BANGKOK, Thailand: Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged fire across several disputed border zones on July 24, injuring at least three civilians and escalating an already tense diplomatic standoff.
The clashes followed a rapid deterioration in relations between the two Southeast Asian neighbors, triggered by earlier violence and political retaliation.
A livestream from Thailand showed panicked residents fleeing into bunkers as explosions rang out in the morning. Fighting was reported at multiple sites along the contested frontier.
The first skirmish broke out near the ancient Prasat Ta Moan Thom temple, which straddles the border between Thailand's Surin province and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province. Both governments blamed each other for starting the shootout. Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet claimed that Thai forces attacked army positions at both Prasat Ta Moan Thom and Prasat Ta Krabey, and that the conflict then expanded toward Cambodia's Preah Vihear province and Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani province.
"Cambodia has always favored peaceful solutions, but this time we had no choice but to respond with force," Hun Manet said.
Thailand's army reported that three civilians in Surin were injured when Cambodian artillery shells struck a residential area. Authorities said the residents were later evacuated.
The gunfire came just a day after Cambodia announced it would downgrade diplomatic ties with Thailand, expelling the Thai ambassador and recalling its own diplomats from Bangkok. Thailand had already closed northeastern border crossings, recalled its ambassador, and expelled Cambodia's ambassador in protest over a land mine explosion that injured five Thai soldiers. One of the wounded lost a leg.
Tensions between the two nations have been climbing since May, when a Cambodian soldier was shot dead during an earlier border skirmish. Both countries lay claim to several small but strategically sensitive patches of land.
According to the Thai military, the latest violence began when an unmanned drone was spotted, followed by six armed Cambodian soldiers approaching a Thai position. Thai troops reportedly tried to defuse the situation by shouting, but were fired upon instead. Cambodia's Defense Ministry insisted that its forces acted purely in self-defense against what it called a "deliberate Thai incursion."
In Phnom Penh, Senate President Hun Sen urged Cambodians not to panic and to trust the government and military. Meanwhile, the Thai embassy in Cambodia warned citizens to leave the country if possible and advised against unnecessary travel due to the risk of further escalation.
The latest exchange follows a series of land mine blasts in disputed regions. Just a day earlier, a mine wounded five Thai soldiers, one seriously. A week before that, three more soldiers were hurt when one stepped on a mine and lost his foot. Thai officials blamed newly planted mines, allegedly Russian-made, in areas agreed to be safe zones. Cambodia dismissed the accusations, saying the region is littered with unexploded mines left from decades of past conflict.
Nationalist sentiment in both countries is further stoking the situation. Thailand's Prime Minister was suspended from office on July 1 amid an investigation into alleged ethics violations over her handling of the border tensions.
Border disputes between Thailand and Cambodia have long been a source of friction. The most sensitive flashpoint remains the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple. In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the site to Cambodia—a decision Thailand has never fully accepted.
More violence erupted around the temple in 2011, resulting in about 20 deaths and the displacement of thousands. Cambodia returned to the court in 2013, which reaffirmed its ownership—a ruling that continues to irritate Thailand.
As tensions rise once again, the risk of broader conflict looms large, with both countries now on high alert along their volatile shared border.
