Armed clashes between Thailand and Cambodia continued into Saturday morning, only hours after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that both countries had agreed to halt hostilities. Despite the claim, military action persisted along the disputed border, with both sides accusing each other of ongoing attacks.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said a ceasefire would not be possible unless Cambodia first withdrew its forces from contested areas and cleared landmines from the border region. In a social media post, Anutin stated that Thailand would continue military operations until it no longer faced threats to its territory or civilians, adding that the country’s actions on Saturday clearly reflected its position.
Reports from both governments confirmed continued exchanges of artillery fire and air strikes. Cambodia’s defence ministry alleged that Thai fighter jets bombed hotel buildings and a bridge inside Cambodian territory. Meanwhile, Thai officials said several civilians were injured after Cambodian rockets struck residential areas near the border.
The renewed violence has resulted in at least 21 deaths so far, with around 700,000 people displaced on both sides of the frontier as residents flee affected regions.
Earlier in the week, President Trump claimed he could end the conflict through direct talks. After speaking separately with the Thai and Cambodian prime ministers on Friday night, he announced online that both sides had agreed to stop firing and return to a previous peace agreement signed in October under U.S. mediation. Trump wrote that both nations were “ready for peace.”
However, statements issued by Bangkok and Phnom Penh following those conversations made no reference to an immediate ceasefire. Anutin reiterated that Thailand was not responsible for starting the conflict and insisted Cambodia must demonstrate concrete steps toward de-escalation before fighting could stop. Cambodian leaders, on the other hand, said military action was necessary to defend national sovereignty.
Unlike previous diplomatic efforts, there was no indication that economic pressure or trade measures would be used to influence the situation. Thailand has already warned Washington against linking the border conflict to trade negotiations.
On Saturday, Cambodia reported further Thai air strikes. Its defence ministry said two Thai F-16 fighter jets dropped seven bombs on multiple targets and claimed the attacks were ongoing. The Thai military acknowledged that combat operations were continuing.
The latest escalation traces back to July 24, when Cambodia launched rockets into Thai territory, prompting retaliatory air strikes from Thailand. Both countries accuse each other of initiating the violence.
After several days of heavy fighting earlier this year, Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” brokered by President Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. That agreement was formalized at a ceremony in Malaysia in October. Despite this, accusations of ceasefire violations soon followed.
Thailand has presented evidence it says shows Cambodian troops planting landmines, incidents that reportedly caused seven Thai soldiers to lose limbs. Cambodia denies responsibility, claiming the mines date back to the civil war era of the 1980s.
Tensions have continued to rise since then. This week, Thailand launched new air strikes inside Cambodia after two Thai soldiers were injured during a border skirmish. Cambodia responded with renewed rocket attacks, spreading the conflict across six provinces in northeastern Thailand and six provinces in northern and northwestern Cambodia.
The two nations have disputed their roughly 800-kilometre land border for more than a century. The boundary was originally mapped in 1907 by French colonial authorities when Cambodia was under French rule, leaving unresolved claims that continue to fuel periodic violence today.