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Renewed fighting along the Thailand–Cambodia border has uprooted about half a million people, shattered a US- and Malaysian-brokered peace agreement, and killed more than a dozen civilians and soldiers since hostilities erupted earlier this week. As both sides traded accusations of ceasefire violations, President Donald Trump said he plans to make a phone call to help restore the truce and ease tensions.

The clashes come weeks after a peace pact signed in October, and major population evacuations have left families scrambling for safety. Trump’s intervention aims to bring both governments back to the negotiating table and prevent further humanitarian displacement in the region.

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00:00Let's bring a journalist, Tommy Walker. He's in Surin in Thailand, that's close to the border with Cambodia.
00:05Tommy, I believe you've been in and out of shelters all day. Tell us what's been happening there.
00:12Yes, actually this morning I've been with a rescue team who have been going into border areas where there's been very loud incoming and outgoing fire,
00:20where there are still people trying to get out of the firing line and try to get to safe shelter.
00:26And so that's where I've been this morning. Yesterday, evacuation centres visited many.
00:32There were some where they were smaller than others. They were worried about food shortages in the coming days.
00:38Others, which had government aid and private aid, were bigger and had close to 10,000 in one in Buryram.
00:47They were being well looked after, but they were uncomfortable because they're living in limbo.
00:53They're living in uncertain times. They're staying on the floor and tents and hammocks.
00:57And, you know, if they're not in these makeshift evacuation shelters like temples or universities or schools, they're staying in bomb shelters.
01:05So the human impact is huge at the moment. People have been evacuated.
01:10And as mentioned, there have been people who are still trying to evacuate from the border areas.
01:14So it's a massive toll on the human impact from Thailand and Cambodia as well.
01:20Cambodia has called for the UN Security Council to intervene in the conflict.
01:25Has Thai leadership responded yet? What are you hearing?
01:30It seems that Thailand is digging its heels in at the moment.
01:33And with that press conference yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said, you know,
01:37Thailand doesn't want to negotiate and any third party intervention wouldn't be welcome right now.
01:41So it feels that Thailand certainly wants to continue its military operations.
01:46The government has really left this to Thailand's military to take charge here.
01:51That might change, though, if there is enough and continued international pressure.
01:58You know, the UN have called for ceasefires and so has Malaysia, who were heavily involved in that July ceasefire.
02:04Now it's we're waiting to see if US President Donald Trump will make any further dent into this into this conflict and try and bring both of these countries to the table.
02:16But as it stands today, I have to stress the fighting is continuing, that the sounds of incoming and outgoing fire is relentless in Surin and near the border.
02:27So it doesn't seem it's going to be ending today, at least.
02:30But again, there might be some season of hostility in the coming days if there's enough international pressure.
02:37Yeah. Let's take a closer look at two players that you already mentioned, the US and Malaysia.
02:42They brokered the October ceasefire.
02:44They are stepping in.
02:46Donald Trump wants to call both leaders today.
02:49What are the chances of Malaysia and the US actually being able to deescalate this conflict?
02:58It's an interesting one because I think Trump and Malaysia had some quick success in July when the conflict was raging then.
03:06And it kind of got, you know, the ceasefire agreement kind of got brought to the table very quickly.
03:12But I think this time it might take a little bit longer just because of how angry both sides are in this situation.
03:18Thailand especially has said it's not ready for negotiations.
03:22It just wants to continue this military operation until Cambodia shows that they're ready for peace.
03:30Trump will inevitably use an economic leverage there.
03:33Thailand thinks that should be a separate conversation.
03:37And I think what we could expect, certainly in the initial steps, would be for the heavy arms fire to cease.
03:42That includes, you know, Thailand's fighter jets.
03:46That includes Cambodia's BM-21 missiles, which have a variety of range and deadly impact.
03:53So I think that would probably be the initial steps to prevent the heavy arms fire.
03:57I think we can expect, at the very least, small arms fire to continue, whether at the border, at the borders.
04:05But I think that would be the first step.
04:06But it must be the economic leverage that the U.S. has over both countries.
04:11And it just remains to be seen about whether that's going to work this time so quickly.
04:16Or is it going to take another few days or another few weeks for this conflict before that begins and before the ceasefire comes back into play?
04:25Journalist Tommy Walker on the Thai-Cambodian border.
04:28Thanks so much, Tommy.
04:29And please be safe.
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