Trat Tourists and Locals on Edge as Thai Navy Repels Cambodian Incursion

The still-sleepy border villages of Trat woke up this week to the blunt rumble of artillery and the anxious whirr of evacuation sirens. Bangkok insists its troops are simply pushing back a fresh Cambodian build-up that crept across the line near Ban Nong Ri, while Phnom Penh cries foul. Yet for people on Thailand’s eastern seaboard the question is more practical: how close is the shooting, will the road to the coast stay open, and what does it mean for the holiday high season?

Rising Tension Returns to Trat’s Quiet Villages

A handful of wooden homes, a rubber plantation and a dirt track are all that separate Thai soil from Cambodia’s Koh Kong province. Over the weekend Thai patrols spotted new earthen trenches, sniper hides, heavy-calibre machine-guns, and small drones loitering over Thai airspace. Within hours a forward command post near Chamrak ordered a “limited operation” to dismantle the position. By dawn, Thai marines claimed they had destroyed 80 % of the makeshift bunkers, sending Cambodian soldiers scrambling back through the tree line. Locals who once sold fruit to cross-border traders instead watched F-16s streak overhead, a rare sight in this normally placid corner of the Gulf.

What Sparked the Latest Standoff?

Bangkok’s security analysts trace the flare-up to a pattern of “leave, regroup, return” incursions seen all year. Key triggers include:

• Disputed ridge lines never demarcated under the 1904-1907 Franco-Siam treaties.

• Cambodia’s push to extend a 1:200,000 map that Thailand rejects in favour of a 1:50,000 survey.

• The resource-rich 26,000 sq km offshore overlap south of Koh Kood, where both sides eye potential gas fields.

Each time Phnom Penh reinforces a pocket, Thai forces warn, negotiate, then—if talks stall—move in with artillery and engineers to dismantle fortifications. The current cycle began when Cambodian troops re-occupied the so-called “three-house knoll” in late November, digging fresh foxholes barely 30 m inside Thailand.

How Bangkok Chose to Respond

Thai naval commanders say they burned through every diplomatic fuse before ordering live fire. Formal protest notes, colonel-level hotline calls, and even an offer of joint surveying went unanswered. Once Cambodian excavators burrowed deeper, the order shifted to rules-of-engagement phase 2: “controlled, proportionate force.” Thai marines advanced under drone overwatch, while artillery batteries near Hat Lek laid down smoke to mask civilian zones. Rear Admiral Parat, speaking in Sattahip, stressed that “every round was logged” to satisfy international self-defence law.

Life on the Ground: Evacuation Alerts and Closed Schools

For residents of Amphoe Mueang, Bo Rai and Khlong Yai, the bigger worry is safety, not maps. Provincial officials issued pre-packed evacuation plans, bussing elderly villagers to inland shelters. Three primary schools near Khlong Makham shifted to online learning, while fishermen at Laem Ngop were told to stay within the 12-nautical-mile limit. Border trade froze after guards slammed shut the Hat Lek checkpoint, a crucial artery for fresh seafood and migrant labour.

Military Balance at the Frontier

Analysts at Chulalongkorn University note Thailand fields triple the manpower, modern fighter fleets of Gripen and F-16s, and a networked artillery grid. Cambodia counters with fortified hill positions, night-fighting infantry and an increasingly slick information-war campaign casting Thailand as the aggressor. While Bangkok commands the sky, Phnom Penh’s use of commercial drones jamming GPS has lengthened every mission plan. “Superiority doesn’t erase the fog of war,” warns defence scholar Surachat Bamrungsuk.

Why the Border Keeps Igniting: A Century of Ambiguity

The Trat frontier illustrates enduring grey zones left by colonial-era treaties. Faulty French maps, shifting riverbeds, and overlapping continental-shelf claims mean neither side fully trusts survey markers. Multiple memoranda of understanding—2000 for land, 2001 for sea—created joint boundary commissions but progress stalls whenever domestic politics in either capital heats up. Each skirmish then feeds nationalist sentiment, making compromise harder.

What Comes Next?

Diplomats from ASEAN’s Jakarta secretariat have begun shuttle calls, hoping to revive a July cease-fire mediated by former U.S. president Donald Trump that collapsed last month. Thailand signals it will hold positions, not advance, provided Cambodia withdraws heavy weapons and accepts field-level talks. Until then, tourists eyeing Koh Chang may face detours, and Trat farmers will keep one ear tuned to the distant echo of artillery—an unwelcome soundtrack to harvest season.

In the words of one evacuee from Ban Nong Ri: “We just want the border to be a line on the map, not a line of fire.” For now, that wish hangs on the next round of negotiations—and the restraint of commanders on both sides.