Thailand confirms first civilian killed in week of Cambodia fighting

BANTEAY MEANCHEY, Cambodia – Thailand on Dec 14 announced its first civilian death in a week of fighting with Cambodia, as international efforts fail to stop violence that has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.

The latest killing comes a day after Bangkok denied US President Donald Trump’s claim that a truce had been agreed between the South-east Asian neighbours.

The conflict, rooted in a colonial-era demarcation dispute along their 800km-long border, has displaced around 800,000 people, officials said.

“I have been here for six days and I feel sad that the fighting continues,” 63-year-old Sean Leap told AFP at an evacuation centre in Cambodia’s border province of Banteay Meanchey on Dec 14.

“I want it to stop,” he said, adding that he was worried about his home and livestock.

At least 27 people have been killed, including 15 Thai soldiers and 11 Cambodian civilians, officials said on Dec 14.

A Thai civilian killed in Sisaket province was the first non-military death recorded in the country since the latest round of fighting began on Dec 7, Health Ministry spokesman Ekachai Piensriwatchara confirmed to AFP.

The Thai army said the 63-year-old man was killed by shrapnel after Cambodian forces fired BM-21 rockets into a civilian area.

A soldier was also killed by the rockets fired by Cambodia on Dec 14, the Thai authorities said.

Cambodia did not report any new deaths or injuries on Dec 14.

Each side has blamed the other for instigating the clashes, claiming self-defence and trading accusations of attacks on civilians.

Thai military commanders have been discussing blocking fuel exports to Cambodia, including asking the navy to be vigilant against ships carrying strategic supplies and designating maritime zones near Cambodian ports as high-risk, a navy official told a press conference on Dec 14.

Thailand in 2024 exported 2.2 billion litres of fuel to Cambodia, according to the Energy Ministry’s data.

Mr Trump, who earlier backed a truce and follow-on agreement, said on Dec 12 that the two countries had agreed to halt fighting.

But

Thai leaders later said no ceasefire deal was made

, and both governments said on the morning of Dec 14 that clashes were ongoing.

Thai Defence Ministry spokesman Surasant Kongsiri said Cambodia shelled and bombed several border provinces overnight and into Dec 14.

The Thai military has imposed a

curfew from 7pm to 5am local time

(8pm to 6am Singapore time) in parts of Sa Kaeo and Trat provinces.

“Overall, there have been clashes continuously” since Cambodia again reiterated its openness to a ceasefire on Dec 13, Rear-Admiral Surasant told a press conference in Bangkok later on Dec 14.

Cambodia, which is outgunned and outspent by Thailand’s military, said Thai forces had shelled and launched air strikes on Cambodian territory near the border on Dec 14.

Closed border crossings

After Mr Trump’s promised truce did not come to pass, Cambodia shut its border crossings with Thailand on Dec 13, leaving migrant workers stranded.

Under a makeshift tent at an evacuation site in Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey, Ms Cheav Sokun told AFP that her husband in Thailand wanted to return home.

She and her son left Thailand alongside tens of thousands of other Cambodian migrant workers during July’s deadly clashes, but her spouse stayed to work as a gardener with his “good Thai boss”.

“He asked me to return first. After that, the border was closed so he cannot come back,” the 38-year-old said.

“I worry about him, but I tell him not to go around... We are afraid that if they know that we are Cambodians, they would attack us,” she said.

Across the border in Thailand’s Surin province, music teacher Watthanachai Kamngam, 38, told AFP he watched several rockets trail across the dark, early morning sky on Dec 14 before hearing explosions in the distance.

Mr Watthanachai has been painting colourful scenes of tanks, Thai flags and soldiers carrying the wounded on the walls of concrete bunkers since the July clashes which killed dozens.

“As I live through the fighting, I just want to record this moment – to show that this is really our reality,” he told AFP last week.

In Thailand, officials said on Dec 14 that nine civilians have died of non-combat-related causes after evacuating from their homes.

The US, China and Malaysia, as chair of the regional bloc ASEAN,

brokered a ceasefire in July

.

In October, Mr Trump backed a follow-on joint declaration between Thailand and Cambodia, touting new trade deals after they agreed to prolong their truce.

But Thailand suspended the agreement in November after its soldiers were wounded by landmines at the border.

Mr Trump last week pledged he would “make a couple of phone calls” to get the earlier brokered truce back on track.

But Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told journalists on Dec 13 that Mr Trump “didn’t mention whether we should make a ceasefire” during their phone call on Dec 12.

Mr Anutin said that there were no signs Mr Trump would connect further US-Thailand trade talks with the border conflict, but also said that the US President had guaranteed Thailand would get “better benefits than other countries”.

Thailand and Cambodia were both facing eye-wateringly high tariffs on their exports to the US earlier in 2025, but secured reduced tariffs of 19 per cent after Mr Trump intervened following the July clashes. AFP