Battle in Thailand – Fortress Border Enters Day 3 as Malaysia urges a ceasefire

The battle on Thailand-fort border stretched to the third day, with a new flash point on Saturday as both sides said they defended themselves in the border dispute and called on the other side to stop fighting and start negotiations.

In the worst battles between Southeast Asian neighbors in 13 years, more than 30 people have been killed and more than 130,000 have been displaced.

Both sides said there was a conflict earlier Saturday, in the neighboring Thai coastal province of Trat and Cambodia’s advisory province, a new front, more than 100 kilometers from other conflict points along the long-standing border.

Both countries have faced it since the killing of a Cambodian soldier in a brief skirmish in late May. Forces on both sides of the border were strengthened in a mature diplomatic crisis, which put Thailand’s fragile coalition government on the brink of collapse.

As of Saturday, Thailand said seven soldiers and 13 civilians were killed in the conflict, while in Cambodia, five soldiers and eight civilians were killed.

In Sisaket, Thailand’s border province, a university compound has been converted into temporary accommodation, and one volunteer said more than 5,000 people were living there.

Samrong Khamduang said she left her farm about 10 kilometers from the border and the battle broke out on Thursday. The 51-year-old husband stayed to take care of the livestock.

“We were very scared of the sound of the cannon,” she said. “But my husband was stunned and now we lost contact. I can’t call him. I don’t know what’s going on there.”

ASEAN regional group chairman Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur said he will continue to push for a ceasefire proposal. Cambodia supports Anwar’s plan, while Thailand says it agrees in principle.

“There are still some fires,” according to the state news agency Bernama, who said he had asked the Foreign Minister to “connect with their respective foreign ministries and if possible, I will continue to interact with them myself – at least to stop fighting.”

Thailand, Cambodia trade charges

The Thai ambassador to the United Nations said at a security committee meeting on Friday that soldiers have been injured in newly planted land mines on Thai territory since mid-July and claimed Cambodia had strongly denied it – and said Cambodia subsequently launched an attack on Thursday morning.

“Thailand urges Cambodia to immediately stop all acts of hostilities and aggression and resume dialogue in good faith,” Cherdchai Chaivaivid told the Council in a comment to the media.

The Cambodian Ministry of Defense said Thailand has launched “intentional, unreasonable and illegal military attacks” and is mobilizing troops and military equipment at the border.

“These intentional military preparations show that Thailand intends to expand its aggressiveness and further violates Cambodia’s sovereignty,” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Cambodia calls on the international community to “condemn Thailand’s aggression in the strongest way” and prevent its military activities from expanding, while Bangkok reiterated that it hopes both sides will resolve the dispute.

Thailand and Cambodia have quarreled for decades in the jurisdictions of various undivided places on its 817km land border and have ownership of ancient Hindu temples, ta mom and 11th-century Preah vihear in the center of the dispute.

Preah Vihear was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962, but tensions escalated in 2008 after Cambodia tried to list it as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This led to a few years of skirmishes, with at least twelve people dead.

Cambodia said in June that it had asked the court to resolve a dispute with Thailand that never recognized the court’s jurisdiction and prefers a bilateral approach.