Thailand to continue military action until threats end, says prime minister

Thailand will press on with military operations until threats to its territory and people have fully ceased, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Saturday, amid renewed fighting along the country’s border with Cambodia.

In a social media post, Anutin rejected comments by Donald Trump, who had earlier described a roadside bomb incident that caused multiple Thai military casualties as an “accident”. “It’s definitely not a roadside accident,” Anutin said, adding that Thailand’s response had already demonstrated the seriousness of the situation.

Thai media, citing military sources, reported that the Royal Thai Air Force deployed two F-16 fighter jets to strike targets along the Cambodian border. The operations followed escalating tensions after a series of clashes earlier this month.

Cambodia, meanwhile, urged Thailand to immediately halt what it described as attacks on civilian areas and infrastructure. Cambodian Information Minister Neth Pheaktra said Thai aircraft had struck a hotel and two bridges at the Thmor Da checkpoint in Veal Veng district of Pursat province on Saturday morning.

Pheaktra accused Thai forces of expanding their offensive to residential villages and civilian targets, claiming that, as of Friday, at least 11 civilians had been killed and 59 injured. He added that fighting across five provinces had displaced nearly 90,000 families, affecting more than 300,000 people.

According to the Cambodian government, Thailand has repeatedly violated Cambodian sovereignty and effectively collapsed an existing ceasefire through continued military action inside Cambodian territory. Phnom Penh, Pheaktra said, remained committed to peace, dialogue and adherence to international law.

The latest escalation comes despite diplomatic engagement involving Washington. Anutin and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet both held separate phone conversations with Trump on Friday regarding the border conflict. Trump later claimed that the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire effective Friday evening, a statement that Thai officials denied on Saturday.

The Thailand–Cambodia border dispute, which first flared in late July, reignited on the afternoon of 7 December. Both sides accused the other of initiating the latest round of hostilities. Officials have confirmed casualties on both sides, with at least 10 Cambodian civilians and 11 Thai soldiers reported killed, and hundreds of thousands forced to flee their homes.

Earlier clashes along the border on 24 July resulted in hundreds of casualties, prompting international concern. Although both countries reached a ceasefire agreement on 7 August during an extraordinary meeting of the General Border Committee in Kuala Lumpur, tensions have persisted.

In a bid to ease relations, the two leaders signed a joint declaration on peace on 26 October on the sidelines of the 47th Association of South East Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur. However, the latest violence underscores the fragility of those commitments as fighting continues along the disputed frontier.

With IANS inputs