by Sebastian Strangio
Diplomat
December 08, 2025
December 08, 2025
The two governments have accused the other of responsibility for a string of incidents that threaten to ignite another full-scale border conflict.
Cambodia and Thailand again exchanged fire at several points along their shared border yesterday afternoon and early this morning, which threaten to derail entirely a peace accord signed in Malaysia in October.
In a statement late yesterday, Cambodia’s Ministry of Defense stated that Thai troops had opened fire on Cambodian soldiers close to the border in Preah Vihear province at 2:15 p.m. yesterday, using handguns, B40 machine guns, and 60mm mortars.
“During this incident, Cambodian forces did not retaliate at all and are closely monitoring the situation with utmost caution and vigilance,” ministry spokesperson Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata said in a press briefing. She added that the clash was over by 2:32 p.m., and that Cambodia had notified ASEAN Observer Teams and called for a thorough investigation.
Soon afterward, Thailand’s military countered with a statement in which army spokesperson Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree accused Cambodia of starting the firefight. He stated that Thai soldiers came under fire while protecting an engineering unit that repairing a road “within Thai sovereign territory” in Sisaket province. He stated that “Thai forces then returned fire, leading to a clash that lasted about 15–20 minutes.” The Second Army Region claimed that two Thai soldiers were injured in the attacks. It added that “based on an initial examination of their wounds, it is suspected that they may have been shot by a snipe with an apparent attempt to kill.”
The Ministry of Defense later accused the Cambodian side of actions that “clearly targeted the lives of Thai personnel” and said that the incident was one of a number that “appear intended to escalate tensions.”
In a statement late yesterday, Cambodia’s Ministry of Defense stated that Thai troops had opened fire on Cambodian soldiers close to the border in Preah Vihear province at 2:15 p.m. yesterday, using handguns, B40 machine guns, and 60mm mortars.
“During this incident, Cambodian forces did not retaliate at all and are closely monitoring the situation with utmost caution and vigilance,” ministry spokesperson Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata said in a press briefing. She added that the clash was over by 2:32 p.m., and that Cambodia had notified ASEAN Observer Teams and called for a thorough investigation.
Soon afterward, Thailand’s military countered with a statement in which army spokesperson Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree accused Cambodia of starting the firefight. He stated that Thai soldiers came under fire while protecting an engineering unit that repairing a road “within Thai sovereign territory” in Sisaket province. He stated that “Thai forces then returned fire, leading to a clash that lasted about 15–20 minutes.” The Second Army Region claimed that two Thai soldiers were injured in the attacks. It added that “based on an initial examination of their wounds, it is suspected that they may have been shot by a snipe with an apparent attempt to kill.”
The Ministry of Defense later accused the Cambodian side of actions that “clearly targeted the lives of Thai personnel” and said that the incident was one of a number that “appear intended to escalate tensions.”
The Second Army Region subsequently accused Cambodia of again firing small arms at Thai soldiers at the Sisaket-Preah Vihear border area at around 8:00 p.m. last night, and again at multiple locations along the border between 5:05 a.m. and 6:50 a.m. this morning.
According to a report by Khaosod English that quoted the statement, Thai forces “returned fire following international rules of engagement” and the Second Army Region “declared it would stand firm to defend Thailand’s sovereignty against any aggressor.” According to a subsequent report by Khaosod, the Thai army confirmed that F-16 fighter jets were “deployed to strike Cambodian artillery positions” after an attack on a military based killed one Thai soldier killed and injured two others.
The Cambodian Defense Ministry again responded by accusing Thailand of firing on its soldiers without provocation. “Cambodia did not retaliate at all during the two assaults and continues to monitor the situation vigilantly and with utmost caution,” it stated, as per Fresh News. The Ministry said that it “condemns in the strongest possible terms the inhumane and brutal acts undertaken by the Thai side.” It did not mention Thailand’s use of F-16s.
The clashes are the latest disputed incidents to occur between the two nations since the signing on October 26 of a peace accord intended to end the border dispute that erupted into open conflict for five days in July, killing at least 43 people and displacing more than 300,000 civilians on both sides of the border.
Under the peace agreement, which was signed under the supervision of Anwar and U.S. President Donald Trump in Kuala Lumpur, the two sides agreed to withdraw heavy weapons from the border area, undertake joint landmine clearance, and cooperate more closely to suppress online scamming operations.
However, Thailand suspended the implementation of the agreement on November 11, following a landmine explosion that injured four soldiers patrolling in a disputed area of the border close to Preah Vihear temple.
The Thai military alleged that the mine had been freshly laid by Cambodian military personnel, the seventh such incident since July, in breach of the agreement, a claim that Phnom Penh denied. Two days later, one Cambodian civilian was reportedly killed and several others injured when Thai soldiers opened fire in a disputed frontier settlement on the border between Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province and Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province. Cambodia claims that the soldiers fired at the civilians unprovoked, while Thai officials maintain that Thai soldiers were responding to Cambodian troops who “fired shots into Thai territory.”
The fresh clashes, which could easily spiral again into open conflict, are a sign of the intense mistrust and nationalist anxiety that the current dispute has aroused in both nations. As I noted back in October, these are realities that no amount of outside pressure was likely to ameliorate, and it was clear that the two nations signed the Kuala Lumpur peace accord in order to placate the Trump administration rather than out of any genuine commitment to peace.
While the Malaysian and U.S. governments will now no doubt seek push the two governments to step back from the brink, both governments face domestic nationalist pressure to maintain a hard line against the other. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s government, under fire for its response to the current floods in southern Thailand and facing an election as early as March, in particular remains beholden to the military and cannot afford to take any conciliatory step toward Cambodia.
The government in Phnom Penh, meanwhile, will be happy for anything that distracts the Thai government (and the U.S. government) from its ongoing crackdown on Cambodia-based scam syndicates, in particular, its investigations into several powerful figures close to the ruling Hun family.
No comments:
Post a Comment