Thailand vows to press attacks on Cambodia, defying Trump’s ceasefire claim

In a striking reversal of expectations, Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul vowed that the assault on Cambodia would continue unabated, directly challenging former President Donald Trump’s assertion that the neighbours had agreed to a ceasefire, the Al Jazeera reported.

“Thailand will continue to perform military actions until we feel no more harm and threats to our land and people. I want to make it clear. Our actions this morning already spoke,” Anutin declared in a Facebook post on Saturday morning, signaling defiance and determination.

The announcement came shortly after Cambodia accused Thailand of continuing aerial bombardments, hours after Trump had publicly declared that Bangkok and Phnom Penh had agreed to halt hostilities.

According to the Cambodian ministry of defence, “On 13 December 2025, the Thai military used two F-16 fighter jets to drop seven bombs” on a series of targets, adding that strikes continued well into the morning, with aerial and ground attacks affecting villages and settlements along the border.

Local media reports, including the Khmer Times, detailed attacks on two hotels in the Thmor Da area of Pursat province, publishing images showing extensive damage to hotel and casino buildings. Meanwhile, the Thai navy reportedly fired 20 artillery shells into Cambodia’s Koh Kong province, striking beaches and hotels along the coast. Thankfully, Cambodian authorities reported no casualties from these latest attacks.

Since the collapse of a peace agreement brokered by Trump in October, at least 20 people have died and nearly 200 others wounded across both countries. The renewed fighting has forced some 600,000 people to flee their homes along the 800-kilometre border, where tensions focus on centuries-old temples claimed by both nations.

Late Friday night, Trump took to social media to proclaim that he had secured a ceasefire. “They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” he wrote on Truth Social. He also dismissed a roadside bomb that had wounded Thai soldiers as an “accident.”

Anutin, however, countered these claims on Facebook, asserting the attack was “definitely not a roadside accident.”

The continued bombardments mark the sixth consecutive day of clashes between the Southeast Asian neighbours, as the ancient border dispute erupts once again into open warfare. Along the contested frontier, where history and modern politics collide, villages, temples, and lives hang in the balance, and the fragile hope for peace seems to slip further away with every passing hour.