People's Daily Online
February 11, 2011
Some Thai villagers who were earlier evacuated during the Feb. 4-7 clashes to makeshift camps have gradually returned to their homes as the Thai-Cambodian border situation remains calm, Royal Thai Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said Friday.
The army chief said until now the situation at the border had been normal and there had been no fighting for quite a while so some evacuees had started returning to their homes. The governor of border Si Sa Ket province and the 2nd Army Area headquarters would coordinate to ensure safe return for those people.
In Si Sa Ket province only, a total of 21,720 villagers and eight Buddhist monks were evacuated to 37 makeshift camps in 10 districts. Besides, some 5,655 people in Surin province and about 3,650 in Ubon Ratchathani province who are living along the border also fled their homes to safer shelters.
Initially, the army chief believed that only a handful of villagers would return home as the areas yet need experts' inspection to clear the bombs or unexploded ordnance fired from the Cambodian side.
He also affirmed that if fighting re-erupted, the army had already prepared an evacuation plan to protect the lives of people living along the border.
Gen Prayuth stressed that time was needed to resolve the border disputes, but that they could be achieved through bilateral talks.
Since Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged fire on Feb. 4, there have been three, including two soldiers and one civilian, dead and 22 injured -- 14 soldiers and eight civilians. The cross-border shelling completely destroyed seven houses and partly damaged 28 others.
Source: Xinhua
February 11, 2011
Some Thai villagers who were earlier evacuated during the Feb. 4-7 clashes to makeshift camps have gradually returned to their homes as the Thai-Cambodian border situation remains calm, Royal Thai Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said Friday.
The army chief said until now the situation at the border had been normal and there had been no fighting for quite a while so some evacuees had started returning to their homes. The governor of border Si Sa Ket province and the 2nd Army Area headquarters would coordinate to ensure safe return for those people.
In Si Sa Ket province only, a total of 21,720 villagers and eight Buddhist monks were evacuated to 37 makeshift camps in 10 districts. Besides, some 5,655 people in Surin province and about 3,650 in Ubon Ratchathani province who are living along the border also fled their homes to safer shelters.
Initially, the army chief believed that only a handful of villagers would return home as the areas yet need experts' inspection to clear the bombs or unexploded ordnance fired from the Cambodian side.
He also affirmed that if fighting re-erupted, the army had already prepared an evacuation plan to protect the lives of people living along the border.
Gen Prayuth stressed that time was needed to resolve the border disputes, but that they could be achieved through bilateral talks.
Since Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged fire on Feb. 4, there have been three, including two soldiers and one civilian, dead and 22 injured -- 14 soldiers and eight civilians. The cross-border shelling completely destroyed seven houses and partly damaged 28 others.
Source: Xinhua
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