Thailand Cambodia conflict 2025: Is it safe to travel to Thailand - as over 80 villages evacuated and threat of broader conflict rises
About 40,000 civilians from 86 villages in Thailand have been evacuated to safer locations as tensions with Cambodia escalate, a Thai official said.
Thailand's military deployed an F-16 fighter jet against Cambodian forces, the Thai army has said. It added that of the six F-16 fighter jets that Thailand readied to deploy along the disputed border, one of the aircraft fired into Cambodia and destroyed a military target.
Cambodia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation on the air strike. Both militaries accused the other side of firing the first shots in armed clashes along a disputed area of their border.
Two Cambodian provinces came under shelling from Thailand's military, according to Cambodia's influential former premier Hun Sen. A Cambodian government source told AFP that violence broke out again on Thursday morning near two temples on the border between the Thai province of Surin and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey.
A spokesperson for Cambodia's defence ministry, however, said there had been an unprovoked incursion by Thai troops and Cambodian forces had responded in self-defence. The Thai army said Cambodian soldiers opened fire on them near their post east of the Ta Muen temple.
The neighbours are locked in a bitter spat over an area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of both countries and Laos meet, and which is home to several ancient temples. The squabble has dragged on for decades, flaring into bloody military clashes more than 15 years ago and again in May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a firefight.
The Foreign Office has not issued a new warning to do with the conflict. However, it already has previously warned Brit holidaymakers about it.
It says: “Land borders/crossings between Thailand and Cambodia are temporarily suspended due to a dispute between Thailand and Cambodia. Take extra care and stay alert in border areas and follow the instructions of local authorities, especially at tourist destinations such as the Preah Vihear temple, the Ta Kwai temple and the Ta Muen Thom temple.
“There are also unexploded landmines in the border area. Stay on marked paths especially around Ta Krabey.” It also advises against all but essential travel to parts of the south, near the Thailand-Malaysia border:
- Pattani Province
- Yala Province
- Narathiwat Province
- southern Songkhla Province – south of the A43 road between Hat Yai and Sakom, and south of the train line which runs between Hat Yai and Padang Besar
FCDO also advises against all but essential travel on the Hat Yai to Padang Besar train line that runs through these provinces. This is due to regular attacks in the provinces by the border with Malaysia.