Thailand to return thousands stuck at Cambodia crossing
Thailand is working on how to repatriate up to 6,000 citizens who were unable to return home through a major border crossing in Cambodia that was closed as clashes along the disputed border spread into a second week.
The armies of its Southeast Asian neighbors clash at many points along the 800km land border; Both are fighting with no signs of abating despite international efforts to negotiate a ceasefire.
Cambodia’s closure of the checkpoint in the city of Poipet prevented the return of thousands of Thai workers who had gathered there during clashes that have displaced more than half a million people and killed nearly 40 on both sides since last Monday.
Hun Sen, Cambodia’s influential former leader, said the closure was aimed at protecting civilians from what he called indiscriminate firing by Thai forces in the region.
However, he said that in areas where there is no conflict, checkpoints are open and air travel is not restricted.
In Bangkok on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said Thais in Poipet could seek help arranging air travel home from the consulate in the city of Siem Reap, the gateway to the Angkor Wat temple complex.
He urged others still in Cambodia to contact authorities if they need to leave.
Efforts to end the conflict include calls from U.S. President Donald Trump, who brokered a halt to the five-day conflict in July using trade negotiations as leverage.
While clashes were reported in eight border provinces, Thai defense ministry spokesman Surasant Kongsiri said, “The military said there was constant conflict along the border line. The situation is still changing.”
The defense ministry said Cambodian forces “will continue to stand strong, brave and determined in their fight against the aggressor.”
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, in response to a question from journalists, said that there was no international pressure for a ceasefire.
“No one is pressuring us. Who is pressuring whom? I don’t know,” he said, but did not answer a question about whether Trump had used the threat of tariff measures to pressure Thailand to stop the conflict.
The neighbors have long been in dispute over parts of the border, but the scale and intensity of the latest fighting, stretching from the forested interior near the Laos border to the coastal provinces, is unprecedented in recent history.
Each side blames the other for starting the fight.
Malaysia will host a special meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers next week as the regional bloc seeks to restore a ceasefire.
