BANGKOK – The quiet along the Thailand-Cambodian border in Si Sa Ket shattered on Monday morning, leaving anger, grief, and a hard reset of ties in its wake. At about 9.15 a.m. on 10 November 2025, Sgt Maj 1st Class Therdsak Samaphong from Ubon Ratchathani was wounded during a routine patrol near Border Checkpoint 93 in Kantharalak district.
He lost his right foot in a blast that Thai officials say came from a newly laid Cambodian anti-personnel mine. Pvt Vachira Panthana suffered chest injuries from the shockwave. The army called it a deliberate act, and the government hit back fast, cutting diplomatic contacts with Phnom Penh.
The patrol came from the 2nd Infantry Battalion and, according to the Royal Thai Army, was on a demining sweep along a familiar path. Major General Winthai Suvaree told reporters that fragments found at the site matched a PMN-2 anti-personnel mine, a Soviet-era type Cambodia has used before.
He said three more mines were found close by, likely planted within the previous two days. His comments were blunt. This, he said, was no remnant of past conflict. It was sabotage.
Soldiers on the scene described a burst of dust and a single terrible cry as the device detonated. Medevac helicopters reached the site within 20 minutes and flew the wounded to Ubon Ratchathani Army Hospital. By nightfall, Sergeant Worachai was in intensive care, facing a long recovery and a prosthetic limb.
Thailand-Cambodia Border Conflict
Pvt Vachira Panthana was stable after treatment for bruised ribs. Outside the hospital, families waited through the afternoon heat and into the evening. His mother spoke quietly through tears. Her son joined to protect the country, she said, not to be crippled by neighbours who shake hands in meetings and plant mines in the border scrub.
The explosion sits atop years of hostility and suspicion. Tensions spiked again in late July, when exchanges of fire around the Preah Vihear temple area left 47 people dead, including 22 Thai soldiers and civilians. For five days, shells lit up the hills, and villages burned. Thousands fled south.
A ceasefire followed on 26 October in Kuala Lumpur after pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who warned of tariffs and blacklists if the shooting did not stop. With Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim standing by, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet signed the Joint Declaration for Border Peace.
It promised demining, troop pullbacks, and the release of 18 detained Cambodian fighters within days. Trump called it a deal that would hold, or face consequences.
The calm did not last. Thai officials accuse Cambodia of dragging its feet on demining and of sending scouts across the line at night. Phnom Penh rejects those claims as Thai paranoia. An August blast injured three Thai personnel, and rumours of near-misses have swirled ever since. The latest attack tipped the balance.
Talks With Cambodia Frozen
In a hard-edged statement at Government House, Prime Minister Anutin announced a freeze on all contact with Cambodia. Hotlines, joint border committees, and ASEAN backchannels are all on ice. He said no prisoner releases, no talks, and no concessions will happen until Cambodia offers an apology, opens a credible investigation, and provides strong guarantees against repeat incidents.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said Cambodia’s conduct insults Thai sovereignty, so all cooperation on prisoner exchanges and weapons withdrawals is suspended.
Cambodia pushed back within hours. Hun Manet, speaking from the Royal Palace, called the blast a tragic accident on disputed ground. He linked it to Khmer Rouge-era ordnance and urged Thailand to stop provocations. Anonymous Cambodian military sources claimed Thai troops strayed into a former war zone.
Thai officers countered that forensic checks, including serial number records linking the parts to recent Cambodian stocks, support their version. ASEAN foreign ministers gathered in Jakarta urged restraint, but diplomats in the room admit Malaysia’s role as mediator is under strain.
The political temperature in Thailand is rising. Rallies formed outside the Army Headquarters in Bangkok, with veterans and volunteers waving yellow ribbons and chanting, Protect Our Borders. A bloc of hardline MPs called for air strikes and tougher rules of engagement.
Defence Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit told Parliament that patrols will increase and border units will get drones and DT1G rocket systems, a signal to Phnom Penh that Thailand will not absorb attacks quietly.
Cambodia has Choices to Make
The economic cost arrived overnight. Border trade worth about ฿150 billion a year in rice, rubber, fuel, and gems is stalling as checkpoints close. Tour bookings for Preah Vihear fell to near zero. Farmers in Isan fear supply chains will seize up, leaving inputs short and fields idle. Lorry drivers parked up along the key crossings, waiting on orders that may never come if talks stay frozen.
Not everyone backs a hard line without a safety valve. Veteran diplomat Kavi Chongkittavorn wrote in the Nation that the Kuala Lumpur accord was a stopgap, useful but fragile. The mine blew through it, he said, and only dialogue can avoid a slide into open conflict.
Business leaders echoed that view in private, worried that two bad harvests or a fall in cross-border cash flow could hit jobs across the Northeast.
For the men on the ground, the argument is not abstract. Sergeant Samaphong, heavily sedated in intensive care, faces months of surgery and rehab. His children, aged four and six, will grow up with a father who left for patrol and came back changed.
Pvt Vachira is likely to return to duty once he heals, but the shock lingers. Along the frontier, armoured vehicles idled through the evening and new checkpoints sprang up on dusty tracks between fields and forest.
Thailand’s decision to cut ties is more than a warning. It is a policy pivot with real costs, and it will be hard to reverse without public proof of progress. Cambodia has choices to make. The mine blast turned a fragile calm into a new standoff, and the next misstep could be far worse than a crater in the red dirt of Sisaket.
