Bangkok: Renewed border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand have entered their second week, as Bangkok refutes US President Donald Trump's assertion that a truce had been established to cease the deadly conflict. The ongoing hostilities, which stem from a colonial-era boundary dispute along their extensive 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier, have resulted in the displacement of approximately 800,000 people, officials reported. According to TRTworld.com, the clashes have claimed at least 25 lives, including 14 Thai soldiers and 11 Cambodian civilians. Each nation accuses the other of initiating the hostilities, asserting self-defense and exchanging accusations of civilian attacks. President Trump, who had previously endorsed a truce and subsequent agreement, announced on Friday that the Southeast Asian neighbors had concurred to stop the fighting. However, Thai authorities later denied the existence of any ceasefire agreement, as both governments confirmed that clashes persisted Sunday morning. Thai defense ministry spokesman Surasant Kongsiri stated that Cambodia had shelled and bombed several border provinces overnight and into Sunday. Meanwhile, Cambodia's defense ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata alleged that Thailand continued to fire mortars and bombs into border areas since midnight. In light of Trump's unfulfilled truce promise, Cambodia closed its border crossings with Thailand on Saturday, leaving numerous migrant workers stranded. At an evacuation site in Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey, Cheav Sokun expressed concern for her husband, who remains in Thailand, unable to return due to the closed border. On the Thai side, in Surin province, music teacher Watthanachai Kamngam recounted witnessing rockets streak across the early morning sky before hearing distant explosions on Sunday. As a testament to the ongoing conflict, Watthanachai has been painting scenes of tanks, Thai flags, and soldiers on the walls of concrete bunkers since the July clashes. In response to the violence, the Thai military has impos ed an overnight curfew from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am (1200 to 2200 GMT) in parts of Sa Kaeo and Trat provinces. The United States, China, and Malaysia, as chair of the regional bloc ASEAN, had brokered a ceasefire in July. In October, Trump endorsed a follow-on joint declaration between Thailand and Cambodia, promoting new trade deals after they agreed to extend their truce. However, Thailand suspended the agreement the following month after Thai soldiers sustained injuries from landmines at the border. Last week, Trump vowed to "make a couple of phone calls" to revive the earlier brokered truce. Nonetheless, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul informed journalists on Saturday that Trump did not mention a ceasefire during their Friday phone call. Anutin added that there were "no signs" of Trump linking future US-Thailand trade talks with the border conflict, although he assured that the US president had promised Thailand "better benefits than other countries."
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