Thailand closes border crossings to Cambodia

Thailand's border closure to neighboring Cambodia has not only stunted commerce, but also stoked fears among residents.

Transcript

00:00This was one of the few remaining active border crossings between northeastern Thailand and

00:05Cambodia until Cambodia shut it down.

00:08Thai fuel trucks were forced to turn back, Cambodian visitors were left stranded and

00:13fruit stalls now sit deserted.

00:16I have a lot of expenses.

00:20I usually make around 90 euros a day, but now I barely make 10.

00:26If this keeps going, we'll have to shut down.

00:32Ever since the dispute over contested border areas flared up, a sense of fear has returned

00:37here and not just over lost income.

00:40To get a sense of just how serious people here take this border dispute, take a look at these

00:46bunkers.

00:47Schools along the border with Cambodia are equipped with structures and shelters like this, a reminder

00:53that the shadow of conflict still looms.

00:57This Thai school is even building more shelters now.

01:00Workers here still remember 2011, the last major escalation, when a Cambodian grenade hit

01:06a nearby village.

01:08They're on the higher ground, so they've got the advantage.

01:13They just aim their guns and shoot.

01:20Many villages are now doing the same, building bunkers.

01:24The two countries share an 817-kilometer border, largely drawn by French colonial powers over

01:30a century ago.

01:32That legacy left patches of unmarked territory, land both sides claim.

01:39The Prime Minister is too soft on this.

01:44I'm not saying we should go to war, but we need stronger leadership.

01:50She needs to stand her ground.

01:53Sutian Pyuchan has spent years mapping this border.

01:56But while he thinks Prime Minister Petontan Shinawatt was too conciliatory towards Cambodia

02:02in the recent phone call, he also believes only a grassroots solution involving the people

02:07who live on both sides of the border will work.

02:10The Cambodian fruit vendor I met earlier agrees she's married to a Thai.

02:15I just want them to talk, not to fight, not to go to war.

02:20I want them to clear things up once and for all.

02:23Because in the end it's us, the people, who suffer.

02:29But the tit-for-tat moves aren't stopping.

02:31Shortly after the Cambodian border closure, Thailand's military announced it was closing

02:36the Sisaket border crossing in direct retaliation.