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The Star
16 hours ago
- Politics
- The Star
'Thank God, we fled': Thai grandmother returns to ruined home after border conflict
Koon Kantho, 68, reacts as she walks around her house destroyed during Cambodia's artillery attacks, in Sisaket province, Thailand, July 29, 2025. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha KANTHARALAK, Thailand (Reuters) -After hearing that a nearby convenience store had been hit by shelling from Cambodia last week, Koon Kantho quickly packed her essentials, locked up her home and scurried to safety at a relative's house with her family. Moments after they left, the 68-year-old said she heard a loud blast but didn't turn back to see what had happened. It wasn't until her son-in-law returned later that she learnt that her home in the Kantharalak district of Thailand's Sisaket province had been reduced to rubble by firing from across the border. "Thank God, we fled," Koon said on Tuesday, as she walked through the debris of the structure that had sheltered her family of six, including her seven-year-old granddaughter, and also housed a small grocery store. "If we hadn't fled, we would have perished." Border communities in Thailand and Cambodia bore the brunt of the five-day conflict between the neighbours - the heaviest fighting between them in over a decade - before it was halted by a ceasefire agreement announced on Monday. The border clashes, during which Thailand deployed F-16 fighter jets and Cambodia used BM-21 missile launchers, have left at least 40 people dead, many of them civilians, and displaced over 300,000 people on both sides. With calm returning to the frontier, some residents like Koon - who also fled her house for a day during clashes in 2011 - are making their way back to their villages to see what is left of their homes and lives. Thailand has estimated the initial costs of evacuation and damaged property at more than 10 billion baht ($307.88 million), Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said on Tuesday, adding the government is preparing an initial budget of 25 billion baht to mitigate the conflict's economic impact. When she returned after the ceasefire announcement, Koon said her heart pounded as she saw her home reduced to splintered wood and twisted beams. "I still have a lot of luck, if not I wouldn't be standing here," she said, almost in tears. Walking through the debris of her home, Koon picked up a few precious mementos: a photo of the monk she prays to, a framed picture of a family member and her wristwatch. Koon said she never imagined losing the home this way, and hopes that the government will step in to help. "I don't know where I will live now," she said. "It's all gone, nothing is left." (Additional reporting by Athit Perawongmetha; Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Straits Times
17 hours ago
- Business
- Straits Times
'Thank God, we fled': Thai grandmother returns to ruined home after border conflict
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox KANTHARALAK, Thailand - After hearing that a nearby convenience store had been hit by shelling from Cambodia last week, Koon Kantho quickly packed her essentials, locked up her home and scurried to safety at a relative's house with her family. Moments after they left, the 68-year-old said she heard a loud blast but didn't turn back to see what had happened. It wasn't until her son-in-law returned later that she learnt that her home in the Kantharalak district of Thailand's Sisaket province had been reduced to rubble by firing from across the border. "Thank God, we fled," Koon said on Tuesday, as she walked through the debris of the structure that had sheltered her family of six, including her seven-year-old granddaughter, and also housed a small grocery store. "If we hadn't fled, we would have perished." Border communities in Thailand and Cambodia bore the brunt of the five-day conflict between the neighbours - the heaviest fighting between them in over a decade - before it was halted by a ceasefire agreement announced on Monday. The border clashes, during which Thailand deployed F-16 fighter jets and Cambodia used BM-21 missile launchers, have left at least 40 people dead, many of them civilians, and displaced over 300,000 people on both sides. With calm returning to the frontier, some residents like Koon - who also fled her house for a day during clashes in 2011 - are making their way back to their villages to see what is left of their homes and lives. Thailand has estimated the initial costs of evacuation and damaged property at more than 10 billion baht ($307.88 million), Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said on Tuesday, adding the government is preparing an initial budget of 25 billion baht to mitigate the conflict's economic impact. When she returned after the ceasefire announcement, Koon said her heart pounded as she saw her home reduced to splintered wood and twisted beams. "I still have a lot of luck, if not I wouldn't be standing here," she said, almost in tears. Walking through the debris of her home, Koon picked up a few precious mementos: a photo of the monk she prays to, a framed picture of a family member and her wristwatch. Koon said she never imagined losing the home this way, and hopes that the government will step in to help. "I don't know where I will live now," she said. "It's all gone, nothing is left." REUTERS
Bangkok Post
a day ago
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Analysts advise not to stoke proxy war
Prominent security and foreign affairs scholars have raised red flags about the escalating Thai-Cambodian conflict, warning that it risks descending into a regional proxy war between the US and China. Panitan Wattanayagorn, an independent national security scholar, said the Trump administration's use of tariffs as leverage in ceasefire negotiations shows the US president's broader campaign promise to act as a global peacemaker. By linking economic tools to security matters, the US gains influence in both spheres and keeps domestic political interests in play. Mr Panitan warned that China's early move to offer mediation had triggered a US urgency to act first. "Cambodia was smart -- they invited China early. Now Beijing's involvement has deepened the geopolitical complexity," he said. The academic urged the Thai government to communicate more clearly on global platforms that it does not welcome external mediation but supports coordinated cooperation and called on Thai negotiators to propose a temporary military freeze, a safe zone, and Cambodian troop withdrawal as preconditions for talks. Meanwhile. Dulyapak Preecharush, deputy director of the East Asian Studies Institute at Thammasat University, said that military survival and territorial control outweigh economic concerns for both countries. He believed that even with a ceasefire framework, fighting may continue as a means to gain a territorial advantage. "Cambodia has deployed heavy weapons like the BM-21 rocket system, targeting civilians in violation of humanitarian norms. Thailand had no choice but to respond militarily," he said. "Looking at other global conflicts, peace often comes only after one side suffers major losses. This situation may still end in a temporary ceasefire, not lasting peace," he said. Both Mr Panitan and Mr Dulyapak agree that the current fighting is not yet a full-blown proxy war, though it shows early signs. "Nationalism and territorial claims still dominate," Mr Dulyapak said of the skirmishes so far. He concluded that if the US and China resist taking sides, they may still find a way to de-escalate. "It won't be sustainable peace, but short-term calm is still achievable."
LeMonde
2 days ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
Behind Cambodia-Thailand flare-ups lie deep-seated political rivalries and gambling
Refugees in a gymnasium at Surindra Rajabhat University in Thailand's Surin Province, bordering Cambodia, on July 24, 2025. LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP After four days of brutal armed confrontation along the Cambodia-Thailand border, the prime ministers of both countries agreed on Monday, July 28, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to observe a ceasefire starting at midnight. The meeting was held under the auspices of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country currently holds the presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Bangkok was represented by Phumtham Wechayachai, the acting prime minister since the suspension of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in June. Phumtham is a close associate of Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister who returned from exile in 2024 and father of Paetongtarn. (In Thailand, leaders are referred to by their first names.) Hun Manet, the Cambodian prime minister who traveled to Kuala Lumpur and is the son of Cambodia's longtime strongman Hun Sen, welcomed a solution "to move forward." July 28 also marks the birthday of the Thai king, Rama X, making it a symbolically significant date in this kingdom rife with political rivalries. Celebrations in Bangkok have been suspended. US President Donald Trump spoke by phone on Saturday evening with the prime ministers of both countries, and claimed credit for securing a ceasefire by telling them: "We're not going to make a trade deal unless you settle the war." Nevertheless, artillery fire was heard again at dawn on Sunday: a 59-year-old Thai man was killed at his home in Sisaket Province by a Cambodian BM-21 rocket – also called "Stalin's organs" – whose unexpected use by Cambodian forces on July 24 gave this long-running border conflict a new dimension. Thailand reported 22 deaths, including eight soldiers, while Cambodia confirmed 13 deaths, including five soldiers, following Thai retaliatory strikes. Thailand evacuated 139,000 people, compared to 35,000 in Cambodia. You have 76.42% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
DW
2 days ago
- Politics
- DW
As Thai-Cambodia truce nears, evacuees speak out – DW – 07/28/2025
As Thailand and Cambodia approach a truce following five days of deadly violence, DW spoke to some of those who were forced to flee the fighting. The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Monday to a ceasefire in a bid to end their deadliest conflict in more than a decade. Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet met on Monday morning at the official residence of Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. International pressure on Bangkok and Phnom Penh to end the fighting had been growing ahead of the mediation meeting in Malaysia, which currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). What began as an exchange of small arms fire intensified into a multi-weapon conflict, with rocket launchers, fighter jets, and drones deployed during a five-day flare-up. Ahead of the ceasefire, which is expected to come into effect at midnight (17:00 UTC/GMT), the governor of Thailand's Surin province, Chamnan Chuenta, said the situation along the Thai-Cambodian border was volatile amid intensifying skirmishes across several districts. Surin hosts an evacuation camp where more than 6,000 people have sought refuge from the border clashes. Samit Yaekmum, a local administrative officer and sheriff in Baan Sawai in Surin's Kap Choeng district, described the fighting from his bunker earlier on Monday. "I'm in the bunker right now, but there's still a signal," he told DW. "The fighting has been ongoing from 3:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. today. Several BM-21 rockets landed in Kap Choeng District, about 20 kilometers from the mountain, but fortunately, no one was injured." Concrete bunkers protected with sandbags have long been built in Thai villages at border crossings with Cambodia for fear of conflict breaking out. Boonlert Atyingyong has spent the past five days living in a bunker in the village. Even though conditions are currently damp at this time of the year in Thailand, the 60-year-old decided not to be evacuated like the majority of people in his village. "I just want to live a normal life like everyone else. I have pets and responsibilities. If I walk away, there's no one else to take care of them," he told DW. "These days, we have to live very cautiously. If we hear any unusual sounds, we have to stay inside." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Surin also has the second-highest number of civilian deaths since the conflict broke out on Wednesday morning, with at least four fatalities and ten injured. Some of those injured are being treated at Surin Hospital. On Sunday, suspended Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was visibly emotional after visiting the hospital to speak with some of those affected, not all of whom are civilians. One Thai soldier was fighting at the frontline on Wednesday morning at Ta Moan Thom, an ancient Khmer-Hindu temple near the Thai-Cambodia border. Mike, who comes from Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand, described his role in the military as a secret commander — so he wasn't allowed to provide his full name for security reasons. He has been hospitalized with injuries to his leg and arm from an explosion. "I was stationed on the frontline, doing my duty," the 35-year-old told DW. "I heard small arms gunfire at first and then it gradually escalated along the line, until it reached my position, around the Ta Moan Thom temple area." "There was return fire; we fought back," the soldier added. "It was hard to see clearly because we had to take cover. They were using heavy weapons. They had more soldiers, around 30 to 50. And then there was a loud explosion, about 20 meters away. I got hit by shrapnel, my thigh was injured, and a blood vessel was severed." "I hope both countries can find peace and coexist peacefully," said Mike, who is expected to recover. As Thailand and Cambodia approach the unconditional ceasefire, thousands of people living in temporary shelters are hoping the truce will bring an end to the conflict. Surindra Rajabhat University's vast campus is now home to thousands of fleeing Thais, who sleep on blanket-laden floors, tents and hammocks. Onuma Luelong, a middle school teacher in Surin, was in the vicinity when Cambodian fire was heard nearby. She and 20 of her family members had to evacuate at short notice because of the proximity to the fighting. "The bombs hit near to my home and school. We moved here because it wasn't safe there," she told DW. But for some families, it's not only people they are worried about. For Pornthip Srijam, a 48-year-old farmer in Surin, the sudden evacuation has made her feel helpless. She sits looking worried outside the main evacuation center, clinging to her pillow. "I'm really worried about my cattle, I have more than ten and I'm concerned for their safety," she told DW. "My husband is still back home. When the situation escalated, he stayed." Monday's mediation meeting in Malaysia followed pressure from US President Donald Trump, who warned that Washington may not proceed with trade deals with either country if hostilities continued. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
