The military confrontation along the Cambodia-Thailand border has intensified dramatically as sustained hostilities entered their second consecutive week, creating a severe humanitarian crisis with mounting casualties and mass displacement.
According to official reports from both nations, the conflict has resulted in more than two dozen fatalities and the forced evacuation of over 500,000 civilians from border regions. Thailand’s military command announced the implementation of a curfew in specific districts of Trat Province on Sunday, citing persistent security concerns along the contested frontier.
Defense Ministry Spokesman Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri confirmed to journalists in Bangkok that continuous clashes have persisted since Saturday. While expressing Thailand’s theoretical openness to diplomatic resolution, Kongsiri emphasized that negotiations would require Cambodia to “cease hostility first.”
The two neighboring countries have engaged in mutual accusations regarding the escalation. Cambodia’s Information Minister Neth Pheaktra condemned Thai forces for allegedly expanding operations to target civilian infrastructure and non-combatants. In response to the deteriorating situation, Phnom Penh officially suspended all border crossing operations with Thailand on Saturday.
International mediation efforts have encountered significant obstacles. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim conducted separate diplomatic conversations with Thai Caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, proposing a ceasefire to commence Saturday evening. While Cambodia expressed support for this initiative, Thai leadership explicitly rejected the proposal.
The situation became further complicated by contradictory statements regarding U.S. involvement. President Donald Trump claimed on Friday that the Southeast Asian neighbors had agreed to halt fighting, but Thai officials subsequently clarified that no ceasefire agreement had been established during their communication with the American administration.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed readiness to support peace initiatives in the region, while China—as a regional power and neighbor to both nations—urged restraint and peaceful resolution through its Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun.
This recent outbreak continues a pattern of border tensions between the two countries, which previously witnessed significant clashes in July that resulted in hundreds of casualties. Although both parties reached a ceasefire agreement in August during a General Border Committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur and signed a joint peace declaration during October’s ASEAN Summit, the current violence represents a severe breakdown of these diplomatic achievements.