Cambodia-Thailand border clashes send half a million into shelters

Cambodia-Thailand border clashes send half a million into shelters | Daily Tribune

SAMRAONG, Cambodia (AFP) — Half a million evacuees in Cambodia and Thailand were sheltering in pagodas, schools and other safe havens on Wednesday after fleeing renewed fighting in a century-old border dispute in which United States (US) President Donald Trump has vowed to again intercede.

At least 11 people, including Thai soldiers and Cambodian civilians, have been killed in the latest spate of fighting, officials said, while more than 500,000 have fled border regions near where jets, tanks and drones were waging battle.

The Southeast Asian neighbors are disputing the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometer frontier, where competing claims to historic temples have spilled over into armed conflict.

This week’s clashes are the deadliest since five days of fighting in July that killed dozens and displaced around 300,000 before a shaky truce was agreed, following intervention by Trump.

Both sides blame each other for instigating the reignited conflict, which on Tuesday expanded to five provinces of both Thailand and Cambodia, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) tally of official accounts.

AFP journalists in northwestern Cambodia’s Samraong town on Wednesday morning heard the blasts of incoming artillery from the direction of centuries-old temples in disputed border areas.

“Civilians have had to evacuate in large numbers due to what we assessed as an imminent threat to their safety More than 400,000 people have been moved to safe shelters” across seven provinces, Thai defense ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri told reporters at a news conference.

“We want to prevent a recurrence of the attacks on civilians we suffered in July 2025.”

‘Will it hit us?’

In Cambodia, “101,229 people have been evacuated to safe shelters and relatives’ homes in five provinces,” as of Tuesday evening, defense ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata told reporters.

Cambodian Lay Non, 55, fled northern O’Smach town where he works as a security guard at a casino on Tuesday, and was staying at a temple with his family.

“This time the fighting is more intense, the Thais drop bombs from jets,” he told AFP.

“I feel warm” staying near a large Buddha statue inside the temple, he added.

For Pratuan Chuawong, a Thai farmer living barely 500 meters from the Cambodian border, the return of fighting has revived the same fears that gripped her in July.

After those earlier clashes, she and her neighbors decided to build a bunker on their temple grounds, with hopes of shielding them from shelling.

Her village, in Sa Kaeo province, lies among the closest to the front line.

“This time, it feels more severe than the July fighting,” Pratuan told AFP.

“The sound of shells gets louder and louder each night. I kept wondering, ‘Will it hit us?’”

Cambodia withdrew Wednesday from the Southeast Asian Games, hosted by Thailand, with its Olympic committee “citing serious concerns and requests from the families of our athletes to have their relatives return home immediately.”