Thailand Tightens Curfews as Foreign-Operated Drones Strike from Cambodia

Residents along Thailand’s eastern frontier woke up this week to louder blasts, thicker rumours and fresh questions about who is really steering the unmanned aircraft that keep slipping across the tree line from Cambodia. Thai officers now talk less about mere skirmishes and more about a “proxy drone campaign” that is drawing outsiders into a decades-old border dispute—an escalation that Bangkok fears could spill beyond remote checkpoints.

Situation at a Glance

• English commands such as "finished" intercepted on military radios during strikes near Chong An Ma, Ubon Ratchathani.

• Thai 2nd Army says drone manoeuvres appear too sophisticated for conscript units facing them across the line.

• Motorbike couriers spotted departing hilltop launch sites minutes after attacks halt, fuelling suspicions of covert teams.

• Phnom Penh brands the allegations “fake news,” insisting no foreigners guide its aircraft.

• Bangkok deploys anti-drone radar, widens curfew zones in 7 border provinces and warns motorists to avoid forest tracks after dark.

What Triggered the Latest Alarms?

Cross-border exchanges are nothing new along the 730 km Thai-Cambodian frontier, but October’s switch from mortars to loitering munitions instantly raised the stakes. On 3 December, two FPV drones dove straight into twin bunker apertures at a Thai forward post, spraying shrapnel deep inside. Moments later, Thai signals units monitoring the engagement caught the word **“finished” crackling in accented, English-language traffic—unusual because Cambodian units typically use Khmer or rudimentary Thai over open channels. Commanders say the incident mirrors tactics in eastern Ukraine, where frontline squads rely on short English cues to coordinate multinational volunteer crews.

Who Might Be Behind the Joysticks?

Bangkok’s military intelligence circles hesitate to name a single nationality, yet three profiles dominate speculation:

Western ex-military contractors — often former special-operations soldiers now flying drones for private security firms.

Tech-savvy digital nomads claiming to be backpackers in Siem Reap by day while freelancing as battlefield trainers by night.

Grey-zone Chinese outfits linked to casino cashflows along the Mekong, capable of bank-rolling hardware and hiring pilots.

Security scholar Panitan Wattanayagorn warns that “small wars now attract global gig-fighters,” citing open Telegram channels where operators advertise real-time drone lessons for $300 an hour. Cambodian defence officials dismiss such theories and point to a viral photograph—two tall men in fatigues—claiming the pair are simply “YouTuber sergeants” from their own ranks. Thai analysts counter that the precision of recent strikes—zeroing in on ventilation shafts no wider than 30 cm—suggests advanced training beyond routine boot-camp drills.

The Hardware Turning Hills into Launchpads

The quad-copters plaguing Thai sentries are stripped-down FPV racer frames refitted with 82 mm mortar rounds, a package weighing just over 3 kg. Instead of broadcasting on vulnerable radio frequencies, the pilot threads an optical-fibre tether out of a small reel; the fibre unspools behind the drone for up to 20 km, creating a nearly unjammable link. A second, slower spotter drone circles overhead, painting bunkers with a low-light camera so the bomber can dive in from a blind angle. Costing roughly $1,000–$2,000 apiece, the set-up is cheap enough for mass use yet deadly enough to change local fire discipline—Thai troops now sleep in zig-zag trenches rather than rectangular rooms, and sandbags have been replaced by steel mesh cages to catch fragments.

Response on the Thai Side

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul authorised the air force to keep armed patrol jets on a five-minute alert above Ubon Ratchathani and Sisaket, though officials privately concede fast-movers are ill-suited to chase pocket-size drones weaving below tree canopies. Instead, ground units have installed Israeli-made Skylock jammers and older Thai-built D-Shield guns near schools and clinics. Police have raised the reward to 500,000 baht for tips leading to the arrest of any foreigners seen hauling pelican cases or running antenna masts within 10 km of the fence line. Provincial governors are also pushing a soft-power front: local tambon chiefs now host evening town-hall meetings explaining what a “buzz-saw motor sound” means and how to report sightings without panic.

Why the Border Remains Fragile

Underlying the high-tech intrigue is a border still scarred by memories of the Preah Vihear clashes and unresolved maps dating back to French Indochina. While ASEAN brokers quarterly talks, neither side has budged on micro-salients coveted for timber, gemstone deposits and—more recently—lithium prospection. Add to that a generation of Cambodian officers who trained on Russian manuals and Thai units studying NATO counter-drone doctrine, and the stage is set for outside actors to sell expertise to both camps.

For villagers, the nationality of the drone pilot matters less than the fact that each raid keeps rice fields off-limits during harvest season. As one farmer in Kantharalak put it: “We hear a whine, see a flash, and then the army tells us another ‘foreign signal’ was caught. Whoever they are, they’ve made our sky the front page.”