Latest news with #RoyalEmbassy
GMA Network
24-07-2025
- Politics
- GMA Network
Thailand F-16 jet bombs Cambodian targets as border clash escalates
People ride a two-wheeler past the Royal Embassy of Cambodia, after Thailand recalled its ambassador to Cambodia and said it would expel Cambodia's ambassador, following a landmine incident that injured Thai soldiers and recent clashes along the disputed border between the two countries, in Bangkok, Thailand, July 24, 2025. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH — A Thai F-16 fighter jet bombed targets in Cambodia on Thursday, both sides said, as weeks of tension over a border dispute escalated into clashes that have killed at least two civilians. Of the six F-16 fighter jets that Thailand readied to deploy along the disputed border, one of the aircraft fired into Cambodia and destroyed a military target, the Thai army said. Both countries accused each other of starting the clash early on Thursday. "We have used air power against military targets as planned," Thai army deputy spokesperson Richa Suksuwanon told reporters. Thailand also closed its border with Cambodia. Cambodia's defense ministry said the jets dropped two bombs on a road, and that it "strongly condemns the reckless and brutal military aggression of the Kingdom of Thailand against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia." The skirmishes came after Thailand recalled its ambassador to Cambodia late on Wednesday and said it would expel Cambodia's envoy in Bangkok, after a second Thai soldier in the space of a week lost a limb to a landmine that Bangkok alleged had been laid recently in the disputed area. Thailand's foreign ministry said Cambodian troops fired "heavy artillery" on a Thai military base on Thursday morning and also targeted civilian areas including a hospital, leading to civilian casualties. "The Royal Thai Government is prepared to intensify our self-defense measures if Cambodia persists in its armed attack and violations upon Thailand's sovereignty," the ministry said in a statement. Thai residents including children and the elderly ran to shelters built of concrete and fortified with sandbags and car tires in the Surin border province. "How many rounds have been fired? It's countless," an unidentified woman told the Thai Public Broadcasting Service (TPBS) while hiding in the shelter as gunfire and explosions were heard intermittently in the background. Cambodia's foreign ministry said Thailand's air strikes were "unprovoked" and called on its neighbor to withdraw its forces and "refrain from any further provocative actions that could escalate the situation." For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817-km (508-mile) land border, which has led to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a weeklong exchange of artillery in 2011. Tensions were reignited in May following the killing of a Cambodian soldier during a brief exchange of gunfire, which escalated into a full-blown diplomatic crisis and now has triggered armed clashes. Landmines The clashes began early on Thursday near the disputed Ta Moan Thom temple along the eastern border between Cambodia and Thailand, around 360 km from the Thai capital Bangkok. "Artillery shell fell on people's homes," Sutthirot Charoenthanasak, district chief of Kabcheing in Surin province, told Reuters, describing the firing by the Cambodian side. "Two people have died," he said, adding that district authorities had evacuated 40,000 civilians from 86 villages near the border to safer locations. Thailand's military said Cambodia deployed a surveillance drone before sending troops with heavy weapons to an area near the temple. Cambodian troops opened fire and two Thai soldiers were wounded, a Thai army spokesperson said, adding Cambodia had used multiple weapons, including rocket launchers. A spokesperson for Cambodia's defense ministry, however, said there had been an unprovoked incursion by Thai troops and Cambodian forces had responded in self-defense. Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the situation was delicate. "We have to be careful," he told reporters. "We will follow international law." An attempt by Thai premier Paetongtarn Shinawatra to resolve the recent tensions via a call with Cambodia's influential former Prime Minister Hun Sen, the contents of which were leaked, kicked off a political storm in Thailand, leading to her suspension by a court. Hun Sen said in a Facebook post that two Cambodian provinces had come under shelling from the Thai military. Thailand this week accused Cambodia of placing landmines in a disputed area that injured three soldiers. Phnom Penh denied the claim and said the soldiers had veered off agreed routes and triggered a mine left behind from decades of war. Cambodia has many landmines left over from its civil war decades ago, numbering in the millions according to de-mining groups. But Thailand maintains landmines have been placed at the border area recently, which Cambodia has described as baseless allegations. — Reuters
Yomiuri Shimbun
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Thailand and Cambodia Say They Will Return to Agreed Border Positions after Fatal Clash
Reuters A royalist activist holds a Thai flag as he protests in front of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia, following a recent clash at the Thailand-Cambodia border on May 28, 2025, in Bangkok, Thailand, June 6, 2025. BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH, June 8 (Reuters) – Cambodia's Defence Ministry confirmed on Sunday that Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to return their troops to previous border positions after a clash in which a Cambodian soldier was killed prompted both to reinforce their military presence. The Cambodian statement, which said both sides wished to ease tensions following the incident in an undemarcated area on May 28, came after Thai Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said both countries were in talks to defuse the situation and would revert to positions agreed in 2024. For days, the two governments have exchanged statements, saying they were committed to finding a peaceful resolution. Neither gave details about where or to what extent their military forces had been reinforced at the weekend. Thailand operates 17 official border crossings with Cambodia, spanning seven provinces along their shared 817 km (508 miles) frontier, Thai government data shows. Both countries have for more than a century contested sovereignty at undemarcated points along their shared border, which was mapped by France in 1907 when Cambodia was its colony. Thailand's Phumtham said both sides hoped the border issue could be fully resolved through bilateral talks, including a meeting of the Joint Boundary Committee on June 14. Cambodia's Foreign Ministry reiterated a request to bring the border disputes to the International Court of Justice in a letter to Thai officials on June 6. 'Given the complexity, historical nature, and sensitivity of these disputes, it is increasingly evident that bilateral dialogue alone may no longer suffice to bring about a comprehensive and lasting solution,' Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn said in the note shared with reporters on Sunday. 'A decision rendered by the ICJ, grounded in international law, would offer a fair, impartial, and durable resolution,' he said. The Thai government has said it does not recognise the court's jurisdiction and proposed that all boundary-related issues be resolved through bilateral negotiations. Tensions between the countries escalated in 2008 over an 11th-century Hindu temple, leading to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a week-long exchange of artillery in 2011. In the latest flare up, Thailand cut operating hours at 10 border crossings with Cambodia, citing security concerns. Checkpoints, including the busiest in Thailand's eastern province of Sa Kaeo, halved operating hours on Sunday to 8 a.m. (0100 GMT) to 4 p.m. local time, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., previously, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura told reporters. The governments of Thailand and Cambodia previously enjoyed warmer ties, owing to a friendship between former leaders, Thaksin Shinawatra from Thailand and Cambodia's Hun Sen. Thaksin's daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, and Hun Sen's son, Hun Manet, are now the incumbent prime ministers of their countries and the conflict has raised questions over their relationship.
