BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH – The Thai military announced Monday that more than 35,000 civilians have been evacuated from four border districts and relocated to temporary shelters as tensions with Cambodia over disputed territory escalate once again.
The evacuations affect communities in Surin, Si Sa Ket, Buriram, and Ubon Ratchathani provinces along the 817-kilometre frontier, parts of which remain undemarcated since the 1907 French colonial map drawn when Cambodia was under Paris’s rule.
Military spokesmen described the move as “precautionary” amid heightened troop deployments on both sides. Local residents reported increased artillery and small-arms fire near the contested Preah Vihear temple area and other flashpoints in recent days.
The century-old sovereignty dispute has triggered deadly clashes before, most notably a week-long exchange of rocket and artillery fire in 2011 that killed at least 18 people and displaced tens of thousands.
Despite multiple rounds of bilateral talks and rulings by the International Court of Justice affirming Cambodian sovereignty over the Preah Vihear temple itself in 1962 and surrounding land in 2013, overlapping claims persist. Both governments insist they seek a peaceful resolution, yet neither has ruled out force to protect what each regards as national territory.