27-07-2025
Monks and volunteers offer respite
Long-festering tensions over territory escalated into armed conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, leading to dozens of deaths on both sides and displacing tens of thousands of people.
It's a grim situation, but there is some light amid the darkness. On both sides of the border, some people are working around the destruction, intent on creating a safe space or finding normalcy.
A temple in Thailand's northeastern province of Surin has something most of the country's 27,000 active Buddhist monasteries do not: a concrete bunker to shelter from bombs and shelling.
The temple, which asked not to be identified by name because of safety concerns, is about 10km from the border with Cambodia.
The temple's abbot, Phut Analayo, said the decision to build a bunker was made after a brief armed clash between Thai and Cambodian soldiers in May inflamed relations.
Construction was speedy because the bunker is made from large precast concrete drainage pipes a little over a meter in diameter, protected by mounds of earth, metal frames and sheeting.
It's divided into two tubular rooms, each about 4m long, and wired with electricity. There's a kitchen with a kettle, an electric rice cooker and basic cookware.
It's a tight fit, but there is enough space for the temple's six monks and the dozen or so villagers who sleep there every night.
He said his temple has ceased religious activities for now but that the remaining monks stayed out of concern for the monastery and the people it serves.
Helping out: (From left) Chadaporn, Bunyaluck Duchanee and Yupin Potiracha packing goods for Thai residents who fled their homes. — AP
'If I leave, the people who rely on us will lose their spirit,' he said. 'I'm scared too, but I'll just stay here for now, when I can.'
Learning ballroom dancing is how some senior citizens in northeastern Thailand spend their leisure hours, but the latest conflict has motivated them to try to help some of the thousands of people displaced by fighting.
About a dozen members of the Ballroom Dance for Health of the Elderly of Surin Province club went Saturday to a shelter housing about 1,000 evacuees, where they handed out clothes, toiletries, blankets and pillows.
Retired civil servant Chadaporn Duchanee, the ballroom teacher, initiated the project.
The 62-year-old posted on Facebook about the donation she made on Thursday, and her pupils proved happy to participate, too.
'We want to help, said Chadaporn. 'Everyone left in a hurry, without bringing their belongings, just trying to escape the line of fire, so they fled empty handed.'
It looks just like your typical roadside stall found commonly all over South-East Asia, but this one seems very well-provisioned.
Also, it's not selling anything, even though there are boxes of bottled water, plastic bags filled with fruit and vegetables and the occasional packet of instant noodles. It is there to solicit donations of food and other essentials to give to evacuees fleeing fighting.
It also gives handouts to members of the armed forces headed toward the front lines.
This pop-up operation is at the border of Siem Reap, home to Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex, and Oddar Meanchey province – an active combat zone.
Chhar Sin, a 28-year-old self-described youth volunteer, mans the stall.
But even here, 100km from the border with Thailand, she senses people don't feel safe, as the streets seem emptier than usual.
She and other volunteers, are spending the weekend collecting supplies from Cambodians to dole out to the less fortunate.
'For today and tomorrow, we are standing here waiting to give gifts to the people who are displaced from war zones and are seeking safety,' Chhar Sin said.
When she woke up Saturday, Kim Muny, made the decision not to open her convenience store, but instead cook rice for members of the Cambodian military and fleeing civilians.
'Cambodians have a kind heart. When we heard that soldiers and displaced people needed help, we decided to help with an open heart,' said the 45-year-old after donating parcels of rice wrapped in banana leaves at the stall.
'We know our soldiers don't have time to cook, so we will do it for them.' — AP
