{"id":1916,"date":"2025-07-25T08:36:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T08:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/thailand-cambodian-clashes-force-100000-into-shelters-on-thai-border\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T08:36:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T08:36:14","slug":"thailand-cambodian-clashes-force-100000-into-shelters-on-thai-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/thailand-cambodian-clashes-force-100000-into-shelters-on-thai-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Thailand-Cambodian clashes force 100,000 into shelters on Thai border"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Desperate evacuees, huddled on plastic mats in a sports hall in Thailand, have described fleeing from thunderous artillery bombardments as heavy fighting has escalated between Thailand and Cambodia.<\/p>\n

The worst fighting in more than a decade between the neighbouring countries has forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate from their homes across four Thai border provinces by Friday.<\/p>\n

As artillery fire echoed on Thursday, thousands from northeastern Surin province abandoned their homes for makeshift shelters established in the town centre.<\/p>\n

Nearly 3,000 people crowded the sports hall of Surindra Rajabhat University, packed onto rows of plastic mats covered with colourful blankets and hastily gathered possessions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m worried about our home, our animals, and the crops we\u2019ve worked so hard on,\u201d Thidarat Homhuan, 37, told the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n

She evacuated with nine family members, including her 87-year-old grandmother who had just been released from hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat concern is still there. But being here does feel safer, since we\u2019re further from the danger zone now. At least we\u2019re safe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Thidarat was babysitting at a local school when she heard what she described as \u201csomething like machinegun fire\u201d, followed by heavy artillery thuds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was chaos. The kids were terrified. I rushed to the school\u2019s bunker,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Inside the shelter, evacuees slept alongside one another beneath the gym\u2019s high ceiling, surrounded by electric fans humming and the quiet whispers of uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Elderly residents lay wrapped in blankets, infants slept in cradles, while children played quietly. Pet cats rested in mesh crates near the public restroom.<\/p>\n

This marks the first full activation of the university as a shelter, according to Chai Samoraphum, director of the university president\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Classes were immediately cancelled, and within an hour, the campus transformed into a functioning evacuation centre.<\/p>\n

Evacuees from four border districts were distributed across six locations throughout the campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of them left in a hurry. Some have chronic health conditions but didn\u2019t bring their medications, others only managed to grab a few belongings,\u201d Chai told AFP.<\/p>\n

The centre, with assistance from the provincial hospital, is providing care for those with chronic illnesses and offering mental health services for trauma victims, Chai explained.<\/p>\n

The border fighting has killed at least 14 people in Thailand, including one soldier and civilians killed in a rocket strike near a Sisaket province petrol station, officials reported. One Cambodian has also been confirmed killed.<\/p>\n

As fighting continues near the border, evacuees face uncertainty about when they can return home.<\/p>\n

For now, the shelter provides safety and a place to await signals that it\u2019s safe to \u201cgo back to normal life\u201d, Thidarat said.<\/p>\n

She already has a message for the authorities: \u201cI want the government to take decisive action \u2013 do not wait until lives are lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cCivilians look up to the government for protection, and we rely on them deeply,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Across the border in Cambodia, about 20,000 residents have evacuated from the country\u2019s northern border with Thailand, the Khmer Times news organisation said, quoting officials in Cambodia\u2019s Preah Vihear province.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Desperate evacuees, huddled on plastic mats in a sports hall in Thailand, have described fleeing from thunderous artillery bombardments as heavy fighting has escalated between Thailand and Cambodia. The worst fighting in more than a decade between the neighbouring countries has forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate from their homes across four Thai border … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}