Fleeing Thais, Cambodians call for peace
KANTHARAROM: As Cambodia and Thailand traded deadly strikes, fleeing civilians on both sides described their cross-border neighbors as 'siblings' and 'friends' - swapping calls for peace against the backdrop of artillery barrages. The death toll from three days of fighting has risen to 33, the majority civilians, after a long-running border dispute sharply escalated into combat waged with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops.
'Relations used to be good - we were like siblings,' said 56-year-old Sai Boonrod, one of hundreds of Thais sheltering at a temple in the town of Kanthararom after evacuating her border village home. 'But now things may have changed,' she told AFP. 'I just want the fighting to end so we can go back to being like siblings again.' Over the Cambodian border, 150 kilometers from Sai's temporary home, a similar scene plays out: hundreds of evacuees huddled in makeshift tents on a temple site, surrounded by emergency food rations and their hastily packed clothes. 'We are neighbors, we want to be friends,' one 50-year-old told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity at the temple shelter in Phumi Bak Thkav.
'But they are attacking us. We are fleeing homes because of them.' Tensions have long flared over the countries' shared 800-kilometre border, peppered with ancient temple sites claimed by both nations. The previous most deadly clashes broke out between 2008 and 2011 - leaving at least 28 people dead.
But stretching her legs on a bamboo mat, Sai said 'it was never this violent' in previous times. She is one of more than 170,000 evacuated from the countries' border zones, but her husband stayed behind to help guard neighbors' livestock and belongings. 'I want them to negotiate, to stop firing quickly... so the elderly can return home and the children can go back to school,' she said. The UN Security Council held an urgent meeting on Friday and both sides have said they are open to a truce - but accused the other of undermining armistice efforts.
'End the fighting'
This flare-up began with a gun battle in late May killing one Cambodian soldier, and festered with tit-for-tat trade restrictions and border closures before hostilities spiked on Thursday. At 73 years old, Suwan Promsri has lived through many episodes of border friction - but said this one feels 'so much different'. He said resentment of Cambodians among Thais - including himself - is growing, with patriotic online discourse fanning the flames.
In February, Bangkok formally protested to Phnom Penh after a video of women singing a patriotic Khmer song in front of a disputed temple was posted on social media. The fighting has also been accompanied by a wave of online misinformation and disinformation from both sides. 'Before the internet, I felt indifferent,' said Suwan. 'But social media really plays a part in fuelling this hatred.' Despite the divisions, he is united with his Thai neighbors, and those over the border in Cambodia, in his calls for peace. 'I want the government to realize that people along the border are suffering. Life is difficult,' he said. 'I hope the authorities work on negotiations to end the fighting as soon as possible.' — AFP
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