Why are Cambodia and Thailand fighting? Temple complex at heart of dispute

Hindustan Times

5 days ago

A Cambodian drone allegedly spotted by Thailand near the area of Ta Muen Thom temple is being cited as the trigger for latest cross-border hostilities between the Southeast Asian neighbours. Rocket-fire exchange and airstrikes involving F-16 jets have since been reported. A Thai soldier watches as Cambodian people visit the disputed ancient Khmer temple Prasat Ta Muen Thom on the border in in March 2025. On July 24, hours after the two sides downgraded diplomatic relations in an escalating row over a disputed border, troops exchanged fire in a new round of clashes.(AFP)
The flare-up is the latest chapter, while it's been more than a century that Thailand and Cambodia have been fighting over the many non-demarcated points along their 817-km land border. This has led to at least a dozen deaths in skirmishes over several years, including during a weeklong exchange of artillery in 2011, Reuters reported.
At the nub of the protracted border dispute, however, is a set of 9th- to 11th-century temples that believed to have initially been built as Hindu shrines but later moved into the Buddhist fold as the region's religious preferences moved too.
Temple complex on key mountain pass
The Prasat Ta Muen Thom temple sits in the Dangrek mountains, and is believed to have been built under Khmer ruler King Udayadityavarman II and dedicated to Lord Shiva.
It was built during the empire that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries in Southeast Asia, primarily in present-day Cambodia.
It is part of a larger temple complex — which has at least two other ancient shrines — on a strategic pass along the ancient Khmer highway that links Angkor in present‑day Cambodia with Phimai in Thailand.
, primarily in present-day Cambodia. The most famous example is Angkor Wat.
Cambodia claims the temple based on historical Khmer Empire boundaries which included modern-day Cambodia and parts of Thailand; but Thailand say it's in its Surin province. The International Court of Justice has awarded it to Cambodia but Thai troops remain in the area around it.
The two countries for some years have had a common understanding governing pilgrimage to the site. But shows of strength fuel a nationalistic sentiment — and vice versa — on both sides.
In February, Cambodian troops crossed into the area and challenged Thai forces deployed there by singing the national anthem. A truce was reached by April.
Past tensions over temple complex
Tension had escalated in 2008, too, after Cambodia's attempt to list the Preah Vihear temple, part of the complex, as a UNESCO World Heritage site on its own. The UNESCO status was granted, though.
The International Court of Justice had already awarded the Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia in 1962, but Thailand continues to lay claim to the surrounding land. The ICJ has later clarified, too, that the land around the temple also belongs to Cambodia. Yet, flare-ups continue.
Mapping recent history, briefly
The dispute, as is being seen today, starts around the beginning of the 20th century. The French colonial rulers of Cambodia mapped the Thai-Cambodian border in 1907. But the line deviated from a 1904 agreement that had said the border would follow the natural watershed. But the map later deviated showed the Preah Vihear temple and the complex as being in Cambodia, even though natural topography put it on the Thai side.
The Thais accepted it then and later raised a dispute in the 1930s. That's why the ICJ ruled that they had waited too long to protest.
In the latest, Thailand's military said Cambodia deployed a surveillance drone before sending troops with heavy weapons to an area near the temple.
Cambodia, however, claimed there was 'unprovoked incursion' by Thai troops and it responded in self-defence.