mobilizing troops in an “escalatory” manner.
“These movements compelled the use of air assets to weaken Cambodia’s operational capacity,” the Air Force said, citing threats posed by Cambodian forward deployments.
Cambodia sharply countered the claims, accusing Thailand of coordinating pre-dawn attacks at two separate locations after “multiple days of Thai provocations.” Phnom Penh’s Defence Ministry insisted that its forces had not fired back but were instead acting defensively.
Hun Sen Warns Thailand
Former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, still deeply influential and father to current premier Hun Manet, blasted the Thai strikes as “aggression intended to provoke retaliation.”
“The red line for responding has already been set,” Hun Sen posted on Facebook, urging military commanders to maintain discipline while bracing for further confrontations.
Provincial officials in Oddar Meanchey reported that at least three civilians were critically injured in the cross-border bombardments.
Heaviest Fighting Since Last Year’s Ceasefire
The border, a largely undemarcated 817-kilometre frontier, has been a battleground of colonial-era disagreements. But this week’s clashes mark the most serious escalation since July, when violence killed more than 48 people and displaced close to 300,000 on both sides before emergency diplomacy led by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim halted the fighting.
That ceasefire, backed by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, was formally adopted at a Kuala Lumpur summit in October. On Monday, Anwar — now ASEAN chair — warned that the renewed violence could obliterate months of painstaking negotiations.
“This resurgence of violence risks undoing the painstaking work undertaken to stabilise relations,” he said, urging urgent dialogue.
Explosions Echo Across Villages
Residents living close to the frontier reported terrifying scenes.
“It startled me,” said Phichet Pholkoet from Ban Kruat district in Thailand. “The explosions were very clear—boom, boom. You could tell some were artillery and some were small arms.”
Authorities ordered the evacuation of more than 385,000 residents across four districts, with over 35,000 already sheltering in temporary camps.
From the Cambodian side, opposition figure Meach Sovannara said families fled as artillery thundered over their homes. Local officials tallied more than 1,100 evacuated families in Oddar Meanchey alone.
Border Dispute Reignited
The flare-up follows months of deteriorating relations. Skirmishes intensified after a Cambodian soldier was killed in May. Bangkok has repeatedly accused Phnom Penh of secretly laying new landmines, claiming that at least seven Thai troops have suffered severe injuries since July.
Phnom Penh has rejected all such accusations, though an October Reuters analysis suggested many of the mines recently discovered near the frontier were newly planted.
Thailand suspended parts of the ceasefire last month after a soldier lost a limb in a blast.
As the crisis spirals, regional diplomats fear that the border dispute — dormant for years, smouldering for months — may now be blazing toward a conflict neither side can easily control.
