Marines Uncover Arms Depot at Thmor Da Casino on Thai-Cambodian Border
Thai marines say they have just disarmed a border time-bomb. In a lightning raid on the Thmor Da casino complex—long whispered about in Trat’s teashops—the navy’s combat engineers unearthed an arsenal big enough to arm a battalion. Phnom Penh insists nothing was seized, but photographs of rocket launchers piled across baccarat tables are now circulating on Thai social media. The discovery again turns a gambling enclave into the latest fault line in the century-old boundary dispute.
A Surprise Jackpot the Military Hoped to Never See
The operation began at first light after the Chanthaburi & Trat Border Defence Command reported “unusual heat signatures” inside the shuttered resort. Marines quickly cordoned off the hilltop complex, secured nearby ridgelines, and moved in. According to navy spokesmen, what they found stunned even seasoned sappers: anti-tank rockets, recoilless rifles, drone components, and boxes of artillery shells camouflaged behind slot-machine panels. Commanders call it the largest single seizure since clashes around Preah Vihear in 2011.
Why Thmor Da Keeps Re-igniting
Perched 4 km from Ban Nong Ri, the casino has ping-ponged between casino magnate Try Pheap—an adviser to former prime minister Hun Sen—and Cambodian security forces. For Thai villagers below, the glittering façade masks a more dangerous role: command post, sniper nest, and launch pad for armed drones that have harassed Thai outposts over the past year. Each skirmish reopens wounds left by colonial-era maps that never neatly split the Cardamom Mountains. The current find, Thai officers argue, “confirms what drone telemetry already showed”—the resort doubled as an arms depot throughout the 2025 dry-season standoff.
What Was Hiding Behind the Slot Machines
A partial inventory released by the Naval Ordnance Department lists:
• GAM-102LR anti-tank missiles (Chinese-made)
• BM-21 122 mm rockets ready for truck-mounted launchers
• 60 mm and 81 mm mortar rounds
• Improvised anti-personnel mines fashioned from tank mines—banned under the Ottawa Treaty
• Several ‘kamikaze’ drones stripped for transport
Investigators estimate “tens of thousands” of rounds in total—some freshly greased, others stamped 2025. The marines say explosives specialists destroyed volatile stock on site and loaded the rest onto flatbeds bound for the Royal Thai Navy’s depot in Sattahip.
Two Capital Cities, Two Stories
Bangkok’s line is blunt: Cambodia parked weapons on Thai soil, violating the December 2025 General Border Committee truce. The navy has already petitioned the Foreign Ministry to seek compensation for sovereignty violations. Phnom Penh counters that the alleged cache sits “well inside Gate 56,” a legitimate Cambodian border-police post, and brands Thailand’s news coverage “invented provocation.” The war of words revives mutual accusations of map doctoring and fake geotags that dogged both sides after last year’s artillery duel near Chong Bok.
Voices from the Field
Rear Adm. Prachya Rattanachaipan tells reporters the presence of banned mines “undermines any confidence-building measure.” Across the border, Maj. Gen. Ek Sam-Eun insists his 5th Regional Command is “strictly following” the joint border accord. Independent analysts like Thammasat’s Assoc. Prof. Thanaphat Chatinakarabhop urge both governments to reconvene the 2000 memorandum working group before loose talk triggers another spiral. Meanwhile, U.S. security scholar Zachary Abuza notes the seizure highlights “the overlap between grey-zone militias and online scam hubs” in Cambodian special-economic zones.
What It Means for Border Communities
For traders in Ban Nong Ri and Koh Kong, tension translates into longer checkpoints, fewer tourist vans, and declining rubber prices. Thai logistics firms rerouted convoys away from Highway 3 this week, fearing stray artillery. School directors in Khlong Yai have revived 2011 air-raid drills. Yet some residents welcome the intervention; one shrimp-pond owner says nightly drone buzz “finally stopped” after the marines swept the area.
Looking Ahead
Diplomats will likely haggle over ownership of the seized arsenal for months, but the on-the-ground reality is simpler: Thai forces now hold the highest ground at Thmor Da. Whether the casino is rebuilt, demolished, or turned into a joint patrol base may signal the future tone of Thai-Cambodian ties in 2026. For now, the jackpot nobody wanted has been cashed in—and the border’s roulette wheel keeps spinning.
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