Thousands flee as Cambodia and Thailand exchange heavy border fire

# Thousands flee as Cambodia and Thailand exchange heavy border fire

On event date 2025-07-26, the border fighting between Cambodia and Thailand had already displaced tens of thousands of civilians and left more than 30 people dead, most of them civilians, according to the evidence package.

The report says about 38,000 people in Cambodia and almost 140,000 in Thailand fled or were evacuated as artillery, missile and machine-gun fire spread across disputed border areas. In Cambodia, families from Oddar Meanchey, Preah Vihear and Pursat were uprooted as local roads, buildings and other civilian infrastructure came under attack. On the Thai side, the military declared martial law in eight border districts.

The human toll is best captured through the displaced families. One Cambodian woman, Chheng Deab, said she had fled her home near the Thai border and was now sheltering with her children at a school with dozens of other families. Food was already running low, and people worried about homes, livestock and farms left behind. That detail matters because it shows the conflict is threatening livelihoods as well as lives.

The evidence says local support has been limited, so residents have been pooling rice and supplies. That is a sign that the civilian response is still largely improvised. It also suggests the official humanitarian system has struggled to keep pace with the speed of displacement.

The border dispute itself is old and unresolved. The evidence says the latest fighting re-erupted after a Cambodian soldier was killed in May, then worsened after Thai soldiers were injured by landmines in the disputed zone. Each side blamed the other: Thailand accused Cambodia of planting new mines, while Phnom Penh said the mines were remnants from the civil war decades ago.

The diplomatic fallout was severe. Thailand recalled its ambassador, expelled Cambodia’s envoy and then saw Phnom Penh withdraw its own diplomats. After that, direct fighting broke out and both governments accused the other of firing first. Cambodia in turn accused Thailand of using cluster munitions, while Thailand accused Cambodia of firing rockets into civilian areas, including a hospital.

The evidence package also says both leaders are publicly framing the other side as the aggressor. Thailand’s acting prime minister said he believed Cambodia might be guilty of war crimes; Cambodia’s prime minister called the Thai attacks unprovoked and deliberate. Those competing claims make external verification difficult and leave the battlefield narrative highly contested.

What is not in dispute is that the border war is no longer a limited skirmish. Civilian casualties, mass displacement and widening military measures indicate a serious regional crisis. The displaced families, however, are the clearest measure of how quickly an old border dispute can become a humanitarian emergency.