The Royal Thai Army put Cambodian forces on notice Thursday that it would respond immediately to any further provocations along the two countries’ shared border, after a series of incidents in Surin province the previous day revived concerns over the fragility of a ceasefire signed just months ago.
On May 13, Thai forces reported two separate incidents near O’Smach, opposite the Chong Chom border checkpoint in Kap Choeng district. The first occurred around 9 a.m., when a patrol from the Second Army Region’s Suranaree Force spotted a group of between 10 and 15 Cambodian soldiers, accompanied by two foreign nationals, moving toward the barbed-wire boundary line while recording video footage. Thai officers issued a verbal warning that was ignored, then fired two warning shots in accordance with standard security measures to prevent further encroachment.
Later that same day, Thai forces detected 11 rounds of small-arms fire originating from the Cambodian side near Hill 278, east of Chong Chom, with shots moving down toward the Or Samed road. Thai troops did not return fire. The Second Army Region assessed the gunfire as scattered and not tactically targeted, with no clear operational objective — consistent with what Thai officials described as a pattern of deliberate provocation rather than a coordinated military threat.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree, speaking at Army Headquarters on Thursday, said the incidents were not isolated events but part of a sustained pattern of behavior along more than 400 kilometers of the Thai-Cambodian border since a ceasefire took effect in late December 2025. He said Thai forces had continued to encounter gunfire and, in some cases, explosions along the frontier in the months since — incidents he described as provocative but not aimed at causing casualties or damaging property. He added that the Thai army believed some incidents reflected a lack of discipline among Cambodian troops, while others appeared designed to goad Thailand into firing first and then accuse it of initiating violence.
Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence flatly rejected the Thai account. In a statement issued May 13, ministry spokeswoman Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata said the claims that Cambodian forces had fired 11 rounds at the O’Smach checkpoint were false and seriously distorted the facts. Phnom Penh reiterated its commitment to peace and existing border cooperation mechanisms.
The dispute is playing out against the backdrop of one of the most serious breakdowns in Thai-Cambodian relations in decades. The two countries fought a brief but deadly border war in 2025, with clashes beginning in May and escalating sharply in July before a ceasefire brokered under Malaysian mediation and U.S. pressure was formalized in October in Kuala Lumpur. That truce collapsed in early December, leading to 20 days of renewed heavy fighting that killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million civilians on both sides. A second ceasefire — the December 27, 2025 Joint Statement — required both parties to freeze troop movements, halt all attacks, cooperate on demining and cybercrime, and return 18 captured Cambodian soldiers to Phnom Penh after a 72-hour monitoring period.
The ceasefire has held in broad terms, but barely. Thai forces have repeatedly reported troop movements, sporadic gunfire, and what they describe as deliberate intimidation along the frontier in the months since. In January 2026, a mortar round struck Thai territory in Ubon Ratchathani province, wounding one soldier — an incident Cambodia attributed to an operational error. In April, the two sides traded competing accounts of a confrontation at Chong Chom involving military attaché observers, with Thailand saying its troops fired three firecrackers after Cambodian personnel repeatedly approached the barbed-wire line, and Cambodia claiming Thai forces had used rifles and an M79 grenade launcher.
Thai officials have also raised concerns that the information environment around the border is being actively managed by Cambodia. Maj. Gen. Winthai said Cambodian personnel had in several cases attempted to bring foreign media or social media influencers close to restricted border areas, and accused Phnom Penh of prioritizing what he described as an “information battlefield” over direct engagement. Thai Army Chief of Staff Gen. Chaipruak Doungprapat, commenting earlier this month on a separate Chong Chom incident, said Thailand would not tolerate any action designed to intimidate border communities and that any breach of existing agreements would draw an appropriate response.
Thailand’s border communities have largely been told to continue their daily lives unless warned otherwise by local officials, and the army has said no civilian safety issues have resulted from recent incidents. Still, the frequency and pattern of flare-ups along the frontier since the December ceasefire — and the increasing sharpness of official Thai military language — signal that the post-conflict stabilization phase remains precarious, with both governments keeping close watch on a border that has proven difficult to hold quiet.
