Fighting between Cambodia and Thailand escalated along their contested border on Tuesday, as the Southeast Asian neighbours both said they would not back down in defending their sovereignty.
With each side blaming the other for starting Monday's renewed clashes, it was unclear how or if a fragile ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump in July could be salvaged.
Late on Tuesday, a top adviser to Cambodia's prime minister Hun Manet told the Reuters news agency his country was "ready to talk at any time", but Thailand's foreign minister in an interview said he saw no potential for negotiations, adding the situation was not conducive to third-party mediation.
Cambodia's influential former leader Hun Sen said his country waited 24 hours to honour the ceasefire and allow for evacuations before launching counterattacks overnight against Thai forces.
"Cambodia needs peace, but Cambodia is compelled to counterattack to defend our territory," he said in a Facebook post.
A Thai soldier allegedly wounded by gunfire from Cambodian soldiers is taken to hospital by helicopter for medical treatment on Monday. Cambodia claims no shots were fired at Thai soldiers. Source: Anadolu / Getty
"Thailand is determined to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity and therefore military measures must be taken as necessary," Defence Ministry spokesperson Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri told a media briefing.
Cambodia's defence ministry accused Thailand of "brutal and unlawful actions", saying nine civilians were killed since Monday and 20 seriously injured. Thai officials said four soldiers had died in the fighting and 29 people had been injured.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Hun Sen's son, said late on Monday that Thailand "must not use military force to attack civilian villages under the pretext of reclaiming its sovereignty".
Both countries said they had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from border areas.
What led up to the fighting?
The renewed fighting is the most serious since a five-day exchange of rockets and heavy artillery in July that marked their worst fighting in recent history. At least 48 people were killed and 300,000 displaced before Trump intervened to bring about a truce.
It is not immediately clear what sparked the latest unrest, but tensions have simmered since a Thai soldier was wounded by a landmine on 10 November, prompting Thailand to suspend de-escalation measures agreed in an enhanced ceasefire deal a few weeks earlier in Malaysia in Trump's presence.
Thailand says the landmine was among several that were newly laid by Cambodia and that it would not resume the de-escalation measures until Cambodia apologises. Cambodia has repeatedly rejected the allegations.
US President Donald Trump (right) brokered a peace deal signed by Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul (centre) and Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet (left) in October. Source: AP / Mohd Rasfan
How do the two countries compare militarily?
Thailand has a large and well-funded military that dwarfs that of Cambodia, with triple the active armed forces personnel and a 2024 defence budget allocation that was four times bigger than its neighbour's.
Cambodia's military budget is a quarter the size of Thailand's. Source: EPA / Kith Serey
Thailand's air force has nearly 40 fighter jets and dozens of helicopters, while Cambodia has 16 multi-role helicopters but no fighter aircraft.
Where does the dispute originate?
Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817km land border, which was first mapped by France in 1907 when Cambodia was its colony.
That map, which Thailand later contested, was based on an agreement that the border be demarcated along the natural watershed line between the two countries.
In 2000, they agreed to establish a commission to peacefully address overlapping claims, but little progress has been made.
Cambodian soldiers on guard at Preah Vihear temple near Cambodia's Thai border in July. Source: AP / Mak Remissa
The 11th-century Hindu temple Preah Vihear, or Khao Phra Viharn in Thailand, has been central to the dispute, with both countries claiming historical ownership.
The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but Thailand continued to lay claim to the surrounding land. Tension escalated in 2008 after Cambodia tried to list Preah Vihear as a UNESCO World Heritage site, leading to skirmishes and at least a dozen deaths, including during a week-long artillery exchange in 2011.
What's behind this year's troubles?
Nationalist sentiments were stirred in Thailand in 2024 when conservatives questioned a government plan to negotiate with Cambodia to jointly explore offshore energy resources, warning that it could risk Thailand losing island territory.
In May, a Cambodian soldier was killed by Thai forces during a brief skirmish, prompting both countries to increase troops at the border. Around the same time, Cambodia referred disputes over temples in four areas to the ICJ.
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