#Thailand #Cambodia #BBCNews At least 12 Thai nationals, most of whom are civilians, have been killed in clashes with Cambodian troops in a disputed border area between the two countries.
While there have been sporadic clashes over the years, the latest tensions ramped up in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash.
Both sides have accused the other of firing the first shot on Thursday morning, and Thailand has now closed its border with Cambodia after telling all its nationals there to leave.
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00:00You're with BBC News. Fighting has broken out between Thailand and Cambodia in a dramatic escalation of a border dispute that's been simmering for several months.
00:09The Thai health minister says at least 11 civilians and one soldier have been killed so far in the clashes.
00:15Thailand has used fighter jets to bomb targets across the border, while Cambodia has fired artillery and rockets into Thailand.
00:23The Thai authorities say all checkpoints between the two countries have been closed.
00:30Thailand has ordered the evacuation of nearby villages on its side of the border.
00:37On Wednesday, Bangkok announced it was expelling Cambodia's ambassador and was withdrawing its own envoy from Phnom Penh.
00:45Thailand's foreign ministry has been holding a news conference about the incident.
00:48Let's hear some of what the spokesperson had to say.
00:50The Royal Thai Government urges Cambodia to cease its repeated act, which constitutes severe violations of international law.
01:02Such actions fundamentally contradict the principles of good neighbourly relations and good faith,
01:08and will further undermine Cambodia's reputation and credibility on the global stage.
01:14There will be another briefing to the media about the situation with Thailand sealing its border with Cambodia
01:23after those military clashes have killed at least 12 people.
01:27So more details are coming in to us there on this story.
01:33Cambodia has been accused of firing rockets into a Thai village and attacking a hospital,
01:38while Thailand has carried out airstrikes on Cambodian military targets.
01:46Cambodia's Prime Minister, Hun Manet, issued a statement on Facebook saying,
01:50Cambodia has always adhered to a stance of resolving issues peacefully.
01:55However, in this case, we have no choice but to respond with armed force against this armed invasion.
02:00I want to speak to Panisa Emotra, who's with the BBC's Thai service.
02:04She joins us live from Bangkok.
02:05So bring us up to date with the very latest on this.
02:09Yeah, so at the moment, the both country and both officials are trying to talk into the ceasefire,
02:14but in practicals, we've still seen tensions, especially with both militaries still deploy weapons,
02:21and it still results in 12 Thai that include eight years old.
02:27And give us a bit of the background to how we've ended up in a conflict situation,
02:31what appears to be so quickly.
02:32Yeah, so the whole conflict has been between the last two or three months.
02:38It stemmed from just open fires, and that resulted in one death in Cambodian soldiers.
02:45And ever since then, there has been dispeel.
02:47Some period of time, it has been lower in terms of violence.
02:50But now this morning, as has been reported, that Cambodian open fire rocket into Thailand.
02:56And then the escalations of today has been just like going down.
03:01We have seen an attack that hit a hospital in Thailand.
03:05Villagers have to evacuate.
03:07We have talked to one of the villagers who live in the borders area that they have to evacuate their family member
03:14because they could hear the bomb, they could see the black smoke, and they have to go to the evacuation centres.
03:21And unfortunately, we have reported 12 deaths.
03:24And what is the danger of this turning into a bigger conflict between the two countries?
03:28Yeah, so we have talked to analysts, and both from the Cambodian analysts and from the Thai analysts,
03:35they have the bottom line that they want it to be a ceasefire.
03:38But it's really hard.
03:40They've seen it's really hard to come in terms together because both countries still kind of operate with the military, right?
03:47And then it's really hard because they mentioned that the military want to assert the power
03:52and they want to, of course, protect the border of each country.
03:55So at the moment, there's still not a clear path of how both countries can come to terms to talk to each other.
04:01China has expressed their feeling that they want it to be dissolved.
04:05Analysts also suggest that maybe the third party, the negotiators or the mediator,
04:11which in the past we have ASEAN trying to act in that role, but still it doesn't yield results yet.
04:16So we still wait and see who will help the both countries to dissolve this dispute.
04:22And in the meantime, how is this being felt by ordinary people in both countries?
04:27What's their reaction to the way this has escalated so quickly?
04:31So for the normal public, this has been a shock for both countries.
04:35Many analysts and many correspondents in the areas or in the region didn't really assume that these disputes will grow to decide,
04:43especially for the public.
04:44Like two months ago, I went into the border area.
04:47They were building bunker, but they still hope that the tensions would not go back in like 10 years ago
04:53when there were bombs from Cambodia drop in Thailand.
04:56But now it's all shattered.
04:58Their hope is all shattered because the tension is already there.
05:01The fighting, the death is already there.
05:03So people are really panicked.
05:04As I mentioned, we talk that people, school has been shut.
05:08Students, people, older people have to evacuate to the facility.
05:12So fear is still hanging around.
05:15Benissa and Marcia, thank you very much indeed for bringing us up there on that story.
