 "Cambodia pulls out of Southeast Asian Games amid border conflict with Thailand")
As the region grapples with questions over security and self-reliance, Cambodia has stepped away from the 33rd Southeast Asian Games after renewed border clashes with Thailand escalated sharply this week. The decision comes just as Thailand begins hosting more than 13,000 athletes for the 2025 edition of the Games, which opened on December 9 in Bangkok and Chonburi province.
The Games, held at venues including the Rajamangala National Stadium for the Opening Ceremony, were set to bring together 11 Southeast Asian nations: hosts Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Brunei Darussalam, and the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. Athletes are competing across 50 medal sports, spanning Olympic events and traditional regional disciplines. Cambodia, however, withdrew on Wednesday, a Games official confirmed, as its border conflict with Thailand deepened.
Civilians flee amid days of clashes
Fighting along the frontier has entered a third consecutive day, with cross-border shelling and air raids prompting more than half a million people to flee their homes, according to authorities. Both governments accused each other on Wednesday of reigniting hostilities that have already claimed at least 13 soldiers and civilians this week.
“More than 400,000 people have been moved to safe shelters” across seven provinces, Thailand’s Ministry of Defence spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri told reporters. “Civilians have had to evacuate in large numbers due to what we assessed as an imminent threat to their safety,” he said.
Thai officials also reported that rockets launched from Cambodia landed near the Phanom Dong Rak Hospital in Surin on Wednesday morning, forcing patients and medical staff to take cover in a bunker.
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