A 7 Eleven in Thailand burns after being struck by Cambodian artillery fire on July 24, 2025 (Royal Thai Army handout)

Thailand Stresses Right To Self Defense In Border Clashes With Cambodia

Thai caretaker Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said Thursday afternoon that the two nations are not currently at war, but Thailand would continue to act in “self-defense to defend its sovereignty” until the situation on the border is “normalized”, adding that 11 Thai citizens have been killed by Cambodian artillery fire since Thursday morning.

Thailand’s military said earlier that its response to Cambodian artillery fire across the border is now officially named Operation Yutta Bhodin, or the “Utmost battle for the defense of the land”. The Thai military has also presented a slogan of “Crush all who trespass on Thai soil – For the Land, For the People, For Thai Honour” for the operation, stressing that it was acting in accordance with international law while accusing Cambodia of firing on civilian residences and hospitals.

The Royal Thai Army’s Second Army Region said Thursday afternoon that an additional series of airstrikes had been carried out by Royal Thai Air Force F-16s on Royal Cambodian Army units south of the Prasat Ta Muen Thom temple on the border between the two nations, following airstrikes earlier in the morning.

Phnom Penh has accused the Thai military of “unprovoked aggression” as well, with Prime Minister Hun Manet writing to the United Nations Security Council calling for an urgent meeting of the council to “stop Thailand’s aggression”.

The escalation came a day after Thailand recalled its ambassador to Cambodia and announced a downgrade in diplomatic relations in response to what it said was deliberate Cambodian planting of anti-personnel landmines that injured five Royal Thai Army soldiers conducting a patrol in Thai territory earlier on Wednesday. 

While the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia has been present since the formation of the independence of modern-day Cambodia, the current crisis has its roots in a firefight on 28 May that resulted in the death of a Cambodian soldier. 

The crisis has also resulted in a political crisis in Thailand, with Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra suspended from her position on July 1 after the leak of a phone call between her and president of the Cambodian senate Hun Sen discussing the border crisis, after she was accused of disparaging the Thai military during the call with the former prime minister.