​​A Dozen Casualties & Hospital Shelling: Thai-Cambodian Border Turned to Hell After Military Confrontation

Both countries have blamed the other for the conflict's escalation as tensions continue to rise along their shared border.

Thailand and Cambodia have engaged in military confrontation yet again. Except this time, it’s the bloodiest in decades. The clash came right after July 23, when the Thai government downgraded its diplomatic ties with Cambodia, withdrawing its ambassador from Phnom Penh and expelling the Cambodian ambassador from Bangkok.

By the next morning, aircraft could be heard flying over the border, with the Thai border patrol spotting six Cambodian soldiers, equipped with RPGs, scouting the border. Although both sides claimed that their counterparts were the ones to shoot first, the updates have by far seen substantial development, as by the time Friday, July 25, came around, both sides had been engaging in action for the whole night. By far, there are dozens of casualties and many more injured on Thailand’s side, while Cambodia did not release official details on its casualties or injured civilians.

Lowered Diplomatic Ties

Thailand lowered its diplomatic ties with Cambodia in the late hours of July 23, citing recent incidents of Thai soldiers stepping on Cambodian landmines, to which Cambodia has denied responsibility for such incidents. By 8:20 a.m. the next morning, Thailand spotted Cambodian soldiers starting to shoot across the border, which laid the ground for Thailand’s claim that Cambodia had opened fire and that Thailand had been acting in self-defense.

On the Cambodian side of reports, the Cambodian army has cited that they initially spotted Thai soldiers around the border areas at 6:30 a.m. on July 24. They also have reported witnessing Thai drones flying above Cambodian airspace for over 2 minutes at 7:04 a.m. on the same day. At 8:46 a.m., Cambodia stated that Thailand had fired the first shot at the Ta Muean Thom Temple, and within a minute that followed, the Cambodian forces fired back in retaliation.

As July 24 rolled along, many more injuries followed with airstrikes and shelling now expanding to the civilian areas surrounding the border, including strikes that hit a gas station and a hospital, prompting Thailand to issue a full evacuation order to all areas on its eastern border corridor. Since the first issue of the evacuation order, over 100,000 people have been evacuated to evacuation centers.

Army Deployed

Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai mentioned that he will have to keep the Thai army’s position at the “maximized” military position and that Thailand will not engage in any negotiations if no ceasefire is achieved. This comes at a time when Thailand is deploying its massive army. Thailand has also been seen deploying its F-16s to attack Cambodian army camps on July 24 as well.

These deployments escalated to the point that they led the Thai acting PM to announce that this clash could soon escalate into a full-blown war. Later on, Thailand’s foreign ministry said that they are open to diplomatic talks to end the border clashes. They will not, however, stop the deployment unless Cambodia agrees to a ceasefire. With multiple countries — from Malaysia, acting as the ASEAN chair offering peace talks, to the United States, United Kingdom, France and China signaling concerns over the gravity of the situation.

As the matter now reaches the United Nations’ Security Council, it will be difficult to see how the resolution will be achieved. Regardless, one could only hope that peace will soon come to the region and that the confrontation does not develop into a full war, for these people evacuated have seen one too many already.

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The views and information contained in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Asia Cable.