By Artorn Pookasook and Chantha Lach
SAI THO 10 VILLAGE, Thailand/SAMRAONG, Cambodia, Dec 10 (Reuters) – Thousands of families on both sides of the disputed border separating Thailand and Cambodia have fled to escape a bitter new conflict between the two Southeast Asian nations, but some have been forced to stay behind.
Wuttikrai Chimngarm, a Thai security guard who also serves as village head, hunkered down behind a makeshift bunker built from six layers of tyres as shelling continued to shake the Thai border province of Buriram.
“I have to stay behind. I’m the head of the village, if not me then who? Who will be safeguarding the houses and belongings of the villagers from looters? I’m the leader, and all the village security guards have to stick together.”
Hundreds of thousands of people have moved into temporary shelters since fighting resumed on Monday, breaking a fragile truce brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump in July.
Wuttikrai said he was concerned the shelters could also be targeted.
“I am worried and those villagers who evacuated are also worried because they (Cambodia) possess heavy weapons that have a firing range of up to 130 kilometres, according to the news,” he said.
In the Thai border district of Ta Phraya, civilians expressed rage at this week’s fresh outbreak of hostilities, with 65-year-old villager Sopee Kunkem calling for Cambodia’s military capabilities to be “blown to oblivion”.
“They said they would have a ceasefire,” he said. “They signed the agreement, but they didn’t stop firing.”
Both sides accuse the other of reigniting the conflict, and both accuse the other of targeting civilian areas.
At Kaun Kriel, a disputed village about 25 km (15 miles) northwest of the Cambodian city of Samraong, wary residents remembering the five-day July border clash, which killed at least 48 people, began to flee as soon as fighting erupted again on Monday.
“This is my second run because the place I live is very close to the border and was under attack both times,” said Cambodian Marng Sarun, a 31-year-old harvester who left the village with his wife and two children.
Marng said he and his family were among the last to flee Kaun Kriel, which is close to the 11th-century temple Ta Krabey. He barely had time to grab a sack of rice and a few cooking supplies, and is now trying to feed his family with fish caught in a pond near the refugee site, he added.
He said he never expected Thailand to “attack” Cambodia again, or that he would have to leave Kaun Kriel for a second time.
“I only thought that we may have tensions but it would not reach this far. Especially after U.S. President Donald Trump helped to get the peace agreement, I didn’t think that they would fight again.”
(Reporting by Artorn Pookasook in Sa Kaeo, Thailand, and Chantha Lach and Thomas Suen in Samraong, Cambodia; Writing by David Stanway; Editing by Michael Perry)
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