Latest news with #border tensions
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Thai online users shared edited report about Cambodia landmine incident
As border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia continued to simmer following a deadly clash in May 2025, social media users shared a news segment with an altered news chyron falsely claiming it shows a Cambodian soldier injured after stepping on a landmine. But the original news clip shows a Thai woman who was hurt in a landmine explosion in 2023. "Cambodian soldiers planted a mine, but one stepped on it himself and was seriously injured," reads a Thai-language X post shared on July 14, 2025. The post includes a 14-second video that shows several uniformed personnel helping someone lying on the ground, with a chyron that reads: "Shocking! Cambodian soldier steps on their own landmine, loses leg". The posts emerged as a long-standing border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia escalated into a deadly clash in May 2025, killing one Cambodian soldier (archived link). The incident soured relations between Phnom Penh and Bangkok -- causing the closure of border crossings as Cambodia banned fuel and gas imports from Thailand (archived link). Cambodia media reported that as the border dispute heats up, its army trained border soldiers in mine detection and demining techniques (archived link). The country remains littered with mines, discarded ammunition and other arms from decades of war starting in the 1960s. It had aimed to be mine-free by 2025, but the government pushed the deadline back by five years because of funding challenges and new landmine fields found along the Thai border (archived link). The same claim has also been shared in an X post and on TikTok. But the original news segment shows officials tending to an injured Thai woman two years ago. A reverse image search on Google led to a longer YouTube video published by Thai broadcaster Channel 7 News on May 28, 2023 (archived link). The footage matches the video in the false post at the 1:18 mark. The original headline reads: "Officials rush to help Thai woman in Sa Kaeo after stepping on a landmine -- severed foot, heavy bleeding." Corresponding news reports by local media say the 46-year-old Thai woman was injured by a landmine while foraging in the Thai-Cambodian border area, losing her left foot (archived here and here). AFP observed the Thai-language news chyron in the clip contained misspellings and formatting inconsistencies, indicating it was digitally manipulated. The original text was replaced to suggest the incident involved Cambodian forces. Khmer Times also reported that a Cambodian soldier was also injured while trying to save the Thai woman in the same incident (archived link). AFP has debunked other misinformation related to the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute.
CTV News
5 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Cambodia will start military conscription next year as tensions with Thailand persist
In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet delivers a speech during ceremony to put in used the military building in northern Kampong Chhnang province, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AKP via AP) PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet said Monday that his country will implement military conscription starting next year, in an announcement that coincides with persistent border tensions with Thailand. Relations between the neighbours have deteriorated sharply following an armed confrontation on May 28 in which one Cambodian soldier was killed in one of several small contested patches of land. The sides have agreed to de-escalate their dispute to avoid further clashes, but continue to implement or threaten measures that have kept tensions high, alongside exchanging sharp words. The dispute has also roiled Thailand's domestic politics. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from office after making what critics saw as a disparaging comment about her country's military in a phone call to Cambodia's former Prime Minister Hun Sen, who leaked a recording of it. Hun Manet, Hun Sen's son and successor, said that starting in 2026, an existing law on conscription would be implemented to fill shortages and upgrade the military's capabilities. 'This is our commitment,' Hun Manet said in a speech to military forces in the northern province of Kampong Chhnang. He wore his military uniform displaying his rank of a four-star general. Hun Manet said that soldiers joining the ranks through conscription were more effective than a voluntary force and at least as professional. The conscription law was passed in 2006, but never activated. Cambodians of both sexes, aged 18 to 30, must serve but for women, service is voluntary. Thailand has long implemented conscription for men reaching 20 years of age, with an annual lottery determining who among them is called up. The CIA's World Factbook estimates Cambodia's armed forces total 200,000 personnel, including a large force of military police. It says Thailand has 350,000 active-duty personnel in its armed forces. Hun Manet also called for increasing the military budget. Cambodia is one of the region's poorer countries, with a US$9.32 billion national budget for 2025, out of which the biggest share, US$739 million, went for defense. He also repeated calls for Thailand to reopen without conditions all border crossings it had closed, saying that Cambodia would reciprocate within hours. Sopheng Cheang, The Associated Press
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Cambodia will start military conscription next year as tensions with Thailand persist
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet said Monday that his country will implement military conscription starting next year, in an announcement that coincides with persistent border tensions with Thailand . Relations between the neighbors have deteriorated sharply following an armed confrontation on May 28 in which one Cambodian soldier was killed in one of several small contested patches of land.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Cambodia will start military conscription next year as tensions with Thailand persist
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet said Monday that his country will implement military conscription starting next year, in an announcement that coincides with persistent border tensions with Thailand. Relations between the neighbors have deteriorated sharply following an armed confrontation on May 28 in which one Cambodian soldier was killed in one of several small contested patches of land. The sides have agreed to de-escalate their dispute to avoid further clashes, but continue to implement or threaten measures that have kept tensions high, alongside exchanging sharp words. The dispute has also roiled Thailand's domestic politics. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from office after making what critics saw as a disparaging comment about her country's military in a phone call to Cambodia's former Prime Minister Hun Sen, who leaked a recording of it. Hun Manet, Hun Sen's son and successor, said that starting in 2026, an existing law on conscription would be implemented to fill shortages and upgrade the military's capabilities. 'This is our commitment,' Hun Manet said in a speech to military forces in the northern province of Kampong Chhnang. He wore his military uniform displaying his rank of a four-star general. Hun Manet said that soldiers joining the ranks through conscription were more effective than a voluntary force and at least as professional. The conscription law was passed in 2006, but never activated. Cambodians of both sexes, aged 18 to 30, must serve but for women, service is voluntary. Thailand has long implemented conscription for men reaching 20 years of age, with an annual lottery determining how many are called up. The CIA 's World Factbook estimates Cambodia's armed forces total 200,000 personnel, including a large force of military police. It says Thailand has 350,000 active-duty personnel in its armed forces. Hun Manet also called for increasing the military budget. Cambodia is one of the region's poorer countries, with a $9.32 billion national budget for 2025, out of which the biggest share, $739 million, went for defense. He also repeated calls for Thailand to reopen without conditions all border crossings it had closed, saying that Cambodia would reciprocate within hours.
