Bangkok: The Indian Embassy in Thailand has issued a travel advisory for Indian tourists visiting the country, even as violence along the disputed Thailand-Cambodia border continues. The advisory urges Indians to exercise extreme caution and regularly review official announcements from Thai authorities, such as the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) newsroom.
The advisory has been posted on the official X handle of the Embassy of India in Thailand. It explicitly cautions travellers against visiting seven provinces directly adjacent to the border, where at least 14 Thai nationals have died till now. Lakhs of people have been displaced.
“In view of the situation near the Thailand-Cambodia border, all Indian travellers to Thailand are advised to check updates from Thai official sources, including the TAT Newsroom. As per the Tourism Authority of Thailand, places mentioned in the following link are not recommended for travelling,” the Embassy has said.
Thailand’s Public Health Ministry has confirmed that the dead include 13 civilians and one soldier. At least 46 others have been injured in the cross-border fighting. Though Cambodia has not issued an official report on its casualties, there are reports of massive damage there as well.
The violence began earlier this week after a landmine blast injured five Thai soldiers, leading to tit-for-tat accusations and military action. The Thai Air Force responded with F-16 fighter jet attacks after Cambodian forces allegedly fired truck-mounted rockets across the border into Thailand.
Thailand has accused Cambodia of laying new Russian-manufactured landmines along the border, a claim Phnom Penh denies as unsubstantiated, attributing it instead to residual unexploded ordnance from previous conflicts. Because of the continuing conflicts, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has labeled a number of sites in seven eastern provinces – Ubon Ratchathani, Surin, Sisaket, Buriram, Sa Kaeo, Chanthaburi, and Trat – as unsuitable for visitors. These districts are close to the contested parts of the 817-km-long border.
At the heart of the fatal standoff is the old Ta Muen Thom temple and historic Preah Vihear temple, both of which have been disputed by Thailand and Cambodia for decades. The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear belonged to Cambodia and reiterated its decision in 2013, but Thailand claims ownership of the surrounding land.
The current conflict has witnessed the use of heavy artillery, aerial bombings, and evacuations of civilians. Cambodian officials report that Thai air raids struck along roads adjacent to Preah Vihear, a UNESCO World Heritage monument, and have threatened to take legal action, labeling the airstrikes as a breach of international law.
The violence along the border has triggered a bitter diplomatic row. The two nations have thrown out each other’s ambassadors, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has summoned the UN Security Council to meet urgently to resolve what he termed as “unprovoked and premeditated military aggression” by Thailand.
The Thai Foreign Ministry, however, maintains that it acted in self-defence, accusing Cambodia of breaching international norms and attacking civilians. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on both countries to “exercise maximum restraint and solve disputes through peaceful dialogue.” The violence represents the worst conflict between Thailand and Cambodia in more than a decade.
So far, more than 130,000 Thai nationals have been moved from danger zones along the border to safety. Nearly 12,000 families on the Cambodian side have also been moved back from the border.