Civilian displacement in Thailand has reached significant levels. Army figures indicate that more than 125,000 Thai residents are taking refuge in several hundred temporary shelters set up in provinces adjoining Cambodia. Photographs from Buriram and Sa Kaeo provinces showed families boarding military trucks and buses while carrying small bundles of belongings. Officials said each shelter provides basic food, bedding and medical care, though capacity is being stretched as more people arrive.
Fighting has spread along multiple stretches of the roughly 500-mile border. Both governments accuse the other of firing first, and neither side has offered a comprehensive list of the areas still under bombardment. Cambodian statements emphasize Thai incursions into civilian zones, while Thai reports focus on strikes against military outposts attributed to Cambodian units.
The present flare-up follows a cease-fire agreement announced only a few months ago. That truce reduced skirmishes but did not resolve long-standing disagreements over territorial demarcation. Experts note that the frontier lacks a fully demarcated line in several sectors, leaving villages, farmland and culturally significant sites in dispute.
Historical sensitivities surrounding the border extend beyond the current confrontation. The area around the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962, has triggered repeated military standoffs. Background on the dispute and past mediation efforts is provided by the International Crisis Group here.
Damage assessments conducted on Tuesday in Cambodian villages closest to the barrage cited collapsed homes, cratered roads and downed power lines. Emergency crews reported difficulty reaching several hamlets because of unexploded ordnance scattered near main access routes. In Thailand, residents showed local officials homes punctured by suspected artillery fragments. Provincial engineers have begun reinforcing public buildings still within range of incoming fire.
Imagem: Internet
Field clinics on both sides of the border are treating shrapnel injuries and blast trauma. Health workers said they are monitoring water quality and sanitation in makeshift camps to prevent the spread of diarrheal disease and other illnesses associated with overcrowding. Supplies of antibiotics, bandages and clean water purification tablets have been dispatched from regional warehouses.
Although officials from Bangkok and Phnom Penh maintain that direct communication lines remain open, neither capital has announced a schedule for formal negotiations aimed at restoring the cease-fire. Statements from the two defense ministries indicate that commanders are exchanging situation reports through pre-established military hotlines, but the substance of those conversations has not been disclosed.
Regional organizations have not publicly outlined plans for mediation. Diplomats stationed in both countries stated on background that they are monitoring developments closely but declined to detail potential intervention strategies. In the absence of an immediate diplomatic breakthrough, residents on both sides of the frontier continue to contend with artillery exchanges, drone strikes and the uncertainty of further escalation.
Authorities in Cambodia and Thailand are expanding shelter capacity, dispatching additional medical teams and seeking to restore disrupted power and water networks. While military units trade fire across multiple sectors, thousands of displaced civilians remain dependent on emergency assistance as they await indications that conditions have stabilized.
Crédito da imagem: Sarot Meksophawannakul/THAI NEWS PIX/AFP via Getty Images; Arnun Chonmahatrakool/THAI NEWS PIX/AFP via Getty Images
