Cambodian troops leave border area

'Misunderstanding' led to Saturday battle

Published: 19/04/2010
Bangkok Post

Cambodian troops have withdrawn from a disputed border areas along the border at Surin after exchanging fire with Thai soldiers on Saturday.

Suranaree Task Force commander Chavalit Choonprasarn yesterday negotiated a truce with Joom Sa-Rai (Chum Saray), deputy chief of Region 4 Border Affairs Bureau.

The two sides agreed to pull back their troops from the disputed area near Surin's Kap Choeng district where the skirmishes took place.

Col Joom (Chum) assured Maj Gen Chavalit that no Cambodian troops would trespass on Thai territory.

Maj Gen Chavalit also said that an effort would be made to prevent future clashes, an army source said.

Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged heavy fire for almost an hour from 8am on Saturday, 8km east of Chong Chom checkpoint. They also exchanged fire for 15 minutes from about 9.30am.

No casualties were reported.

A Thai ranger who had been reported missing after the incident was found by the Suranaree Task Force. He lost his way in dense forest during the clash.

Shooting broke out after Thai troops patrolling the border found Cambodian soldiers had built a village for Cambodians in a disputed area.

Thai troops earlier claimed their Cambodian counterparts opened fire on them when Thai officials ordered them to stop building the houses.

Cambodian authorities earlier said their troops were patrolling the border when they came under fire from Thai troops.

Maj Gen Chavalit said Saturday's clash was due to a misunderstanding and the atmosphere along the border was expected to improve after the two sides ironed out their differences.

Cambodian and Thai troops were again patrolling the border yesterday, he said.

Senior local officials on both sides will meet for a meal soon to discuss areas of disagreement.

Meanwhile, business at the Chong Chom border market returned to normal yesterday after tourists and vendors from the two countries returned.

Relations between Cambodia and Thailand took a turn for the worse in November last year when Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen appointed fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra his economic adviser and refused to extradite him to Thailand to serve his prison sentence.