LAST UPDATE | 24 Jul 2025

AT LEAST 12 people have been killed after Thailand and Cambodia exchanged fire on their border in their worst clash in more than a decade.

Both nations accused the other of opening fire near a disputed border area and downgraded diplomatic relations. Thailand also sealed all land border crossings with Cambodia.

Both sides have accused the other of firing first in today’s clashes. 

According to the Thai army, the clashes began around 7.35 am (local time) when a unit guarding Ta Muen temple heard a Cambodian drone overhead.

Later, six armed Cambodian soldiers, including one carrying a rocket-propelled grenade, approached a barbed-wired fence in front of the Thai post, the army said.

Thai soldiers shouted to warn them, the army said, but around 8:20 am, Cambodian forces opened fire toward the eastern side of the temple, about 200 metres from the Thai base.

Deputy spokesperson of the Thai army Ritcha Suksuwanon said six F-16 fighter jets were deployed from Ubon Ratchathani province, hitting two “Cambodian military targets on the ground”. 

The Thai public health ministry said one soldier and at least 11 civilians were killed, most of them in a rocket strike near a petrol station in Sisaket province. Two children aged eight and 15 were among those killed. 

Footage from the scene showed smoke pouring from a convenience store attached to the petrol station. Provincial officials said most of the dead were students inside the shop when the attack happened.

“I heard a loud noise three or four times, and when I looked over, there was a gigantic cloud of smoke,” Praphas Intaracheun, a 53-year-old gardener from Sisaket, told AFP.

“I’m scared it might escalate during the night when you can’t see anything. I don’t even dare sleep.”

Thailand said 35 people have been wounded, and accused Cambodia of targeting civilian buildings.

A 30-bed hospital in the town of Phanom Dong Rak in Surin province, just 15 kilometres from the border, was hit by shells which shattered windows and collapsed part of a roof.

The facility, which was also struck in the last major clashes between the two countries in 2011, was partially evacuated on Wednesday night as a precaution.

“We got a tip that there would be an attack from Cambodia,” a soldier stationed at the entrance told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“There is no telling when it will be safe enough for patients to return.”

Long-running row

Today’s exchanges of fire mark the latest flare-up in a long-running row over border demarcation near two ancient temples.

The neighbours are locked in a decades-long dispute over an area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of both countries and Laos meet.

Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said “the situation requires careful handling, and we must act in accordance with international law”.

“We will do our best to protect our sovereignty,” he said.

The violence came hours after Thailand expelled the Cambodian ambassador and recalled its own envoy in protest after five members of a Thai military patrol were wounded by a landmine.

Wechayachai said an investigation by the Thai military found evidence that Cambodia had laid new landmines in the disputed border area — a claim denied by Phnom Penh.

This morning, Cambodia announced it was downgrading ties with Thailand to “the lowest level”, pulling out all but one of its diplomats and expelling their Thai equivalents from Phnom Penh.

Recent weeks have seen a series of tit-for-tat swipes by both sides, with Thailand restricting border crossings and Cambodia halting certain imports.

With reporting from AFP