00:00You're with BBC News. Fighting has broken out between Thailand and Cambodia in a dramatic
00:05escalation of a border dispute that's been simmering for several months. The Thai health
00:09minister 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
00:20artillery and rockets into Thailand. The Thai authorities say all checkpoints between the
00:26two countries have been closed. Thailand has ordered the evacuation of nearby villages on its side of
00:36the border. On Wednesday, Bangkok announced it was expelling Cambodia's ambassador and was
00:42withdrawing its own envoy from Phnom Penh. Thailand's foreign ministry has been holding a news conference
00:47about the incident. Let'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
00:58violations of international law. Such actions fundamentally contradict the principles of good
01:05neighbourly relations and good faith, and will further undermine Cambodia's reputation and
01:11credibility on the global stage.
01:15We've got some live pictures coming to us. There will be another briefing to the media about
01:20the situation with Thailand sealing its border with Cambodia after those military clashes have
01:25killed at least 12 people. So more details are coming into us there on this story, with Cambodia
01:33has been accused of firing rockets into a Thai village and attacking a hospital, while Thailand
01:39has carried out airstrikes on Cambodian military targets.
01:44Cambodia's Prime Minister Hoon Manet issued a statement on Facebook saying, Cambodia has always
01:51adhered to a stance of resolving issues peacefully. However, in this case, we have no choice but to
01:57respond with armed force against this armed invasion. I want to speak to Panisa Emotra, who's with the BBC's
02:03Thai service. She joins us live from Bangkok. So bring us up to date with the very latest on this.
02:07Yeah, so at the moment, the both country and both officials are trying to talk into the ceasefire. But in practicals, we've still seen tensions, especially with both military still deploy weapons and it still results in 12
02:23Thai that that include eight years old.
02:25And give us a bit of the background to how we've ended up in a conflict situation, what appears to be so quickly.
02:32Yeah, so the whole conflict has been between the last two or three months. It stemmed from just open fires and that resulted in one dead in Cambodian soldiers. And ever since then, there has been dispute. Some period of time, it has been lower in terms of violence. But now this morning, it has been reported that Cambodian open fire rocket into Thailand. And then the escalations of today has been just like going down. We have seen an attack.
03:02that hit a hospital in Thailand. Villagers have to evacuate. We have talked to one of the of the of the villagers who live in the borders area that they have to evacuate their family member because they could hear the bomb, they could see the black smoke, and they have to go to the evacuation centres. And unfortunately, we have reported 12 dead.
03:23And 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, they have the bottom line that they want it to be a ceasefire. But it's really hard. They seen it's really hard to come in terms together because both countries do kind of operate with the military, right? And then it's really hard because they mentioned that the military want to assert the power and they want to, of course, protect the border of each country.
03:54So at the moment, there's still not clear path of how both countries can come to term to talk to each other. China has expressed their feeling that they want it to be dissolved. Analysts also suggest that maybe the third, the third party, the negotiators or the mediator, which in the past, we have ASEAN trying to act in that role. But still, it doesn't yield results yet. So we still wait and see who will help the both country to dissolve this dispute.
04:21And in the meantime, how is this being felt by ordinary people in both countries? What's their reaction to the way this has escalated so quickly?
04:28So for the normal public, this has been a shock for both countries. Many analysts and many correspondents in the areas or in the region didn't really assume that these disputes will grow to decide, especially for the public.
04:44But two months ago, I went into the border area. They were building bunker, but they still hope that the tensions would not go back in like 10 years ago when there were bombs from Cambodia drop in Thailand.
04:56But now it's all shattered. Their hope is all shattered because the tension is already there. The fighting that is already there. So people are really panic.
05:04As I mentioned, we talk that people, school has been shot. Students, people, older people have to evacuate to the facility. So fear is still hanging around.
05:15Benissa and Marcia, thank you very much indeed for bringing us up there on that story. Thank you.
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