Graphic images too disturbing for social media have surfaced in the past 48 hours, showing Cambodian civilians with severed necks, Thai soldiers stripping badges from dead Cambodian troops and posing with corpses, and fresh victims of Thai F-16 airstrikes.
Cambodian authorities accuse Thailand of shelling populated villages 28 km inside its border earlier this week, striking Prey Chan and Chouk Cheay which have now been taken over.
On 7-10 December, Thai fighter jets carrying bombs entered Cambodian airspace in a major escalation of the recent border conflict.
By Wednesday, Thai ground forces had advanced inland, capturing the key town of Boeung Trakoun and neighbouring Sompov Lun district.
The violence has displaced 37,000 families—around 128,000 people, over half women and children—who are now sheltering in emergency centres across six northern provinces.
Bangkok has not commented on the allegations of airstrikes, territorial incursions, or the circulating atrocity images apart from Prime Minister Anutin's recent statements that peacetime is over. International calls for an immediate ceasefire remain unanswered as both sides reinforce troops along the disputed border.
These pictures show real cost of the present conflict up close from sources in the middle of the Cambodian border war. The images are so shocking in many cases they are too disturbing for social media and mainstream media refuses to publish them.
I am publishing them here in this column today for two reasons: first, in any conflict, there must be rules of engagement between two sides; limits about what can and can't be allowed to happen.
Second, for all the noises from would-be peacekeepers around the world, such as the UN and other Southeast Asian nations,. we will never get to the point where we have peace unless we isolate and call out individual war crimes in real time. Many of these crimes pictured contravene the Geneva Conventions, which is the guiding law in all combat.
My aim is to ensure that no more of this is allowed to continue anymore.
Children Running For Their Lives
Cambodian children ran from a school in a border town to take shelter from Thai F-16 airstrikes.
Bus Bomb
A Cambodian bus far from the border was hit by bombs, killing civilians
Cut Throat
Thai forces allegedly left a Cambodian military officer for dead after cutting his neck. He was later rescued by brave Cambodian army heros who never left a soldier behind.
Similar disturbing neck-cutting incidents have been identified elsewhere along the border.
F-16 Casualties
Thailand posses F-16 fighter jets, giving it an air advantage that Cambodia lacks. As a result of intensive bombing this week, civilian casualties caught in the crossfire of these and drone blasts are mounting up.
Geneva Convention Violations
Video footage appears to show Thai military personnel removing a patch from the uniform of a deceased Cambodian officer who was a firewall from Thai bombing over schools and neighborhoods. This is a direct violation of the Geneva Convention caught on tape.
If peacekeeping institutions worldwide such as the UN are broken beyond repair to prevent further catastrophes of this kind in Cambodia, Americans who voted for President Trump will soon start to ask - what are we paying for?