Politics Thailand: Deaths of civilians in conflict with Cambodia
Thailand has announced the deaths of civilians for the first time in the newly inflamed border conflict with Cambodia.
11.12.2025, 17:22
SDA
Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense in Bangkok, was quoted by the Thai newspaper "The Nation" as saying that three civilians had died on the Thai side as a result of the fighting. The number of soldiers killed has risen to nine, he said. Meanwhile, fighting continued in the border region between the two countries.
Since the renewed outbreak of hostilities, both sides have accused each other of also firing on civilian areas. According to the Ministry of the Interior in Phnom Penh, ten civilians on the Cambodian side have died so far and 60 more people have been injured.
Call for the UN Security Council to intervene
The Cambodian government has called for the UN Security Council to intervene. The most powerful body of the United Nations should call on the Thai military to "immediately stop all attacks" and send an independent fact-finding mission to investigate the situation on the ground, according to a letter from the Cambodian UN ambassador to the chair of the Security Council. The letter criticized Thailand's military operations as a "serious violation of international humanitarian law".
The Thai army rejected the accusation. "This is an attempt to blame Thailand," said an army spokesperson. The use of the weapons was directed exclusively at military targets.
The conflict between the two Southeast Asian neighboring countries over territorial claims, which had apparently been pacified in the meantime, flared up again last week. Since Sunday, both sides have accused each other of first violating a recent ceasefire in the area along the approximately 800-kilometer-long shared border. The fighting has driven over 500,000 inhabitants of the region to flee their homes.
Trump wants to talk to conflict parties
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump announced that he had planned a telephone call with both sides for (today) Thursday (Washington local time), after initially promising this on Wednesday. It remained unclear whether it would be one conversation or several. The specific parties involved were also not named. He believes he can get the two states to stop fighting, Trump said in the White House.
Suspension of the ceasefire
The two countries had already agreed a ceasefire in July following heavy fighting. At the end of October, they signed a joint declaration in the presence of Trump in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, which provided for steps towards a lasting peace. However, the agreed ceasefire was suspended for the time being in November following a new incident on the border. The situation has worsened again since Sunday.
