Thai-Cambodia Border Skirmish : 135000 displaced, 32 dead, UNSC intervenes urges de-escalation

Cambodia on Friday demanded an immediate ceasefire with Thailand after two days of border clashes over a long-standing border dispute. Cambodia's envoy to the United Nations Chhea Keo reported that Phnom Penh had requested a ceasefire "unconditionally" since it desired a "peaceful settlement of the dispute."

Fighting erupted close to the ancient Preah Vihear which is perched atop 525 metres cliff in Cambodia's Dangrek mountains and Prasat Ta Muen Thom temples, with both sides reserving rockets and artillery for a second consecutive day. The conflict was triggered when two Thai F-16 jets open fired on 6 Cambodian military bases earlier this week. In response the Cambodian military resorted to heavy artillery action. Thailand has confirmed 12 fatalities from Cambodian shelling, while casualty reports from Cambodia have yet to fully materialise. Following this, the Thai government authorized the use of airstrikes against Cambodian targets, leading to the deployment of six F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF).

Heart of the Conflict

The Emerald Triangle

The Emerald Triangle which sits at the intersection of the international frontiers of Thailand, Cambodia and Laos has once again become the centre point of global attention. This region has been marked by frequent contestations revolving around overlapping territorial claims by both Thailand and Cambodia. The Preah Vihar temple among many other cultural landmarks are located here, which Thailand claims to be its own contrary to the fact that the temple has long since remained a part of Cambodian territory.

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Tensions flared up in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed after a brief skirmish between both the parties. While Thailand accused Cambodia of carrying out targeted killing of civilians and placing landmines which accounted for the severe injuries sustained by two Thai soldiers who were on duty, Cambodia on the other hand negated such claims and remarked Thailand's aggression was premeditated and they have responded in 'legitimate self-defense'.

The 1908 Dilemma:
The 1908 territorial map prepared by the French colonialists
included the Preah Vihar temple within Cambodian territory.

In the dispute before the Court, Cambodia alleged that Thailand had occupied a piece of its territory surrounding the Temple of Preah Vihear ruins, a place of pilgrimage and worship for Cambodians, and asked that the Court ad idem for an affirmation of its territorial sovereignty over the Temple and for an order that Thailand should withdraw an armed detachment which had been stationed there since 1954.

The 1962 ICJ Ruling:
In 1962 the ICJ ruled in favour of Cambodia.
The Preah Vihar temple was formally recognised as a part of Cambodia

In its Judgment on the merits of 15 June 1962, the Court noted that by a Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1904, in the area under consideration, the frontier was to follow the watershed line, and that a map resulting from the work of the Mixed Delimitation Commission placed the Temple on the Cambodian side of the boundary. Thailand advanced several contentions aiming at establishing that the map was not binding.

The Skirmish of 2011

Cambodia's attempt to unilaterally register the Preah Vihar as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 was met with fierce rebuttal from the Thai government which was evident from the chain of sporadic skirmishes which broke out following the declaration culminating into the 2011 war between Thailand and Cambodia which resulted in atleast 16 deaths. Following the conflict the ICJ yet again ruled in favour of Cambodia.

What are the casualties of the recent conflict ?

The human cost of the recent skirmish is very high with a confirmed fatality of 32 individuals including 14 civilians. More than 130 people have been injured and 35000 people have fled the border areas. The war has left a staggering 135000 people displaced on both the sides.

Following a UN closed door meet in New York, its has become clear that the UNSC has urged both the parties to observe restraint and has pleaded with the regional bloc, ASEAN to help resolve the tensions.

Cambodia : Legally advantageous, militarily overpowered !

Military Strength: Thailand vs. Cambodia

Thailand

90/100

Cambodia

35/100

Relative military capabilities of Thailand and Cambodia.

The Cambodian Airforce has little capacity to fend off attacks from RTAF aircraft by virtue of having no operational fighter aircraft of its own. There are ground based air defences (GBAD) consisting Soviet-era anti-aircraft guns and more modern Chinese missile systems like the HQ-12 radar-guided surface-to-air missile. Initial Cambodian reports alleged that one RTAF F-16 had been shot down by these air defences, an assertion rapidly denied by Thailand.

The Royal Thai Army has codenamed its operation as ‘Yuttha Bodin’, which translates into ‘Battle for the Sacred Land’, alongside a motto that carries the phrase "crush all who trespass on Thai soil".

It is speculated that China has provided arms to both sides in the conflict, although Thailand combines such systems with many Western-built ones. Generally, Thai equipment is superior, more modern and more plentiful than what is available for Cambodia. In June, the RTAF confirmed the Gripen E/F as the fighter of its choice to replace some of its oldest F-16s.