Thai-Cambodia Border Explodes: Ancient Shiva Temples At Heart Of Renewed 118-Year Dispute Leading To Airstrikes

New Delhi: Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have once again escalated into deadly violence, as long-standing disputes over a historic border region flared into armed clashes on Thursday. The conflict, rooted in a 118-year-old disagreement involving ancient Shiva temples, erupted near the Ta Muen Thom temple on the contested frontier.

The Thai army confirmed it had launched airstrikes on two Cambodian military bases, marking a significant escalation in hostilities. Cambodia and Thailand each accused the other of initiating the violence, while diplomatic ties between the neighbours have plunged to their lowest point in years.

Fresh Violence Near Ancient Temples

A Cambodian government source told news agency AFP that fighting resumed Thursday morning near two temples on the border between Thailand’s Surin province and Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey. According to reports from AAP, the Thai military claimed responsibility for airstrikes on Cambodian positions in response to what it called provocations.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Defence issued a strong condemnation of Thailand’s actions. Spokeswoman Mali Socheata said, “The Thai military violated the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Cambodia by launching an armed attack on Cambodian forces deployed to defend the country’s sovereign territory.”

She added, “In response, the Cambodian armed forces exercised their legitimate right of self-defence in full accordance with international law to thwart the Thai incursion and safeguard Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Thailand, in turn, accused Cambodian forces of “targeted attacks on civilians”, claiming that two BM-21 rockets had struck a residential community in Surin’s Kap Choeng district, injuring three civilians.

Civilian Casualties and Evacuation Alerts

The Thai army also reported nine civilian deaths across three provinces, including an 8-year-old boy, and said 14 others were injured in the cross-border attacks.

In response to the deteriorating security situation, the Thai Embassy in Cambodia urged Thai citizens to leave the country immediately unless absolutely necessary. In a post on Facebook, the embassy stated that citizens should exit Cambodia “as soon as possible.”

Diplomatic Ties Severed

Just hours before Thursday’s clashes, Cambodia downgraded diplomatic relations with Thailand to the lowest level, expelling Thai diplomats and recalling all but one of its own from Bangkok. Thailand had taken similar steps the day before, expelling Cambodia’s ambassador and recalling its own envoy in protest of a landmine blast that injured five Thai soldiers.

The Thai government alleged the landmines were newly planted by Cambodia in the disputed area—an accusation Cambodia has denied.

How the Clashes Began

According to the Thai military, the incident began around 7:35 a.m. local time when Thai troops stationed near the Ta Muen temple in Surin heard a Cambodian drone overhead. Minutes later, six Cambodian soldiers, one carrying a rocket-propelled grenade, approached the barbed wire fence near the Thai position. Thai soldiers shouted warnings, but by 8:20 a.m., Cambodian forces allegedly opened fire near the eastern side of the temple, just 200 meters from the Thai base.

Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Vechayachai urged restraint but defended the country's actions. “The situation needs to be handled carefully, and we must act in accordance with international law,” he said. “We will do our best to protect our sovereignty.”

The Root of the Dispute: A Century of Tension

Cambodia and Thailand share an 817-kilometre land border, much of which was mapped by colonial-era France when Cambodia was under French rule between 1863 and 1953. A map drawn in 1907, based on a bilateral agreement to follow the natural watershed, placed the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple—dedicated to Lord Shiva—within Cambodian territory, a designation Thailand later contested.

In 1959, Cambodia brought the dispute to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia. Thailand accepted the ruling at the time but argued that the surrounding territory remained disputed.

Tensions resurfaced in 2008 when Cambodia successfully sought UNESCO World Heritage status for the Preah Vihear temple. Armed clashes soon followed, culminating in heavy fighting in 2011 that displaced more than 36,000 people. Cambodia returned to the ICJ, which reaffirmed its earlier decision in 2013. However, Thailand has continued to dispute the territorial interpretation of that ruling.

Today’s renewed violence highlights how the unresolved tensions surrounding these culturally and strategically significant temples continue to fuel deadly conflict over a century after the original maps were drawn.