Thailand-Cambodia fighting spreads along border as death toll rises

Image source, Getty Images

This dispute dates back more than a century, to when the borders of the two countries were drawn after the French occupation of Cambodia.

When Cambodia tried to register an 11th Century temple in the disputed area as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2008, it was met with heated protest from Thailand.

Over the next several years, those tensions would erupt into sporadic skirmishes at the border, which killed and wounded soldiers on both sides.

This latest escalation in the conflict started in May, after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a border clash. Thailand and Cambodia hit each other with antagonistic policies, including import bans and travel restrictions.

These hostilities culminated in July, when heavy fighting led to the death of more than 40 people, including civilians living near the border.

The conflict has also brought about serious political implications.

A leaked phone call between Thailand’s then-Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, in which she sounded deferential to him in the midst of escalating tensions, sparked heated backlash in Thailand and eventually led to her resignation.