Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — Conflict has once again flared along the Thailand-Cambodia border, rekindling a decades-old territorial dispute that has left at least 16 people dead and forced more than 120,000 civilians to flee their homes.
The fighting erupted early Thursday (July 24) with airstrikes and retaliatory rocket fire exchanged between the two Southeast Asian neighbors. Thai officials reported 15 fatalities, while Cambodia said one civilian was killed in the clashes.
Tensions intensified rapidly, prompting Thailand to declare a state of emergency in eight districts bordering Cambodia as of Friday (July 25), according to the commander of Thailand’s Border Defense Command in Chanthaburi and Trat provinces, Apichart Sapprasert.
Thai military sources said at least 12 locations along the border were active combat zones. Thailand’s Interior Ministry reported that roughly 120,000 people had been evacuated from four provinces near the Cambodian frontier, Surin, Sisaket, Ubon Ratchathani, and Buriram.
Both sides have blamed each other for instigating the violence. Thai officials accused Cambodia of flying drones into Thai airspace and launching rockets into villages in the Phanom Dong Rak District of Surin Province. In response, the Thai Air Force reportedly deployed F-16 fighter jets to strike Cambodian military positions.
Thai authorities have called on the international community and global organizations to condemn what they describe as Cambodian military aggression.
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Cambodia, however, insists that Thailand initiated the hostilities. Prime Minister Hun Manet sent a formal letter to the United Nations Security Council, claiming Cambodia had no choice but to activate its armed forces in self-defense.
The conflict stems from a long-standing territorial dispute over land surrounding the ancient Preah Vihear and Ta Moan Thom temples. Although the International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia, Thailand continues to claim adjacent areas—fueling periodic flare-ups in the region.
On Friday evening (U.S. time), Cambodia’s envoy to the United Nations issued an urgent appeal for an “immediate ceasefire,” urging Thailand to end the violence that has now entered its second day.
(Raidi/Agung)
