T he long simmering boundary dispute between Thailand and Cambodia exploded in late July 2025 into deadly open warfare. Within hours on July 24, troops and heavy weapons were engaged along their 817 km (508 mile) frontier much of it inherited from a 1907 Franco-Siamese treaty leading to a brief but intense war. Thailand reported that Cambodian forces opened fire near the Khmer temple of Ta Muen Thom and shelled Thai villages, killing civilians. In one incident Thailand’s health minister said 12 people (11 civilians and one soldier) died in Cambodian artillery strikes, with dozens more wounded. Thailand, a U.S. treaty ally, answered with air power: an F 16 jet struck a Cambodian military site, and further F 16s were put on standby.

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