Tensions along the Cambodia–Thailand border continued to rise, with fighting between Cambodian and Thai troops still ongoing as of the afternoon of July 24, 2025, according to frontline troops speaking to local media on July 24.
According to the same frontline account, Cambodia had gained full control of តាមាន់ and តាក្របី temples after Cambodian forces counterattacked the invading Thai troops, causing them to retreat in disarray.
Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence, through its spokesperson Maly Socheata, alleged that Thai troops fired first on Cambodian troops in the តាមាន់ធំ temple area and widened the attacks to the មុំបី area. She also said fighter aircraft dropped two bombs on the road to វត្តកែវសិក្ខាគីរីស្វារៈ, in the areas of Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear provinces.
Maly Socheata presented a chronology which, she said, showed that Thailand had fired first on Cambodia. According to that account, at about 06:30 that morning, the Thai side began violating previously agreed arrangements by going up onto តាមាន់ធំ temple and secretly laying barbed wire around the temple’s base.
At 07:04, the Thai side flew a drone for two minutes, and at 08:30 it fired shots into the air. At 08:46 that morning, Thai troops opened fire first on Cambodian troops in the តាមាន់ធំ temple area, then attacked តាក្របី temple and the ភ្នំខ្មោច area and expanded the attacks to the មុំបី area, the chronology said. It also described fighter aircraft dropping two bombs on the road to វត្តកែវសិក្ខាគីរីស្វារៈ, where Cambodian troops were stationed to defend their territorial integrity in Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear provinces.
Then, at 08:47 that morning, Cambodia’s armed forces had no choice but to exercise their right of self-defense to protect Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against the Thai troops’ invasion, according to the account.
According to the Ministry of National Defence spokesperson, Thailand’s use of heavy weapons of all types and deployment of overwhelming numbers of troops to seize Cambodian territory constituted a clear violation of international law.
Written by: ង៉ែត ពិសាន្ត
