Hundreds of thousands displaced along Thailand-Cambodia border as fierce fighting continues
CNA visits displacement camps and border towns in both countries amid the ongoing conflict.
Displaced residents prepare a shelter at a temporary camp set up outside a pagoda in Cambodia's Siem Reap province on Dec 12, 2025, amid clashes along the Cambodia-Thailand border. (File photo: AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)
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19 Dec 2025 05:14PM
(Updated: 19 Dec 2025 05:27PM)
At an open field surrounded by onlookers, a live band pounds out heavy drum beats as children dance nearby.
The music is loud, but the mood is sombre. No one in this temporary shelter in Thailand’s Buriram province is here by choice.
Villagers have fled from their homes near the border with Cambodia, where fierce clashes have displaced hundreds of thousands of people in both countries.
This shelter is located at the Chang International Circuit, which normally hosts motorsports events like MotoGP. It is now sheltering about 15,000 Thais from frontline villages.
Rows of large white canopies stretch across the grounds. Beneath them, families huddle on blankets and makeshift bedding, each allotted a space of about 2-by-2-metre.
Among the evacuees is Yuan Bowornrat, who fled when fighting drew dangerously close to her home.
"I was shocked," she told CNA, letting out a humourless laugh.
"I couldn’t gather my belongings in time. What else am I supposed to do? We can’t go anywhere else."
CNA visited her village Sai Kut, located less than 15km from the border with Cambodia.
Nearly every home has been abandoned. An eerie silence hangs over the area, broken only by the intermittent thud of distant artillery fire.
Volunteer guards, armed with shotguns, are manning checkpoints and watching over the neighbourhood to prevent looting.
Conflict has long shadowed this region – where border disputes stretch back more than a century. Bunkers stacked with sandbags are a common sight, with new ones being built just after the last ceasefire in August.
For those choosing to stay behind, they serve as the last line of refuge when fighting intensifies.
One of the few remaining residents is Nayong Haengprakhom, an elderly man who refuses to leave.
"My whole family has evacuated but I’m concerned for our animals – the pigs, the dogs," he said, adding he has already sought safety inside the bunkers several times.
SCENES MIRRORED IN CAMBODIA
Across the border in Cambodia’s Srei Snam district on the edge of Siem Reap province, civilians are likewise fleeing.
Many are rushing towards the nearest evacuation shelters, squeezed into tractors piled high with belongings.
For some, displacement is becoming a painful routine.
At the Oddar Meanchey relief centre, villager Ser Sreynin told CNA this is the second time she has been forced to leave her home, located near the border with Thailand.
The first was when simmering tensions between the two countries boiled over to armed confrontation in July.
But this time, she is more fearful than before.
She said: "The feeling is different. The first time, it wasn’t this hard. The (blasts for the) second time was stronger, so I needed to come here (to the shelter) again."
Other families at the camp echoed her fears, saying fighting has intensified and more civilian areas have been hit.
SCENES OF DEVASTATION
Back in Thailand, the fighting on the frontlines is reportedly the heaviest in Sisaket province.
Its Kanthalarak district has been designated a “red zone” – a strict ban is in place for everybody except for military and other authorised personnel.
CNA was given access by the Thai military, but the crew had to wear protective gear including bulletproof vests and helmets.
In the village of Ban Nong Mek, less than 10km away from the border, the devastation is stark.
A small hole in the gravel road is what’s left of a rocket strike. The houses on opposite ends are riddled with holes from shrapnel. Broken glass, splintered wood and other debris are scattered on the ground.
Last Sunday, a 63-year-old villager became the first civilian casualty when a Cambodian rocket struck a residential area. He was tending to his garden when a piece of shrapnel hit him.
Nearby homes, where owners have already evacuated, were also hit.
RELIEF EFFORTS
Over the border in Banteay Meanchey province, Cambodian authorities said markets and schools were hit for the first time since July.
Residents fled, seeking shelter at a pagoda which has now been turned into a makeshift relief camp.
"At around 2am to 3am, I heard the sound of planes around four to five times," said displaced resident Koy Chenda.
To meet basic needs, local authorities have installed water filtration systems at the camp, each capable of producing about 200 litres of filtered water per hour.
The government is also distributing food and emergency supplies to displaced families.
During the July clashes, ground-up initiatives – from volunteer groups to individuals travelling from outside Siem Reap – played a major role in delivering aid to border communities.
This time, many fear the intensified fighting could overwhelm relief efforts.
“(But) I believe the people here are not afraid (of the conflict). What they fear more is having no food,” said a volunteer, who wanted to be known as Samnang.
“Our frontline soldiers are standing by to protect us. As a volunteer helping people who do not have enough, why should I be afraid?”
With no sign of de-escalation, concerns are growing that even more communities on both sides of the border will have to flee.
Despite the differences on the frontlines, the impact on civilians remains the same on both sides: displacement, fear and an uncertain future.
Source: CNA/dn(lt)
