Domestic politics could be pushing leaders of the two countries to more intense conflict as thousands flee border fighting.
PRASAT, THAILAND – It was a typical night for Wanchai Jongkot and his family. After working all day in the paddy fields, he sat down with his wife and two daughters to eat dinner – the main meal in his household. Before he could take his first bite, flashes illuminated the night sky, followed by deafening explosions.
‘We had no idea what was going on, we just ran to take cover,’ says Jongkot, a wiry man in his late 50s. ‘We were so shocked we almost fainted.’
In the midst of the bombardment the eldest daughter saw her sister rolling in agony and yelled out that she had been hit. When the fighting had subsided, they took the injured daughter to the local hospital where they discovered she had a broken arm and hip.
Jongkot and his family are some of around 80,000 civilians who have been affected on both sides of the Thai-Cambodian border by recent clashes between the two nations.
The latest conflict is the most serious fighting in decades and stems from a demarcation carried out in the 1950s by an international court, which awarded Cambodia the land. Thailand continues to disputes this ruling.
The effects of the fighting can been seen all over Gaab Cherng district in Surin Province. As fighting has escalated over the last seven days, both sides have been firing heavy artillery into each other’s territory, littering empty shells indiscriminately into civilian areas.
Wedged in a plank of wood at the back of the Jongkot’s house lies the stray BM21 rocket that has destroyed their home. Pieces of timber lie smashed amidst shared ceramic tiles. The only thing that remains intact is a picture of the revered King.
Lying in a hospital bed at Prasat local hospital, the 15-year-old daughter, Jeeranan, grimaces in pain. Accompanied by a teddy bear, and hair tied up in ponytails, she looks younger than she is. ‘The doctor says her bone is completely smashed,’ her mother says looking over at her, clearly distressed by the news. ‘We don’t want to go back to our village while bombs are flying over like this.’
The same sentiment is echoed throughout the more than 20 temporary camps along the border, populated by refugees evacuated from their homes. Sleeping on straw mats in crowded conditions and surviving on donations it’s not clear how much longer they can tolerate the fighting.
‘We’ve been okay so far,’ says an elderly lady as she finishes her food. ‘But I miss my home and worried for my property. We all hope it ends soon.’
Reddit
Digg
StumbleUpon
Delicious
Technorati
Yahoo
Google
Plurk
Kitthiphan
This must mean that the Democrats want to win another election so its time
to use some of the military budgets, in order to have the military support./
The latest skirmish is more about Thaksin being friends with Cambodia, than
a demarcation of land.
What was once considered a safe elected party with clean hands, is obviously now
a party more concerned for power.
Sok Chea
ICJ 1962 ruled in accordance with the Siam-Franco 11 maps (1/200.000 scale) including one called Dangrek map that demarcated sector 6 which is the area of the Temple of Phreah Vihear. Since the production of Dangrek Map in 1908, Thailand had officially recognized this map by asking the French authorities for many copies of the map for the use of the governors of Thailand’s border provinces with Cambodia of the 4.6 land is in the territory of Cambodia.
george roberts
Great Piece – one of the best I have seen on the issue. Thanks Diplomat, I’ll be coming back to your site more frequently.
Graham
Wow – Surin is a long way from the border, Sisaket and Ubon Ratchathani in between and 130 km from the easternmost point of Surin to Cambodia, makes me wonder at the accuracy of the reporting
Phoot Weeld
“Waging” is not the same word as “wagging,” when it comes to dog tails you probably mean the latter.
“Parliamentary” groups are not taking up arms and preparing to fight, “paramilitary” groups do that sort of thing.
Spell-check is a great tool, but is no substitute for actually reading what you have written and doing a little proofreading.
Geo
The analysis is good BUT we could understand that only THAI civilians are suffering. Of course, this is wrong, CAMBODIAN civilians suffer also and they suffer even more because the journalists are on the Thai side (due to better food, better access, better communication) + Thailand is richer than Cambodia and can help the refugees better.
Julian Pieniazek
Good general piece but there is one glaring error: in the 2008 ruling the temple was awarded to Cambodia, no the land. It is the land surrounding the temple and elsewhere along the hill-top border that is central to the dispute.