‘It’s not going to end’: Thai evacuees fear for future after fresh clashes with Cambodia
Rangsan Angda and many of his neighbours in border areas of Thailand had already packed their bags, fearing that a ceasefire with neighbouring Cambodia would soon collapse. The ceasefire deal – brokered by Donald Trump, who proclaimed himself “President of PEACE” after he helped end five days of deadly clashes in July – had seemed precarious from the start. “Both sides are confronting one another all the time,” said Angda, 50. On Sunday, the announcement he had feared rang out on loudspeakers across his village, warning that fighting had again erupted. For the second time this year, everyone was ordered to evacuate immediately. Families piled into their cars or waited for lifts with local officials. For hours they queued on traffic-clogged roads, making their way to temples, schools and government buildings. More than 500,000 people across Cambodia and Thailand have made similar journeys since the skirmishes broke out on Sunday. No one knows when they will be able to return home, or how the latest round of fighting might be halted. Trump, who oversaw the signing of an enhanced ceasefire deal in October, told reporters this week he would call the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia on Thursday, saying he could bring an end to the clashes “pretty quickly”. “I think I can get them to stop fighting. Who else can do that?” the US president said. In the border areas of Thailand, few share his confidence. “If he did have power to sort the conflict there wouldn’t be this war right now,” said Patcharee Kotmakti, 45. She left her home on Monday, when the din of gunfire first rang out across her village. Just four months ago, clashes were so intense that her house shook from the impact. “I would say I’m used to it by now,” she said. She fears the fighting could drag on for months. “I won’t be able to make ends meet,” she said. Kotmakti and many of her neighbours have no fixed income and instead depend on daily work. “Some people who stay here don’t have money, they have to borrow money and pay it back with interest.” She just wanted the situation to end, she said. “The sooner the better.” Trump has previously used the threat of tariffs to pressure Thailand and Cambodia to stop fighting. Dr Napon Jatusripitak, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, said this intervention was “absolutely pivotal” in bringing an end to fighting. “Before that, Thailand had rejected all third-party mediation,” he added. Whether Trump can have the same impact today is unclear. With an election due in 2026, the Thai prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, might choose to appeal to nationalist sentiment by maintaining that Thailand had acted legitimately in defence of its territorial sovereignty, said Jatusripitak. Doing so “could resonate with large segments of Thais who view Cambodia as the party that instigated the crisis and the United States as exerting unwarranted pressure on Bangkok,” he said. “This is a moment when he cannot afford to appear soft.” A poll in August found that more than half of those surveyed believed Thailand should not be associated with Cambodia. It also found many were sceptical of Trump’s interventions in the conflict. Almost two-thirds of respondents said interference was in the interest of the superpowers, not Thailand. Fewer than 10% agreed such involvement was intended to restore peace. At shelters in Ubon Ratchathani evacuees questioned Trump’s bold claims of bringing peace. “It is his perspective,” said one older woman diplomatically. But evacuees were divided over what the Thai authorities should do next. Gen Chaiyapruek Duangprapat, the Royal Thai army’s chief of staff, told media this week that the military aimed to crush Cambodia’s military capability, neutralising it as a threat in the long term. “Each person has their own opinion,” said Rinda Metmat, 44. “I don’t want anyone to experience loss. I feel sorry for the soldiers, for their families and their children. Cambodian soldiers also have families. I think they don’t want a war.” Some question whether negotiations can work, regardless of input from Trump or others. “It’s not going to end no matter how many parties involved [in talks], two countries or with a third party, it’s not going to be resolved,” said Rangsan. “Talking never seems to lead to anywhere.”
