Evacuees seek safety as Cambodia and Thailand clash

BANGKOK, Thailand — Evacuees fled by the thousands from the border of Thailand and Cambodia on Friday as the two countries’ militaries traded fire for a second day, an escalation in a long-running conflict that threatened to grow wider.

Rocket attacks and shelling started near the Ta Muen Thom temple, which was also the flashpoint for the initial skirmish on Thursday.

Clashes were reported in 12 locations, up from six on Thursday, according to Thailand’s military. More than 130,000 people have been evacuated from Thailand’s border regions, said the country’s health ministry, which also reported 15 people killed in two days of skirmishes.

Leaders from both countries talked publicly about resolving the conflict.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has backed a cease-fire proposal offered by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia, which chairs the ASEAN conference of nations that counts Cambodia and Thailand as members. The Cambodian leader posted on Facebook on Friday that Thailand had initially agreed to the deal, but later backed out.

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After initially pushing for a bilateral agreement, Thailand’s foreign ministry said in a post on X that it will consider the Malaysian proposal, but that “appropriate on-the-ground conditions” must exist.

Earlier Friday, the acting prime minister of Thailand, Phumtham Vejjayachai, told reporters that the situation between the countries “had intensified and could escalate into a state of war.”

Seamstress Pornpan Sooksai was among 600 people who took shelter at a gymnasium at a university in Surin, Thailand, about 80 kilometers from the border. She told the Associated Press that she had been doing laundry on Thursday when the shelling began.

“I just heard boom, boom, boom. We already prepared the cages, clothes, and everything, so we ran and carried our things to the car. I was frightened, scared,” she said.

In Cambodia, hundreds of residents near the border in Oddar Meanchey fled to a nearby Buddhist pagoda. Among them was 36-year-old Salou Chan, who lives about 20 kilometers from the disputed area.

“I fear for the safety of my children, they are still small,” he told Agence France-Presse. “I don’t know when I will be able to return home, but I want them to stop fighting soon. Nobody’s looking after my rice paddy and livestock.”

The two days of fighting follow many years of tension along the disputed border, and eight weeks of political jousting between Thai and Cambodian officials after a shooting incident on May 28 that killed a Cambodian soldier. On Wednesday, Thailand expelled Cambodia’s ambassador and recalled its own. [RFA/VP]

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