China-made rocket threat triggers Thai airstrikes on Cambodian bases

Thai intelligence said Chinese-made PHL-03 rockets in Cambodia could hit an airport and hospital, prompting airstrikes as a Trump–Anwar ceasefire frays.

Thailand’s decision to bomb Cambodian territory on Monday did not come out of nowhere. It followed intelligence that long-range rocket systems, including a China-made PHL-03, had been moved into positions where they could, on paper, hit Thai civilian targets, a senior military official told Reuters.

Those targets included a provincial airport and a state-run district hospital.

Thai jets then struck Cambodian military facilities believed to house those systems, in the most serious escalation on the border since a five-day clash in July.

What Thailand says it was trying to stop

Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, spokesman for Thailand’s defence ministry, said surveillance showed movements of rocket launchers and attempts to “lock on the coordinates” of civilian facilities, Reuters reported.

Based on those movements and the weapons’ known ranges, Thailand’s military assessed that Cambodian forces could use Soviet-designed BM-21 and China-made PHL-03 multiple rocket launchers to fire towards:

Buriram airport – about 100 km from the border

Prasat Hospital in Surin Province – less than 30 km from the frontier

The BM-21 has a range of 15–40 km, according to a U.S. military database, while the PHL-03 can fire guided and unguided rockets between 70–130 km. That makes Buriram airport out of reach of the BM-21 but inside the PHL-03’s theoretical envelope.

“Based on our intelligence as well, there have been attempts … to lock on the coordinates of these facilities,” Surasant told Reuters, without elaborating.

Thai intelligence indicated the airstrikes hit military depots including rocket storage facilities, he said. Reuters could not independently verify the impact of the sorties.

The potential threat from the PHL-03s had not been reported before, Reuters noted.

Ceasefire on paper, airstrikes on the ground

The airstrikes come as Thailand and Cambodia accuse each other of breaching a ceasefire agreement brokered in November by U.S. President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Under that pact, both sides began withdrawing heavy weapons from the border in three phases, rockets first, then artillery, then tanks and armoured vehicles. A week later, Thailand said it was halting implementation after a landmine blast maimed a Thai soldier.

On Monday, Thailand’s air force said in a statement that Cambodia had mobilised heavy weapons and repositioned combat units along the border.

“These developments prompted the use of air power to deter and reduce Cambodia’s military capabilities to the minimum level necessary to safeguard national security and protect civilians,” it said.

A spokeswoman for Cambodia’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to detailed questions from Reuters. Cambodia has previously denied targeting civilian facilities.

What each side is accusing the other of

Thailand’s military accused Cambodian troops of sparking the latest round of fighting by firing on Thai soldiers on Sunday, leaving two wounded.

Cambodia denied the allegation and instead accused the Thai military of launching a dawn attack on Monday.

The exchanges mark the worst fighting since July, when at least 48 people were killed and an estimated 300,000 displaced during a five-day flare-up. At that time, Thailand accused Cambodia of firing BM-21 rockets into civilian areas and warned that the longer-range PHL-03 systems could also be brought into play.

“This time around, the Cambodians are more prepared” for targeted strikes, Surasant told Reuters.

The military balance: small arsenal, big leverage

Cambodia’s armed forces are far smaller than Thailand’s, but its rocket inventory gives it leverage in any border crisis.

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Cambodia has around 48 BM-21 launchers and just six PHL-03 systems. That small number is enough to extend the conflict’s risk far beyond the immediate border strip if deployed close to the frontier.

The latest episode underlines why long-range artillery and rockets can rapidly turn local skirmishes into national-security crises — especially when civilian airports and hospitals fall into potential range bands.