BANGKOK, THAILAND – Thailand said 19 soldiers had been killed in intensified clashes with Cambodian forces along the border as both sides reported heavy fighting around key hilltop positions.
Rising toll and contested terrain along the frontier
Thai media cited military reports saying 19 Thai soldiers had fallen in combat with Cambodian forces by 17 December, including several killed overnight during intense fighting on Hill 350, where Thai units tried to retake contested ground. Earlier, authorities reported two deaths in heavy clashes on the same hill, adding that the bodies could not yet be recovered because of ongoing combat.
The Thai army said its troops had fully recaptured the Chong An Ma border area by 18:00 on 16 December and raised the national flag over what it described as sovereign territory, including the Ta Om monument and Chong An Ma market, though these claims had not been independently verified. Regiment 172 reported what it called a victory on Height 500 in the Chong An Ma region, while commanders in Surin province said border areas around Prasat Ta Kwai and positions such as Sam Tae and Hill 677 were back under Thai control.
Heavy weapons, airstrikes and rocket attacks
The Second Army Region operations centre described ongoing clashes along multiple sectors of the frontier, saying Cambodian forces were adapting their tactics, reinforcing positions at Chong Bok and in some areas appearing to withdraw to secondary defensive lines. According to Thai assessments, Cambodian units used BM‑21 multiple rocket launchers, artillery and grenades continuously, and the Second Air Division reported heavy fighting in the Ta‑Kwai and Cho‑An‑Ma areas, including the deployment of RM‑70 rocket launchers.
Thai forces responded with artillery and air power, saying F‑16 jets had destroyed a rocket depot and “a large number” of BM‑21 launchers, followed by further strikes on two weapons depots “in depth” inside Cambodian territory, though none of these statements could be independently confirmed. Thai authorities also reported repeated BM‑21 barrages against border areas in Surin and around Prasat Takuapa at Height 350, and said Thai troops returned fire as Cambodian forces attempted to recapture positions.
Unexploded ordnance and investigations into advanced weapons
In Trat province, an explosive ordnance team from the Royal Thai Marine Corps destroyed a 122‑mm artillery shell found more than three metres beneath Sukhumvit Road, which officials said had been fired from Cambodian territory on 10 December; a 200‑metre radius was evacuated and both lanes closed while two pounds of TNT were used to demolish the munition. Authorities confirmed the shell’s complete destruction but said the highway would remain closed until road repairs were completed.
Thai officials said they were investigating reports that Cambodian units had used advanced GAM‑102 LR anti‑tank guided missiles, estimated at about US$117,000 per round, as well as military drones, raising questions in Bangkok about Cambodia’s financing and supply chains. Troops from the 2nd Battalion of the 17th Infantry Regiment reported seizing Chinese‑origin weapons on Hill 500, including 82‑mm Type 65 mortar shells, ammunition and Norinco PF‑89 man‑portable anti‑tank rockets, and said they had earlier captured a fifth‑generation GAM‑102LR missile system in the same area.
Hun Sen rejects reports of foreign fighters
Cambodian Senate president Hun Sen used Facebook to deny that foreign soldiers were involved on his country’s side.
“Cambodia has no Russian or other foreign military personnel stationed in the battle zone and no foreign military advisers working for the army.”
said Hun Sen, Senate president.
He stressed that no foreign troops had been present in Cambodia since the withdrawal of UNTAC peacekeepers in 1993, while acknowledging that foreign militaries had taken part in multilateral or bilateral operations and defence cooperation in the past. Hun Sen said many foreigners in Cambodia were investors, tourists, technicians and workers not involved in combat roles, and his statements could not be independently verified.
Border MoUs under scrutiny and appeals to Washington
In Bangkok, a parliamentary committee said it had unanimously decided to study the pros and cons of terminating Memoranda of Understanding 43 and 44 governing border issues, and recommended ending MOU 44 after Cambodia asserted claims to the entire island of Koh Kood. The panel said ending the memorandum would halt the temporary arrangement covering that area, while it continued to review the impact of both agreements.
At the Defence Ministry, officials reiterated Thailand’s position and outlined seven core principles for managing the border, accusing Cambodia of hiring foreign lobbyists and insisting there was only one truth, described as “the truth from Thailand”. Government representative Anutthin appealed to the US administration and President Donald Trump to press Cambodia to halt attacks, with Thai statements saying the country had not started the conflict and that Cambodia had later deployed heavier weapons.
Fuel export ban and talk of a naval blockade
Second Army Region commander Lieutenant General Weerayut Raksin signed an order on 15 December to control fuel and military supply exports at the Chong Mek border crossing in Ubon Ratchathani, banning exports of all types of fuel and military supplies from midnight that day. Thai officials linked the move to suspected smuggling networks moving fuel into Laos via Chong Mek and on to Cambodia, noting that around 80 trucks, some capable of carrying about 50,000 litres each, were waiting to enter Laos, representing more than four million litres.
Separately, Thai forces said they planned to block Cambodian oil supply routes, though without giving details on timing or exact locations. In the Gulf of Thailand, former energy minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga voiced support for a Royal Thai Navy blockade aimed at cutting oil and military deliveries to Cambodia amid escalating border battles and expanding Thai operations.
Allegations of hostage‑taking and war crimes
Thai military and diplomatic bodies accused Phnom Penh of mistreating civilians and closing crossings, saying many Thai nationals in Poipet were being held and not allowed to return home, although some were later reported released while others still faced restrictions. By mid‑December, Thai authorities said their citizens had been prevented from leaving Poipet for around six days.
In Bangkok, army spokesman General Major Winthai Suwaree warned that the detentions could constitute serious violations of international law.
“The actions could be unlawful civilian detention or hostage‑taking and violate human rights, including the right to return to one’s home country.”
said Winthai, army spokesman.
He said the detentions might breach international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Additional Protocols, and warned that those responsible could be prosecuted as war criminals, adding that Cambodia, as a signatory, was obliged to allow the immediate return of Thai nationals. Thailand’s Foreign Ministry voiced “serious concern” over Cambodia’s closure of land crossings, arguing that Cambodian authorities were blocking the return of Thai residents while Thailand itself allowed Cambodian citizens to depart, and cited civilians’ rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Geneva Conventions.
Conflicting casualty claims and widespread damage
Thai military summaries over several days gave high estimates for Cambodian casualties and equipment losses, including one Second Army report for 8–13 December that cited 181 Cambodian soldiers killed and destroyed materiel such as ten tanks, 64 drones and a BM‑21 launcher, though none of these figures could be independently confirmed. Later briefings claimed 82 Cambodian positions had been attacked between 7 and 14 December, with an estimated 505 Cambodian soldiers killed, 82 bases destroyed, twelve tanks, ten armoured vehicles and 175 drones knocked out, including an estimated 221 dead around Prasat Khna.
On the Thai side, officials acknowledged a steadily rising military death toll, culminating in 19 soldiers reported killed by 17 December, and said several civilians had also been killed or injured by BM‑21 rocket fire on villages in provinces including Si Sa Ket, Surin, Sa Kaeo and Trat, with damage to houses, fields, roads and power lines. Cambodian defence officials said ten civilians had been killed and more than 192,000 people displaced by Thai attacks in six Cambodian provinces, while other Cambodian statements alleged additional casualties and damage from Thai airstrikes and artillery, which likewise could not be independently verified.
Mass displacement and curfew lifted in Trat
Thai authorities said that by 11 December 219,521 people were sheltering in 750 temporary facilities in five provinces, most of them in Sisaket and Surin, and earlier reports suggested that more than 500,000 people had fled in the wider border region as fighting spread along multiple fronts. In Trat, officials imposed a curfew across five districts — Khlong Yai, Bo Rai, Laem Ngop, Khao Saming and Mueang Trat — after reported attacks, including an incident involving an M79 grenade launcher and shell impacts in Chamarak district.
On 16 December, Vice Admiral Apichart Sapprasert, head of the Chanthaburi and Trat Border Defence Command, announced that the curfew was being lifted with immediate effect. He said the decision was based on an assessment that the security situation was controllable and that external threats were now manageable.
Thai air force defends targeting as precise
A spokesman for the Royal Thai Air Force rejected what he called false reports from Cambodia and insisted that Thailand was using high‑precision weapons only against military targets, saying a large number of BM‑21 launchers had been destroyed. According to the spokesman, only precision‑guided munitions were being employed in operations to avoid civilian casualties.
He urged the public to rely exclusively on official air force information and to treat it as trustworthy, although his statements, like many others in the conflict, could not be independently corroborated. Thai officials continued to frame the air campaign as focused on clearly identified military objectives.
Trip.com cuts tourism partnership amid data concerns
Away from the frontline, the conflict’s political fallout reached the tourism and technology sectors as online travel group Trip.com issued a statement in Bangkok on its cooperation with Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism following social media criticism. The company said the partnership had been solely a tourism promotion arrangement, comparable to deals with tourism organisations in other countries, and stressed that no customer data had been exchanged, used or sold.
Trip.com said it was aware of user concerns raised on social platforms and had immediately terminated the partnership, adding that no campaigns under the agreement had ever been launched. The group reaffirmed that it adhered to the highest standards of data protection and cybersecurity and complied with all applicable regulations, including those in Thailand.
Spy suspicions, arrests and false alarms
Security forces in Thailand’s eastern border provinces reported several incidents linked to alleged espionage or information leaks as the fighting continued. In Sa Kaeo province, soldiers arrested the headman of a village in Kok Sung district on suspicion of spying after detecting mobile phone signals to Cambodian territory and reports that he had made calls across the border, though no detailed charges or further information were released.
In Isaan, a young man was reported to authorities as a suspected spy simply for using an iPad to talk to his wife, while in Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaeo, a woman described as the ex‑wife of a village head was detained on suspicion of passing information to Cambodian contacts. Other incidents proved to be false alarms, including a man found hiding in a sugarcane field in Surin who was initially suspected of being a Cambodian spy but was later released after checks showed he was from a neighbouring village and appeared heavily intoxicated, with no evidence of intelligence activity.
Symbolic gestures and personal stories from the front
Despite the heavy clashes, the Thai army highlighted several symbolic gestures aimed at demonstrating control and honouring the dead, including flying a drone carrying the national flag over the Khao Yai Mao mountain pass between Heights 677 and 500 to commemorate fallen soldiers from Regiment 172 and signal territorial claims. In one widely shared story, a frontline soldier briefly left his position in the border zone to surprise his mother on her birthday, promising to return home after his service and to devote his full attention to her instead of giving a gift.
Ceremonies were held to honour troops killed in action, including a memorial conducted by the 22nd Army Region in Ubon Ratchathani for four soldiers who died near Hill 677 and the Saddle Pass, before their bodies were flown back to their home provinces for burial. The events formed part of broader efforts by the military to recognise sacrifices made during the ongoing confrontation.
International mediation and continued operations
The Chinese embassy launched mediation efforts between Thailand and Cambodia, pushing for an immediate ceasefire and measures to restore peace, according to Thai reports. Elsewhere, the Russian embassy in Bangkok denied that any Russian citizens were working as mercenaries in the border conflict and voiced support for a peaceful resolution.
Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said the King and royal family had expressed concern for people living near the frontier, and authorities ordered additional evacuations in two more border districts as a precaution. Regional and global actors continued to urge restraint, but by mid‑December no formal ceasefire had taken hold, and Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul repeatedly stated that Thailand had not agreed to a truce and would continue operations to defend its sovereignty and protect its population while clashes with Cambodian forces persisted along the frontier.