When all the eyes were fixed on Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Iran, and India-Pakistan over terrifying matters, Thailand and Cambodia ignited a conflict between themselves over a decades-old border dispute.
This border dispute involves a very ancient temple named the Preah Vihar temple. It’s a Hindu temple where they worship Lord Shiva. The Khmer Empire built it during the 11th century. The temple is situated on a cliff around the borders, which has now become a military sensitive point for some reason. However, there are contrary views of people on this topic around the world. Thus, some believe the temple is designated for the family line of the Khmer Empire. The Empire used to rule modern-day Cambodia and parts of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. Now it makes it very complicated to decide who it belongs to geographically.
Cambodia claims that, as per the International Court of Justice (IJC) 1962, the temple lies in Cambodian territory, which was decided by looking at the French colonial era maps.
And Cambodia also claims that Thailand agreed to this verdict back in 1962, and they should stand by their agreement, and by this, both countries can maintain the UNESCO listing in 2008, which was legitimate and within their sovereign rights.
Meanwhile, Thailand claims that even though they agreed on the verdict back in 1962, it was decided on an unfair basis because the colonial maps were flawed. According to Thailand, the border should be based on the watershed line; in that case, the temple does belong to Thailand.
Just to note that it was not confirmed by the IJC in 1962 that the temple was under Cambodia or any other country. So, when Cambodia went to the IJC again during 2011 regarding temple ownership, they planned to drive Thailand’s security troops from there; they wanted to take things legally
But this time, Thailand declined the verdict and demanded its rights. Finally, in 2013, the ICJ ruling clarified that the land immediately surrounding Preah Vihear Temple belongs to Cambodia but left other parts of the border dispute unresolved, urging peaceful dialogue and demilitarisation.
This fight kept going on in the legal papers, but things took a huge turn on July 24, 2025. When Cambodia claimed that Thailand initiated the war by intruding with a drone and opening fire unprovoked.
Therefore, Thailand claimed that the Cambodian military first fired on the Thai troops near the Ta Muen Thom temple with heavy weapons. Neither country has officially declared war, yet casualties are rising. Both governments have reduced diplomatic ties and accused each other of war crimes. Cambodia seeks a UN Security Council session while Thailand calls for restraint before ceasefire talks. It’s a shock to the world that two peaceful ASEAN countries are fighting like this after a very long time. But the world is watching where and how it goes.
