Cambodia’s powerful Senate President Hun Sen on Tuesday (December 9, 2025) vowed that his country would carry out a fierce fight against Thailand as a second day of widespread renewed combat between the Southeast Asian neighbours drove tens of thousands of people to flee border areas.

Fighting broke out following a skirmish in which one Thai soldier was killed on Sunday (December 7, 2025) night, despite a ceasefire that ended fighting in July over competing territorial claims. The five days of fighting then left dozens dead on both sides, and forced the evacuation of over 1,00,000 civilians.

Both sides vow to keep fighting

In a sign that neither side was willing to back down, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Tuesday (December 9, 2025) that Cambodia had not yet contacted Thailand about possible negotiations and the fighting would continue.

“We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do,” Mr. Charnvirakul said. “The Government will support all kinds of military operations as planned earlier.” He had said on Monday (December 8, 2025) that military action was necessary to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty and ensure public safety.

In a statement posted to Facebook and Telegram, Mr. Hun Sen claimed that his country had refrained from retaliating on Monday (December 8, 2025), but overnight began to fire back at Thai forces, saying Cambodia would “weaken and destroy enemy forces through counterattacks.” Thailand’s military said Cambodia attacked Thai positions with artillery, rocket and drone attacks on Tuesday (December 9, 2025). Thailand says that Cambodian forces also fired at its troops on December 7 and 8, but each side blames the other for firing the first shots.

“Cambodia wants peace, but Cambodia is forced to fight back to defend its territory,” Mr. Hun Sen wrote. He was Cambodia’s long-serving prime minister until 2023, when he was succeeded by his son Hun Manet, but is still widely seen as the country’s de facto leader.

Cambodia’s military announced on Tuesday (December 9, 2025) that the new fighting had killed seven civilians and wounded 20. A Thai military spokesperson announced on Tuesday (December 9) that three soldiers have been killed in the new fighting.

Thailand on Monday (December 8, 2025) carried out airstrikes along the frontier, which it said were a defensive action targeting military installations. Thai military spokesperson Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri said on Tuesday (December 9) that such operations would continue “until attacks stop”.

Villagers on both sides flee to safety

Ordinary citizens, meanwhile, had to deal with life after being relocated from the danger zones. An evacuation shelter at a university in Thailand’s northeastern city of Surin is hosting more than 3,600 people. Evacuees sit or lie on thin mats spread across the floor, and several have set up small tents in their allotted areas as sleeping spaces.

At lunchtime, some line up with their own plates to receive cooked rice, while others wait in place to be served ready-to-eat meals packed in small plastic bags. An Army band plays for their entertainment.

Portable fans cool them during the day. Blankets, in piles beside them, keep them warm at night, when temperatures can fall to as low as 18°C.

“We were preparing to evacuate. We hadn’t left yet. But when we heard shots, we hurried out immediately,” cassava farmer Pan-ngam Kanchangthong told The Associated Press. “I was scared. Who wouldn’t be scared of shelling?” The Thai army said almost 500 temporary shelters have been set up in four border Provinces, accommodating 125,838 people. Additional refugees from the fighting are expected to stay with relatives in safe areas.

Evacuees on the Cambodian side had similar experiences

“I felt terrified when I heard the sound of the explosion from the shelling. At that time, I was working at the garment factory,” said 44-year-old Vach Neang, a father of seven.

“I called my wife and my kids but couldn’t reach them, and by that time the sound of explosions was getting louder, so the factory owner let us go home,” said Mr. Vach Neang, speaking at a former market in Cambodia’s northwestern Province of Banteay Meanchey that has been repurposed as a shelter. He added that he packed just a few clothes before leaving his home.

Cambodian Information Minister Neth Pheaktra said almost 55,000 people have been evacuated, and the numbers are mounting.

The two nations have a history of ill will

Thailand and Cambodia have a history of enmity over centuries and experience periodic tensions along their land border of more than 800 kilometres. Centuries ago, both were powerful empires, but Thailand’s size and greater development over the past century give it the military advantage.

Some of the disputed territory hosts centuries-old temples that both nations covet as part of their legacy. The ceasefire that ended July’s fighting was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges from the two nations unless they agreed to it.

A more detailed agreement signed in October called for removing heavy weapons from the border; desisting from disseminating false information and harmful rhetoric; implementing measures to restore mutual trust; and coordinating operations to remove land mines.

None of these actions appears to have been fully implemented by either side. After the ceasefire, both nations continued to fight a bitter propaganda war using disinformation, alongside minor outbreaks of cross-border violence.

Prisoners and land mines have been sticky issues

A major Cambodian complaint has been that Thailand continues to hold 18 prisoners who were taken captive the same day the ceasefire went into effect. Thailand claims they approached their positions in a threatening manner, an allegation denied by Phnom Penh.

Meanwhile, Thailand accuses Cambodia of laying new land mines in the areas under dispute, in several cases maiming Thai soldiers. Cambodia says the mines are left over from decades of civil war that ended in 1999.

The mines issue caused Thailand to declare earlier this month that it was indefinitely pausing implementation of the details of the ceasefire until Cambodia apologised for the latest incident wounding Thai soldiers.

Published – December 09, 2025 04:03 pm IST

Cambodia’s former Prime Minister Hun Sen. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Ekalak Paenoi, a suspect in the assassination of a former politician with now-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Lim Kimya, is escorted by police officers as he arrives in Thailand following handing over from Cambodia to Thai authorities, in Bangkok, Thailand on January 11, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

“A Thai man suspected of killing a former Cambodian Opposition lawmaker in Bangkok has confessed to the crime,” police said Saturday (January 11, 2025).

“I confess that I did wrong,” Ekkalak Paenoi said to police and media after being charged with premeditated murder and unauthorised gun ownership.

Lim Kimya, a former lawmaker for the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was gunned down on Tuesday (January 7, 2025) by a motorcyclist as he arrived in Bangkok by bus from Cambodia with his French wife.

Cambodian Opposition figures have accused the country’s powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting.

Police in Cambodia said they arrested the suspect on Wednesday (January 8, 2025) and took him to the Thai border following an extradition request. He was picked up by a Thai police helicopter on Saturday (January 11, 2025) and taken to Bangkok.

“We can’t determine the motives yet, please give us time,” said Somprasong Yenthuam, a senior police official.

Thai media have said Ekkalak was a former marine. Mr. Yenthuam told reporters an arrest warrant for a Cambodian accomplice had also been issued.

A Cambodian government spokesman denied official involvement in the slaying.

Scores of Cambodian Opposition activists have fled to Thailand in recent years to avoid alleged repression at home. Some were arrested and deported back to the country.

Mr. Hun Sen ruled Cambodia with an iron fist for nearly four decades, with rights groups accusing him of using the legal system to crush opposition to his rule.

He stepped down and handed power to his son Hun Manet in 2023, but is still seen as a major power in the kingdom.

France has condemned the killing of Mr. Lim Kimya, who also held French citizenship.

This handout photo taken and released Cambodia Senate on April 3, 2024 shows senator Hun Sen (C) casting his ballot to designate the president of Senate during the first meeting of the Senate in Phnom Penh. Former Cambodian leader Hun Sen was promoted to senate president on April 3, taking over a key ceremonial role less than a year after handing power to his son.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Former Cambodian leader Hun Sen was promoted to senate president on Wednesday, taking over a key ceremonial role less than a year after handing power to his son.

Hun Sen stepped down in August after nearly four decades of iron-fisted rule, passing the baton to his eldest son Hun Manet following a landslide win in national polls held without any significant opposition parties.

In February his ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) won 55 seats — including his own — out of 58 in the senate election, with the opposition Khmer Will Party taking the remainder.

On Wednesday senators unanimously voted to approve Hun Sen as president of the senate after King Norodom Sihamoni convened its first meeting.

The position allows Hun Sen to act as acting head of state when the king is overseas.

Addressing the senators after the vote, Hun Sen thanked them for the “honour”.

“It is my first time to sit on such a high chair,” he said, saying he would use the second-highest ceremonial role — only superseded by the king — to further Cambodia’s international diplomacy.

There are 62 senators, with 58 elected in February by 125 MPs and more than 11,000 local administrators, mostly members of Hun Sen’s party.

King Norodom Sihamoni appoints two senators, while the National Assembly appoints two others.

Analysts said Hun Sen’s new role would allow him to continue to dominate the country.

“The senate isn’t a powerful political or legislative body, but it holds the highest ceremonial role as the highest political symbol of the nation,” Cambodian political analyst Ou Virak told AFP.

He said because of the king’s frequent travels, Hun Sen taking the role of senate president was significant — and hugely symbolic.

“In Cambodia, symbolism is everywhere and everything,” he said.

It is the latest in a series of moves that have seen Hun Sen consolidate power across the government.

The administration now includes a number of Hun Sen’s relatives, including his youngest son Hun Many as a deputy PM, with several children of his allies also holding top jobs.

After coming to power in 1985, Hun Sen helped modernise a country devastated by civil war and genocide.

But critics say his rule has also been marked by environmental destruction, entrenched graft and the elimination of nearly all political rivals.

In this photo provided by Cambodia’s Prime Minister Telegram, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony in Beijing on September 15, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

The leaders of China and Zambia announced an upgrading of their ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership on September 15, as the world’s second-largest economy forges deeper ties with the Global South.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also met new Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet earlier the same day, and with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this week.

The trio of leaders from Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America speak to China’s growing role in those parts of the world. Chinese state banks have financed roads and other infrastructure projects and Chinese companies have built factories, mines, hotels and casinos.

China has in turn won diplomatic support from many Global South countries on contentious debates and votes at the U.N. and from Cambodia in China’s territorial disputes with other Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea.

Its outreach to the Global South has taken on greater geopolitical import as China seeks allies to push back against growing pressure from the United States and its partners on multiple fronts.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported online that Mr. Xi and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema announced the upgraded partnership at a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, a monumental building on one side of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

That came two days after China announced it had upgraded diplomatic ties with Venezuela to an “all weather” partnership — a status China has granted to only a handful of countries — after the Xi-Maduro meeting.

Development loans from China and others have saddled some countries, including Zambia, with unsustainable debt levels, sparking debt crises that stymie economic development. More than 40% of Cambodia’s $10 billion in foreign debt is owed to Chinese institutions.

Hun Manet made China his first official foreign visit after succeeding his father, Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for 40 years.

The U.S. had shown disapproval of Hun Sen’s undemocratic moves and is uneasy over the expansion of a Cambodian naval facility with Chinese assistance. Hun Sen consistently denied that Cambodia had granted China the right to set up its own military base at Ream Naval Base.

After his meetings in Beijing, Mr. Hun Manet plans to join other Southeast Asian leaders this weekend in southern China at the 20th ASEAN-China Expo, which promotes cooperation in trade, investment and tourism.