As Thailand bombs Cambodia, 5 key factors that brought two countries to military clash

The Thailand-Cambodia conflict that erupted on Thursday is the latest episode of decadeslong tensions between the two countries.

After months of simmering tensions, Thailand on Thursday conducted airstrikes inside Cambodia in what it said was retaliation to cross-border Cambodian rocket attacks that killed Thai civilians. Earlier in the day, soldiers of the two countries had also clashed in a disputed stretch of the two countries’ border.

Even though the ongoing conflict appears to stem from clashes in May in which a Cambodian soldier was killed, it is part of the decadeslong conflict that is rooted in competing territorial claims in a stretch of the Thai-Cambodian border called the ‘Emerald Triangle’, which is at the trijunction of Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. It has many sites of high strategic, cultural, and symbolic value that both sides lay claim to, such as the Prasat Ta Muen Thom and Preah Vihear temples.

Here are five factors that have brought Thailand and Cambodia to the brink of war.

The 1962 ICJ temple ruling

In 1962, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded the Preah Vihear Temple to Cambodia that both sides had claimed.

The ICJ ruling’s ambiguity about the land adjacent to the temple led to decadeslong hostilities between the two countries that erupted in an armed conflict in 2008 that lasted for years and killed dozens of people. The conflict also spread to other contested temple of Prasat Ta Muen Thom that Thailand controls.

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In 2013, the ICJ ruled that the surrounding land also belonged to Cambodia and Thailand was forced to withdraw troops from the area. The conflict of 2008 therefore led to a Cambodian victory.

Undemarcated boundary & contested claims

Thailand and Cambodia have a contested border that is a result of ambiguous colonial-era treaties, conflicting maps made by both the sides, and overlapping historical claims over cultural sites that are located at strategically important locations along the border.

The border, particularly at two of the most contested locations of Prasat Ta Muen Thom and Preah Vihear temples, is not demarcated. While the ICJ has awarded the Preah Vihear Temple to Cambodia, the status of Prasat Ta Muen Thom Temple remains contested. Currently, it under Thailand’s control.

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The conflict today began with clashes in the vicinity of Prasat Ta Muen Thom Temple that Thailand blames on Cambodian aggression. The Thai military has said that Cambodia first deployed a surveillance drone and then heavily-armed troops and equipment, such as including rocket launchers, to the area. It said that the Cambodian forces fired the first shots.

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Landmines in border regions — Thailand accuses Cambodia

Thailand has accused Cambodia of laying landmines in the contested border areas in violation of previous agreements. The issue has played a major role in escalating monthslong tensions that erupted in the exchange of missiles and rockets today.

In recent weeks, several Thai soldiers have been injured in landmine explosions. Five soldiers were injured in an explosion on Wednesday.

Thailand has accused Cambodia of planting landmines in areas that were mutually agreed to be landmine-free for patrolling.

Military’s influence in both countries

Military is widely believed to be calling the shots in both Thailand and Cambodia, which is seen to be closely aligned with the country’s monarchy. Both Thailand and Cambodia have weak elected governments that cannot operate independently.

In Cambodia, the prime minister’s office is essentially a dynasty in its own right. Hun Sen led the country as either the prime minster or second prime minister from 1985 to 2023, when he resigned and made way for his son, Hun Manet, to become the prime minister.

In Thailand, the military has run several governments for decades over the past century and ran the country as early as until 2019 (after capturing power in 2014).

Currently, the Thai Senate is appointed largely by the military. The Senate essentially has a veto in the selection of the prime minister, making elections a kind of a fruitless exercise.

Political crisis in Thailand — a Cambodian plot

The armed conflict came at a time when Thailand was already in the midst of a political crisis that was created by Cambodia.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended on July 1 by the country’s constitutional court over a scandal stemming from her conversation with former Cambodian PM Sen related to the two country’s border conflict.

After a Cambodian soldier was killed in border clashes in May, Shinawatra sought a call with Sen to smoothen the situation. As Sen was an old acquaintance of the influential Shinawatra family and had friendly ties, she called him “uncle” on the call. Sen, on his part, leaked the entire conversation and that led to a storm in Thailand, leading to her suspension as the prime minister.