Cambodia Thailand border clashes surge for third day, leaving 14 dead, displacing 500,000

Intense clash has raged for a third consecutive day along the disputed Thailand-Cambodia border, with airstrikes and artillery fire killing at least 14 people and forcing over 500,000 civilians to flee their homes, officials from both nations confirmed Wednesday, December 10.

The clash centered around the iconic 11th century Preh Vihear temple complex marking a severe escalation of a century-old territorial dispute and threatens to unravel a fragile truce brokered just months ago.

With escalating tensions, the humanitarian crisis unfolds rapidly. Thai F-16 jets and Cambodian rocket fire turned border areas into combat zones, leaving 14 dead.

Additionally, around half a million displaced creating a deepening crisis.

As per Thailand defense ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri, over 400,000 people had been moved to shelters across seven provinces.

He told reporters, “We want to prevent a recurrence of the attacks on civilians we suffered in July 2025.”

Numbers revealed by Cambodian authorities stated over 101,000 evacuees from five provinces with people seeking refuge in pagodas, schools, and relatives’ homes.

Both militaries have their strategic advantages. Thailand's modern U.S. equipped air force contrasts sharply with Cambodia’s larger, less advanced army, rooted in decades of asymmetric warfare.

An immediate ceasefire is urgently called by the United Nations and U.S. leaders. Adding a volatile political dimension, U.S. President Donald Trump, who brokered the shaky July truce, vowed to intercede again.

At a rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, December 9, he claimed a unique ability to mediate, stating, “I am going to have to make a phone call... stop a war of two very powerful countries, Thailand and Cambodia.”