Thailand cuts border crossing hours with Cambodia over security

Thailand shortened operating hours at 10 border crossings with Cambodia, citing security concerns, as tensions between the two countries simmered after a deadly clash last month.
A day earlier, both the Southeast Asian countries reinforced their military presence along disputed border areas, Thailand's defence minister said.
The two governments have exchanged statements, saying they were committed to finding a peaceful resolution after a Cambodian soldier was killed during a clash on May 28 in an undemarcated border area.
Checkpoints, including the busiest in Thailand's eastern province of Sa Kaeo, halved operating hours to 8am to 4pm local time, from 6am to 10pm, previously, Thai foreign ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura told reporters on Sunday.
Thailand operates 17 official border crossings with Cambodia, spanning seven provinces along their shared 817km frontier, government data shows.
'These are no immediate closure orders at border checkpoints. Rather, they are gradual and appropriate to the circumstances in specific areas,' he said, adding the situation along the border remained calm.
Residents near the Aranyaprathet-Poipet crossing in Sa Kaeo said the atmosphere was calm.
'It surprised people a bit, but shops stayed open and most locals crossed back normally,' said a staff member at Manue Home Stay, who gave his name only as Rong.
Cambodia's foreign ministry reiterated a request to bring the border disputes to the International Court of Justice in a letter to Thai officials on June 6.
'Given the complexity, historical nature, and sensitivity of these disputes, it is increasingly evident that bilateral dialogue alone may no longer suffice to bring about a comprehensive and lasting solution,' foreign minister Prak Sokhonn said in the note, shared with reporters on Sunday.
'A decision rendered by the ICJ, grounded in international law, would offer a fair, impartial and durable resolution,' he said.
The Thai government has said it does not recognise the court's jurisdiction and proposed that all boundary-related issues be resolved through bilateral negotiations, with talks scheduled for June 14.
Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at undemarcated points along their shared border, which was mapped by France in 1907 when Cambodia was its colony.
Tension escalated in 2008 over an 11th-century Hindu temple, leading to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a weeklong exchange of artillery in 2011.
Both governments have enjoyed warm ties, from a close friendship between former leaders, Thaksin Shinawatra from Thailand and Cambodia's Hun Sen. Thaksin's daughter and Hun Sen's son are the incumbent prime ministers of their countries.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Eyewitness News

14 hours ago

• Eyewitness News

Thai PM to meet army commander to defuse political crisis

BANGKOK - Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra will on Friday visit an army commander she called an "opponent" in a leaked phone call as she battles to defuse a crisis threatening to topple her government. The 38-year-old leader, in office for less than a year, was forced to make a public apology on Thursday as anger flared over the call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen that appeared online. Her main coalition partner, the conservative Bhumjaithai party, pulled out on Wednesday saying she had insulted the country and the army, putting her government on the point of collapse. There was better news for Paetongtarn, daughter of controversial billionaire ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, on Friday as another important coalition partner, the conservative Democrat Party, pledged to stay. "The Democrat Party will remain in the government to help resolve the challenges the country is currently facing," the party said in a statement. Another coalition party, Chartthaipattana, said late on Thursday that it would not withdraw, after urgent talks on the crisis with the Democrats and the United Thai Nation (UTN) party. With the departure of Bhumjaithai, the government led by Paetongtarn's Pheu Thai party now holds a razor-thin majority in parliament. Losing another major partner would likely see the government collapse, plunging the kingdom into fresh political instability as it grapples with a stuttering economy and US President Donald Trump's threatened trade tariffs. APOLOGY Paetongtarn will travel to Thailand's northeast on Friday to patch things up with Lieutenant General Boonsin Padklang, the commander of the forces in northeast Thailand, where the border clashes took place. She referred to Boonsin as her "opponent" in the leaked call with Hun Sen, in which the two leaders discussed the ongoing border dispute. Thailand has formally protested to Cambodia about the leak, calling it a breach of diplomatic protocol that had damaged trust between the two sides. Paetongtarn was criticised as being weak and deferential in the call with Hun Sen, a veteran politician known as a wily operator, but her comments about the army commander were potentially the most damaging to her. Thailand's armed forces have long played a powerful role in the kingdom's politics and politicians are usually careful not to antagonise them. When she made her public apology for the leaked call on Thursday, Paetongtarn did so standing in front of army and police chiefs, in a show of unity. There were small street protests on Thursday and calls from across the political spectrum for her to quit or announce an election, but her apology and backing from some of her coalition partners appear to have shored up her position for now. But with a tiny majority she remains vulnerable, not least because of the awkward nature of her coalition. Paetongtarn took office in August last year at the head of an uneasy alliance between Pheu Thai and a group of conservative, pro-military parties whose members have spent much of the past 20 years battling against her father. Thaksin, twice elected PM, was thrown out in a military coup in 2006, and the bitter tussle between the conservative, royalist establishment and the political movement he founded has dominated Thai politics throughout that time. Former Manchester City owner Thaksin, 75, still enjoys huge support from the rural base whose lives he transformed with populist policies in the early 2000s. But he is despised by Thailand's powerful elites, who saw his rule as corrupt, authoritarian and socially destabilising.

IOL News

17 hours ago

• IOL News

Preah Vihear: A reflection of colonial legacies

This handout photo from the Royal Thai Government taken and released on June 11, 2025 shows Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra (C) with government officials during a visit to Kap Choeng District in Surin Province near the border with Cambodia. Thailand and Cambodia on June 8 reached an agreement to reposition their troops in a disputed border area where a Cambodian soldier was killed last month in a military clash, both sides announced. On the 28th of May, a routine border patrol between Thailand and Cambodia turned deadly. The exchange of fire near the sacred Preah Vihear temple, lasting ten minutes, may seem like just another regional skirmish. However, in reality, the situation represents a far more complex dynamic, one that collides nationalism, memory, colonial borders, and contested sovereignty that continues to unravel communities across the Global South; particularly formerly colonised nations. While Cambodia asserts defence and Thailand claims trespass, the crucial question transcends politics: how much longer will the people of this region pay the price for borders never drawn to serve them? The temple at the heart of this conflict is no ordinary site. Preah Vihear, a 9th-12th century Khmer Empire dedication to Shiva, a prominent god in Hinduism, boasting architecture so exceptional it arguably surpasses even Angkor Wat. Perched atop the Dângrêk Mountains, its panoramic views were meant to symbolise a profound spiritual link between heaven and earth. Yet, since the 20th century, this sacred meaning has been perversely politicised, caught between aggressive narratives of national pride. Despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) unequivocally ruling in 1962 that the temple belongs to Cambodia, and again in 2013 reaffirming Cambodian sovereignty over the surrounding land, many in Thailand reject these decisions. This persistent defiance, despite formal legal proceedings, ensures the region remains a zone of friction revealing how unresolved history and nationalist sentiment can ignite violence with alarming ease. This conflict isn't an isolated incident; it's just one of countless scars from arbitrary colonial map-making. Across the global south, from the family-disrupting borders of Lesotho and South Africa to the volatile lines in Kashmir between India and Pakistan, and between Rwanda and the DRC; we see nations grappling with inherited disputes that blur the sacred and the sovereign. Even in the 20th century, a highly televised and symbolic example was the Berlin Wall and its collapse in 1989. The Berlin Wall's fall was a historic moment, exposing how these man-made, imperial divisions continue to fracture societies, divide families, disrupt trade, stifle cultural expression, and transform places of unity into battlegrounds. As Thai and Cambodian commanders negotiate ceasefires, a profound question lingers, what if this entire region could be shared and celebrated, rather than eternally contested? The recent clash is also linked to Thailand's internal political tensions. The return of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, now facing charges under strict lese-majesté and Computer Crime Acts for alleged remarks deemed insulting towards the monarchy, has intensified political polarisation. This may explain the rise in nationalist rhetoric, and the incident's timing appears suspiciously convenient for factions seeking to deflect attention or consolidate influence. When colonial empires carved up the global south, often with no understanding of local languages, cultures, or histories they created borders for their benefit to extend power and control. Communities that once shared land, language, and lineage were suddenly split apart. The Preah Vihear temple is just one among thousands of sites now weaponised by states clinging to boundaries they never chose, but were forced to inherit. And now, as Thailand and Cambodia slash each other's visa-free entry periods to just seven days- from 60 days for Thais and 30 for Cambodians (by land)- a move that affects traders, workers, students, and families, who suffers most? Not the politicians, rather the general population who may regularly cross these artificial lines for numerous reasons whether it be the pursuit of love, food, work, or exploration. What's happening in Southeast Asia is part of a global pattern. Currently in Los Angeles, migrant communities are protesting against intensified immigration enforcement and deportation raids carried out by ICE. The very same America that brands itself the 'land of immigrants' is now criminalising the very people it once relied on to build its economy, culture, and strength. A characteristic extremely emphasised widespread globally. Children are being separated from their parents, workers are denied fair wages, and people are deported to countries they haven't seen since infancy or at all. A global wave of nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment is gripping the world, fueled by a manipulated fear of 'the other', cultural dilution, and loss of societal standing. This fear is turning into hate with devastating consequences. We're witnessing the rise of narrow, inward-looking ideologies that dangerously ignore the historical truth: nations have always been built by movement and exchange. Migrants are not burdens; they are the teachers, nurses, vendors, and scholars who sustain our cities. This surge in nationalist policies and border restrictions isn't a sign of strength, but of profound insecurity. It reveals a need to confront colonial legacies and an unwillingness to envision an inclusive future. It offers only the illusion of safety through walls, papers, and passports. What occurred at Preah Vihear is merely a symptom of a deeper, more widespread issue. Unless we confront this underlying problem, history will tragically repeat itself, bringing more borders, more bullets, and more broken families. By: Banthati Sekwala Associate at BRICS+ Consulting Group Egyptian & South African Specialist **The Views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Independent Media or IOL. ** MORE ARTICLES ON OUR WEBSITE ** Follow @brics_daily on X/Twitter & @brics_daily on Instagram for daily BRICS+ updates

IOL News

a day ago

• IOL News

Israel, Iran Conflict: Peace is a Fantasy When Faced With a War Machine Addicted to Dominance

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men inspect the damage at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, on June 16, 2025. Iran unleashed a barrage of missile strikes on Israeli cities early on June 16, after Israel struck military targets deep inside Iran, with both sides threatening further devastation. Image: JOHN WESSELS / AFP) Dr. Reneva Fourie Israel has gone completely rogue, making it the greatest threat to world peace. Having all but obliterated Gaza, it is now turning its aggression towards the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran is defiantly responding with its Iron Dome penetrating Fattah-1 hypersonic missiles. Defiance is a characteristic of most in West Asia. Its people have paid dearly for daring to assert their political independence, safeguard their resources, and give their support to Palestine. The cost has been staggering: millions of lives lost – victims of Western-instigated wars cloaked in the language of human rights, democracy, and counterterrorism. Over the past few months, that same machinery of destruction has intensified its focus on Gaza. Israel, the United States' key proxy in the region, has unleashed devastation on a shocking scale. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been massacred with impunity. It began when Hamas, the governing party of Gaza and a key component of the Palestinian liberation movement, launched an attack in response to Israel's decades of repression. What followed was not proportional 'defence'. It was genocide. Civilians – mostly women and children – were annihilated or buried under rubble. Survivors were starved and denied clean water. Humanitarian aid was blocked, hospitals were bombed, and neighbourhoods were razed. While the world fixated on hostages taken by Hamas – many of whom were later killed by Israel's indiscriminate bombings – the real humanitarian catastrophe was being ignored. Israel detained thousands, including children, and subjected them to systematic torture and sexual violence as it continued its military rampage, emboldened by unconditional US and European support. International outcry, court rulings by the ICJ, and arrest warrants from the ICC were brushed aside. Nothing could stop the West's killing spree; not law, not diplomacy, not conscience. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ But Israel's aggression extends beyond Gaza and the West Bank. It has steadily eroded Syrian sovereignty, assassinating Iranian advisors who were legally assisting the Syrian government. Together with the US and Turkey, Israel facilitated regime change in Syria, deposing the elected Ba'ath Party in favour of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an extremist outfit with little public legitimacy. Hezbollah, an unwavering defender of Palestine, saw key members of its leadership wiped out and much of southern Lebanon reduced to rubble under Israeli bombs. And then there is Yemen. When Ansar Allah declared solidarity with the Palestinians, their resistance was met with significant military force. The US, unashamedly, used its might to pummel one of the poorest nations in the world. At the heart of Western aggression lies Iran – a country that has shown enormous restraint in the face of years of provocation, assassination, and sabotage. Its military and political leaders have been murdered, not on battlefields, but in targeted killings. Its scientists – brilliant minds working to advance nuclear energy for peaceful medical and industrial purposes – have been gunned down simply for daring to dream of self-sufficiency. A Palestinian man carries a wounded child in Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip after the area was targeted by an Israeli strike, on June 17, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Image: Eyad BABA / AFP Iran's pursuit of nuclear technology is not a prelude to war. It is an assertion of dignity. Its nuclear programme powers homes, fuels hospitals, and propels research in oncology and aerospace fields. Yet that progress has become a threat to the West, not because of its military potential, but because it symbolises independence, ingenuity, and resilience. Washington cannot tolerate a West Asian power that surpasses it in science or dares to challenge its monopoly on influence. It is conveniently ignoring the reality of Iran's nuclear programme, elevating its military capability above civilian use. Ironically, the US, as well as Israel, apartheid South Africa and others, produced significant nuclear military capability during the Cold War era. Although Israel has not confirmed or denied having nuclear weapons, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported that Israel possessed 90 nuclear warheads in 2024. However, some analysts suggest a maximum of 300 warheads using the estimated amounts of fissile material. Furthermore, Israel possesses three types of delivery systems for military use of nuclear weapons: F-15 aircraft, ground-based missile installations, and German Dolphin I and II class submarines. While democratic South Africa willingly signed and complied with treaties containing prohibitions on participating in nuclear weapon activities, Israel and the US are escaping accountability. In 2024, it was estimated that the US had 1,770 active nuclear warheads, 1,938 stored as reserves, and 1,336 that were retired and pending dismantlement. It is the US that reneged on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on nuclear programmes with Iran, and it is the US that betrayed the current nuclear negotiation efforts. History is being repeated. The US plays a double game – stalling negotiations while equipping Israel with the intelligence, weapons, and diplomatic cover to strike Iranian assets. Just as the US and allied forces invaded Iraq in 2003 on the pretext of disarming its non-existing weapons of mass destruction, Israel launched an unprovoked missile attack on Iran on 13 June. International law is failing. It has become a selective tool, weaponised against the weak and ignored by the powerful. The principles of sovereignty, justice, and human rights lie in tatters as the US-Israel-Europe axis champions their compulsive fixation on warfare, dominance, and aggression. Reason no longer applies. Appeals to humanity fall on deaf ears. The corpses of children, the wails of mothers, and the ruins of ancient cities are met with silence, or worse, justification. Iran, like many in the Global South, has drawn its conclusions. Civilians died. Hundreds were wounded. Iran responded with precision – as allowed under international law – but was met with more indiscriminate Israeli bombing. Once again, innocent lives are the collateral damage. As the US-Israel-Europe axis enforces the logic of war, Iran has accepted reality. The only way to avoid destruction and the blatant move towards regime change is to resist. Diplomacy is worthless when the other side bargains in bad faith. Peace is a fantasy when faced with a war machine addicted to dominance. Iran has no choice but to mobilise its full military capacity. The fire that was ignited in Ukraine has now expanded to West Asia. A new front has opened, and Iran will not fight it with half-measures. This moment is a wake-up call for the Muslim world and, indeed, for all oppressed countries and for the anti-imperialist peoples of the world. As Ayatollah Khamenei warned, 'The Zionist regime won't bring security for any government.' Those states collaborating with Israel in hopes of American favour are deluding themselves. The West respects no ally; it respects only obedience. You are discarded or destroyed when you cease serving their interests. The solution lies not in appeasement but in self-reliance. The only protection against bullying is economic, military, and cultural strength. Domestic manufacturing must rise. Regional alliances with proven partners must be deepened. Nations that have weathered sanctions, sabotage, and siege understand the value of loyalty. Those are the partnerships worth investing in. The people of West Asia deserve peace. They deserve to preserve their history, teach their children without fear of bombs, and build a future rooted in dignity and sovereignty. But peace cannot come from pleading with aggressors. Sometimes, unfortunately, it must be sought through force. I share a poem written by Gail Van Breda in honour of my son, Sebastian, who died in a motorbike accident in Simonstown on 4 June. I, in turn, dedicate it to the people of West Asia. Let us not crash, too many deaths. How can we breathe, when breath ended for our loved ones. Let us not crash, too many voices gone silent, all at one time Let us not to crash, because how much more can this body take. We have to absorb so much. Let us not crash, because the living must now adjust to this new reality Let us not crash, let us not fall apart, How do we keep all together to grieve, loud or in silence. Let us not crash, where is our hope, what can we hold on to, what would make this time of mourning better, how are we expected to get through this! Let us not crash, maybe join hands, to keep this life together Let us not crash, let us not fall apart Because this life is teaching us how to die. We have been dying. The walking dead. Let us not crash, because we know, this life is not forever Cry, feel, let us not crash Let us find comfort. But I don't know from where, because nothing makes sense. Death, you remind us of the dualism of life. Death and life. In our lived experiences, we cannot even live. Everyone is in a fight for survival. And when death opens its coffin, we die again. We are always dying. Our children, our parents, our loved ones, dying Let us not crash, because how much more must this body, this physical earth life experience take. * Dr Reneva Fourie is a policy analyst specialising in governance, development and security. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.