Cambodia and Thailand exchange fire in border area

Tensions have erupted between Thailand and Cambodia over an exchange of gunfire in a disputed border area that reportedly left three civilians injured in the northeastern province of Surin.

Cambodia's Defense Ministry and the Thai military accused each other of firing the first shot in the incident , the latest flare-up in a long-running dispute over the demarcation of the border in an area near two ancient temples. According to the Thai military, three Thai citizens were wounded by a Cambodian rocket that landed in a community in the northeastern province of Surin, bordering Cambodia.

The Thai embassy urged its citizens to leave Cambodia "as soon as possible" unless they have urgent reasons to remain. The clash came a day after Thailand expelled the Cambodian ambassador and recalled its envoy in Phnom Penh in response to a landmine explosion that injured a Thai soldier.

Thailand's current Prime Minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, said a military investigation found evidence that Cambodia had laid landmines in the disputed area, something Phnom Penh denies. The territorial dispute in the area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the two countries and Laos meet, sparked military clashes in May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed. Since then, the two sides have traded barbs and retaliatory measures, with Thailand restricting border crossings and Cambodia halting some imports.

The Thai government announced on Wednesday the withdrawal of its ambassador to Cambodia, Tull Traisorat, and the expulsion of his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Saroeun, from Bangkok, following the latest landmine explosion, which injured several Thai soldiers, one of whom "lost his right leg," in the neighboring province of Ubon Ratchathani, in the east of the country.

"The decision has been made to downgrade diplomatic relations with Cambodia, recall the Thai ambassador to Cambodia, and expel the Cambodian ambassador to Thailand," Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said in a statement posted on the Thai government website. "Other measures regarding diplomatic relations will be decided later," the statement read.

Bangkok simultaneously announced that it had “ordered the closure of all border checkpoints under the authority of the 2nd Zone of the Army, and strictly prohibited the entry of tourists into the area,” referring to Huai Bon in the border province of Ubon Ratchathani, where “a reconnaissance patrol of the 14th Infantry Regiment was injured by a mine,” resulting in “one of its members, identified as Sergeant Major First Class Phichitchai Boonkhorat, losing his right leg.

Wechayachai also explained that the Thai Foreign Ministry will deliver "a letter of protest to Cambodia, as it has been proven that no such landmines existed during previous patrols, and that these were newly planted mines that injured Thai military personnel on two occasions." "Therefore, it is appropriate to intensify Thailand's response in this manner," his government concluded.