Thailand imposes martial law in 8 border districts amid deadly clashes with Cambodia, warns of war

Royal Thai Army soldiers are pictured on armoured vehicles on a road in Chachoengsao province on July 24, 2025.

Thailand imposed martial law on Friday in eight districts along its border with Cambodia, following a second consecutive day of deadly clashes between the two nations.

Apichart Sapprasert, commander of the military's Border Defense Command in Chanthaburi and Trat provinces, announced in a statement that "martial law is now in effect" across seven districts in Chanthaburi and one in Trat.

Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai warned Friday that cross-border clashes with Cambodia that have uprooted more than 130,000 people "could develop into war", as the countries traded deadly strikes for a second day.

A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, and the UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis later Friday.

A steady thump of artillery strikes could be heard from the Cambodian side of the border Friday, where the province of Oddar Meanchey reported one civilian -- a 70-year-old man -- had been killed and five more wounded.

More than 138,000 people have been evacuated from Thailand's border regions, its health ministry said, reporting 15 fatalities -- 14 civilians and a soldier -- with a further 46 wounded, including 15 troops.

Long-running dispute

The fighting marks a dramatic escalation in a long-running dispute between the neighbours -- both popular destinations for millions of foreign tourists -- over their shared 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier.

Dozens of kilometres in several areas are contested and fighting broke out between 2008 and 2011, leaving at least 28 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.

A UN court ruling in 2013 settled the matter for over a decade, but the current crisis erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a new clash.

Fighting on Thursday was focused on six locations, according to the Thai army, including around two ancient temples.

Ground troops backed up by tanks battled for control of territory, while Cambodia fired rockets and shells into Thailand and the Thais scrambled F-16 jets to hit military targets across the border.

Both sides blamed each other for firing first, while Thailand accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station hit by at least one rocket.