Surin Villages Under Curfew After Thai Troops Retreat in Prasat Khana Border Clash
Prasat Khana is quiet again—for now. Hours after an unexpected Cambodian artillery barrage forced Thai soldiers to pull back from the ridge-line, Bangkok insists the move is only a "tactical pause" while reinforcements are shuffled into place. Villagers in Surin’s Phanom Dong Rak district spent the night in makeshift shelters, anxious that the on-again, off-again border dispute might escalate just as year-end holidays approach.
What Happened on the Ridge?
Around 03:40, forward observers near Prasat Khana detected 122 mm rocket fire believed to have originated from the Cambodian side of the Dangrek Mountains. Within minutes, Thai positions were pounded by mortars, recoilless rifles and machine-gun volleys. The Royal Thai Army’s 21st Infantry Regiment returned fire but reported "unsustainable exposure" and received approval to conduct a controlled withdrawal roughly 800 m east of the original foxholes.
Only essential personnel stayed behind to monitor movement. An RTA drone later confirmed Cambodian troops occupying the vacated outpost, raising flags over a complex of half-ruined laterite walls that both capitals claim as part of their national heritage.
Why Prasat Khana Matters
The crumbling sanctuary sits astride a centuries-old watershed line, the same natural divide at the heart of every Thai-Cambodian cartographic quarrel since the 1904–1907 Franco-Siamese treaties. Bangkok’s jurists rely on the ridge-top watershed principle; Phnom Penh leans on France’s Annex I Map, which nudges several shrines—Khana, Ta Muen Thom, Ta Krabey—south of the crest. ICJ rulings in 1962 and 2011 largely favoured Cambodia on Preah Vihear yet left the 4.6 sq km surrounding zone undefined, creating legal grey-space that commanders on both sides still patrol.
For Thai audiences, Prasat Khana also carries emotional weight: it is the largest Khmer ruin fully accessible from Surin and a popular venue for Merit-making rites, school field trips and cross-border trade fairs. Every volley of shells therefore ricochets beyond the jungle, rattling domestic tourism and farming exports that sustain the district’s 44,000 residents.
Reading the Army’s Tactics
Security analysts note that a temporary fallback aligns with standard rules of engagement issued after the 2011 ICJ provisional measures. By leaving before casualties mount, Thai commanders retain the moral high ground, minimise diplomatic blow-back, and buy time to reposition 155 mm howitzers currently parked at Khok Klang camp. Retired Lt-Gen Somchai Chalermsook, former chief of the 2nd Army Region, told NationWorld that "a step-back does not equal surrender—think of it as denying the opponent a pretext while holding the option to escalate." He added that nighttime weather on the plateau favours drones and counter-battery radars, technologies Thailand has upgraded through recent South Korean procurement deals.
The View from Phnom Penh—and Abroad
Across the border, Prime Minister Hun Manet accuses Bangkok of breaching the October 2025 Joint Peace Statement by stationing heavy guns inside a supposedly "demilitarised buffer." His office calls the latest shelling "defensive". Regional partners are watching: the United States, co-signatory of the peace statement, urged both sides to "adhere strictly to confidence-building mechanisms". Malaysia, chair of this year’s ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting, volunteered to reactivate its Trilateral Monitoring Team if skirmishes persist. Diplomatic sources in Jakarta whisper that a fresh demarche could surface at next week’s ASEAN Plus forum, though neither Bangkok nor Phnom Penh wants the matter internationalised again.
Border Communities Bear the Brunt
Fifteen Thai villages within a 5 km radius have now activated level-2 contingency plans:
• Schools closed until further notice
• Rubber and cassava trucks rerouted via Buriram
• Evening curfews starting 20:00
Farmers complain that December is normally peak harvest season. "Every lost day means falling prices," said Kittima Ubonratchathani, whose family orchard sits 3 km from the frontline. Emergency rooms at Phanom Dong Rak Hospital remain on standby; no injuries were reported during the latest flare-up but medics fear unexploded ordnance once shelling stops.
What Happens Next?
Bangkok has three cards to play: rapid re-occupation, acceptance of a third-party cease-fire, or pursuit of a formal border-demarcation treaty long stalled since 2000. Sources within the Foreign Ministry say envoys are drafting language that would send joint survey teams back to the ridge after Loy Krathong, hoping a calm cultural window can soften nationalist rhetoric on both sides.
The Thai Cabinet meets on Tuesday; Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang is expected to brief MPs on costs already incurred—"low but rising," according to insiders. Whether the hawks or doves prevail could define Thailand’s approach to border management for years to come.
For now, gun barrels point at ancient stones while communities wait for rice to ripen and tourists to return. The ridge has changed hands more times than locals care to count, but their hopes remain fixed on one outcome: quiet skies over Surin and a line on the map everyone can finally agree upon.
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