Just two months ago, I stood on the border of Cambodia in Prey Chan Village, a gateway last week occupied by Thai forces and the alleged scene of violent attacks. Back then, children played in the mud, although there were signs of a pending invasion as Thai military trucks compacted sand, paving the way for heavy armor vehicles. Last week, the tanks crossed over.

A village where locals held up American flags and pictures of President Trump and the First Lady is now completely evacuated.

My inbox has filled up with pictures too graphic to broadcast on social media. Cambodian civilians are taken to hospital with severed necks. Thai soldiers deface Cambodian corpses by ripping off their military badges, photographing them post-mortem. Civilian victims lie dead on the ground after being hit by bombs dropped from F16 fighters. These are some of the photos in a collection of real footage I have received from a senior government source called May as well as others close to the battlefield.

Cambodia's government reports Thai artillery targeted populated villages, with shells landing up to 28 kilometers inland during the first week of fighting, striking Prey Chanh and Chouk Cheay in Banteay Meanchey province. By December 10, Thai jets with bombs and other systems breached Cambodian airspace, escalating the crisis.

This sparked a massive displacement: over 200,000 Cambodians and more than 400,000 Thais now live in emergency shelters scattered across border villages. Schools have closed for 130,000 students, and Cambodia has withdrawn from the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand over safety fears.

Video and photo evidence verified by AI experts as genuine show two bodies lying motionless next to a bus that was bombed, blood pouring from their chests. The scene was far from the border, nearly 20 miles inland by the highway that connects the north of the country to Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. Other videos show children pleading with the international community to step up and put an end to the air strikes.

Thailand insists its strikes are precise, targeting military sites, much like Russia's contested claims in Ukraine. Yet evidence from both sides shows civilian tolls mounting.

Thailand’s Overwhelming Edge

Thailand's military dwarfs Cambodia's. With a $5.9 billion defense budget to Cambodia's $860 million, Thailand fields over 360,000 active personnel (nearly twice Cambodia's 221,000) plus 200,000 reserves; Cambodia has none. Aerial dominance is stark. Thailand has 493 combat aircraft, with 72 fighters like F-16s and Gripens versus Cambodia's 25 planes and zero fighters. On the ground, Thailand has over 3 times the number of tanks and carriers as Cambodia does, and most are much newer models.

This asymmetry tilts the fight heavily toward Bangkok. Yet in Banteay Meanchey province, Cambodian forces show grit. On Wednesday, Thai troops seized Boeung Trakoun—a key town deep in northern Cambodia—and nearby Sampov Lun. The next day, despite depleted munitions, Cambodians recaptured Boeung Trakoun.

Thailand claims that Cambodia provoked with landmines and drones, justifying strikes on alleged arms caches in hospitals, schools, and even casinos. Phnom Penh calls this "rubbish," noting Cambodia's booming 6% GDP growth versus Thailand's sluggish 1.1% last quarter as well as Thailand’s evident military superiority. What incentive, argue lawmakers there, does Cambodia have to attack Thailand?

Peace Through Strength Hangs In The Balance

Cambodians whisper of Thai opportunism. With elections looming after Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's December 11 request to dissolve parliament, the war distracts from domestic woes. Deadly floods in Hat Yai have caused widespread criticism in Thailand of the government for mismanagement, while corruption scandals plague Anutin’s government.

“The Thai government got blamed for being unable to control the flooding disaster (in Hat Yai), the Southeast Asia games are badly organized and there’s a lot of internal grift, so they fight Cambodia now to turn the attention of their citizens and show their power to get re-elected next year,” May told me in a Whatsapp message.

There is a growing sense inside Cambodia that the world watches idly while Thailand matches into and flies over its terrain.

“The misuse of F16s is very concerning. It’s disproportionate and it terrorizes our citizens,” said Dith Tina, Minister of Agriculture. “In the 60s and 70s my parents’ generation was marked by B52 bombers but now this next generation should not be marked by American weaponary misused by the Thais.”  

President Trump, who claims credit for the recent truce between the two countries, promised intervention.

Last Friday, he announced that a Thai vehicle blown up by a landmine was an "accident" and that the country's government had “reacted strongly” in response. Trump maintained that the ceasefire was still intact and that the Thais would halt bombing in Cambodia.

In Phnom Penh, the reaction was one of skepticism that the Thai military would lay low going forward. That skepticism proved well-founded. The next week was followed by more bombing, with Anutin snubbing Trump the following day.

Sunday, Thai F-16s dropped bombs on Prey Chan Village, where I had been standing only months before. This week, the fight escalated to new levels as Thailand bombed Siem Reap, 70 kilometers inland and roughly the same distance from the famed Angkor Wat. In other words, the F-16s are flying deeper into Cambodian territory as the weeks pass.

Dec 15 in the morning. F-16 fighter jets dropped two bombs on Chong Kal District and Srei Snam District, Siem Reap Province (Source: Minister of Information, Cambodia)

This war is one that is turning out to be a stress-test for Trump’s Peace Through Strength doctrine. The stakes are high: how this ceasefire pans out will dictate to a large extent the success of a central international relations strategy for the Republican administration.

Cambodia's Minister of Information Neth Pheaktra told me that "the Thai military has deliberately targeted civilians in its attacks."

"The Cambodian people urgently call upon the international community - especially President Donald J. Trump and world leaders - to intervene and immediately put an end to the brutal crimes committed by the Thai military against the Cambodian population," said Minister Pheaktra in a statement.

So far, 11 Cambodian civilians have been reported dead while 15 Thai soldiers and 3 Thai civilians have been killed. It is not yet known how many Cambodian soldiers have lost their lives in the conflict. These numbers are widely viewed by people on both sides of the border to be a dramatic underestimation.

“The problem is that this isn’t just a border clash anymore,” said May. “The Thais are using the border clash as an excuse to kill Cambodians and gain domestic political popularity.”