Thailand’s government confirmed Sunday that a rocket attack from Cambodia killed a 63-year-old villager, marking the first civilian death directly linked to combat in the past week of intensifying border fighting between the two Southeast Asian nations.
The victim, Don Patchaphan, was killed in the heart of a residential area near a school in Sisaket province’s Kantharalak District. Associated Press reporters arrived at the scene about 10 minutes after the rocket struck, witnessing the body of a man totally wrapped in bandages being loaded onto an ambulance. A house a couple hundred meters away was engulfed in flames as village volunteers scrambled to extinguish the fire with buckets of water. A piece of shrapnel from the rocket was embedded in the road nearby.
Thai Government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat condemned Cambodia for deliberately firing into civilian areas, calling the action “cruel and inhumane.” While Thailand had previously reported civilian deaths during the renewed conflict, most of those individuals had underlying health issues and died during evacuations.
The Ongoing Conflict
The large-scale fighting erupted from a skirmish on Dec. 7 that wounded two Thai soldiers. Both countries are battling over longstanding territorial disputes involving patches of frontier land, some containing centuries-old temple ruins. More than two dozen people have been officially reported killed on both sides over the past week, while more than half a million have been displaced.
Cambodia has deployed truck-mounted BM-21 rocket launchers with a range of 30-40 kilometers. Each launcher can fire up to 40 rockets at a time but lacks precision targeting. Thai authorities say Cambodia has launched thousands of these rockets virtually daily, with most landing in areas already evacuated.
Thailand has responded with airstrikes using fighter planes, which Cambodia says continued Sunday. Both sides have also employed drones for surveillance and bomb delivery.
Civilian Impact
Residents in another village in Kantharalak reported that several houses were damaged by a rocket attack Saturday. Kanbancha Charoensri, who was present during the attack, described the terror: “Houses that were hit directly were totally destroyed. The ground was shaking so much. It was so scary.”
The Thai military has acknowledged 16 of its troops have died during the fighting and estimated Sunday that at least 221 Cambodian soldiers have been killed. Cambodia has denounced the Thai count as disinformation and hasn’t acknowledged any military casualties, though it has reported at least 11 civilians killed and more than six dozen wounded.
Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Manet delivered a morale-boosting message Sunday, writing on social media that he’s proud to see his nation’s strength “in this situation where our country is facing difficulties due to aggression from neighboring countries.”
Failed Ceasefire Efforts
The renewed fighting has derailed a ceasefire promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump that ended five days of earlier combat in July. The ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless both countries agreed. It was formalized in greater detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
Trump announced Friday that the two countries had agreed at his urging to renew the ceasefire, but Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul denied making any commitment. Cambodia announced it was continuing to fight in what it calls self-defense.
New Front Opens
A Thai Navy warship in the Gulf of Thailand joined the fighting Saturday morning, trading fire with guns based in Cambodia’s southwestern province of Koh Kong. Each side blamed the other for initiating the exchange on this new front, expanding the conflict beyond the land border.
