Thailand Reports 1st Civilian Death in Conflict with Cambodia

Thailand announced a curfew in Trat province in the country’s southeast on Sunday as fighting with Cambodia spread to coastal areas of a disputed border region. 

The move came as authorities confirmed the first civilian death caused by a Cambodian rocket strike, just two days after U.S. President Donald Trump said both sides had agreed to halt the fighting.

Speaking at a press conference in Bangkok after the curfew was imposed, Thai Defense Ministry spokesman Admiral Surasak Kongsiri said that clashes are ongoing, despite Cambodia reaffirming its openness to a ceasefire on Saturday, according to Reuters. 

He added that Thailand remains open to a diplomatic solution, but stressed that Cambodia must stop hostilities first before negotiations can begin.

Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health later confirmed that a civilian was killed on Sunday during border clashes, marking the first civilian fatality in the country since the long-running conflict flared up again about a week ago. 

The Thai army said the 63-year-old man died from shrapnel wounds after Cambodian forces fired rockets into a civilian area.

Fighting continued into the early hours of Sunday, with both sides reporting attacks along the frontier despite international mediation efforts. 

A ceasefire urged by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Saturday evening has yet to take effect.

Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow wrote on X late Saturday that Thailand reaffirms its firm commitment to peace, but peace must be real and sustainable, based on actions that respect agreements, not empty words.

President Trump had announced on Friday, following calls with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, that the two leaders agreed to stop all hostilities starting that evening. 

However, neither Thailand nor Cambodia officially confirmed the agreement, and Anutin said on Saturday that Thailand had not agreed to a ceasefire.

Thailand has reported 15 soldiers killed and around 270 wounded, while Cambodia has not released official military casualty figures, saying instead that 11 civilians were killed and 59 injured. 

Both sides claim the fighting has displaced more than 600,000 people along the roughly 800-kilometer border, figures that cannot be independently verified.

The renewed violence is linked to a decades-old territorial dispute, with each side accusing the other of violating previous ceasefire agreements. 

Although the two countries agreed to a truce in July after heavy fighting and signed a joint declaration in Malaysia in late October outlining steps toward lasting peace, the ceasefire was suspended in November following a new border incident.