--- title: The Fighting Between Thailand and Cambodia Isn’t About Territory. It’s Much More Serious | TIME description: Clearly a significant number of territorial squabbles exist simply to provide a jingoistic distraction, an excuse to rally around the flag or challenge the patriotism of a political rival. And while they can flare up organically, prolonged skirmishes are typically stoked with a clear purpose. Which is why policy analysts are scratching their heads about what exactly lies behind the escalating border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. On Thursday, fighting erupted again near the disputed Ta Moan Thom Temple, located in a border area in northwestern Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province, resulting in the deaths of at least 13 civilians and a soldier in Thailand, which dispatched a F-16 to bomb Cambodian targets in response. canonical: https://time.com/video/NAKSvVij/ og:title: The Fighting Between Thailand and Cambodia Isn’t About Territory. It’s Much More Serious og:description: Clearly a significant number of territorial squabbles exist simply to provide a jingoistic distraction, an excuse to rally around the flag or challenge the patriotism of a political rival. And while they can flare up organically, prolonged skirmishes are typically stoked with a clear purpose. Which is why policy analysts are scratching their heads about what exactly lies behind the escalating border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. On Thursday, fighting erupted again near the disputed Ta Moan Thom Temple, located in a border area in northwestern Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province, resulting in the deaths of at least 13 civilians and a soldier in Thailand, which dispatched a F-16 to bomb Cambodian targets in response. og:url: https://time.com/video/NAKSvVij/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/NAKSvVij/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Fighting Between Thailand and Cambodia Isn’t About Territory. It’s Much More Serious twitter:description: Clearly a significant number of territorial squabbles exist simply to provide a jingoistic distraction, an excuse to rally around the flag or challenge the patriotism of a political rival. And while they can flare up organically, prolonged skirmishes are typically stoked with a clear purpose. Which is why policy analysts are scratching their heads about what exactly lies behind the escalating border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. On Thursday, fighting erupted again near the disputed Ta Moan Thom Temple, located in a border area in northwestern Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province, resulting in the deaths of at least 13 civilians and a soldier in Thailand, which dispatched a F-16 to bomb Cambodian targets in response. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/NAKSvVij/poster.jpg?width=720 --- * World # The Fighting Between Thailand and Cambodia Isn’t About Territory. It’s Much More Serious > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: The Fighting Between Thailand and Cambodia Isn’t About Territory. It’s Much More Serious [Watch (HLS stream): The Fighting Between Thailand and Cambodia Isn’t About Territory. It’s Much More Serious](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NAKSvVij.m3u8) (1:23)  _Published 2025-07-25. Clearly a significant number of territorial squabbles exist simply to provide a jingoistic distraction, an excuse to rally around the flag or challenge the patriotism of a political rival. And while they can flare up organically, prolonged skirmishes are typically stoked with a clear purpose. Which is why policy analysts are scratching their heads about what exactly lies behind the escalating border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. On Thursday, fighting erupted again near the disputed Ta Moan Thom Temple, located in a border area in northwestern Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province, resulting in the deaths of at least 13 civilians and a soldier in Thailand, which dispatched a F-16 to bomb Cambodian targets in response._ --- Jul 25, 2025 6:20 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Thailand and Cambodia Agree on Unconditional Cease-Fire](/video/Yoe6oEgT/) ### Thailand and Cambodia Agree on Unconditional Cease-Fire [Cambodia's Opposition Leader Denounces Election Results ](/video/cUuimnv5/) ### Cambodia's Opposition Leader Denounces Election Results [Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton - "Wealth of Opportunity" in Cambodia](/video/Mluv1Ssx/) ### Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton - "Wealth of Opportunity" in Cambodia --- ## Transcript The tension between Thailand and Cambodia has long historical roots, right back to a 1907 map drawn up when Cambodia was under French colonial rule. The Cambodians use it to delineate the land border. The Thais say it's inaccurate, so most frontier confrontations ever since have stemmed from that fundamental problem. This current crisis began brewing in February, when a group of Cambodians went to disputed territory and sang a patriotic song, well, that ended peacefully. But in May, in another area, troops from both sides opened fire at each other and one Cambodian soldier was killed. The tension ratcheted up and despite saying they were working to de-escalate, things never really relaxed. Thailand tightened restrictions on border crossings. Cambodia stopped imports of some Thai goods. Political moves to find a solution went badly, increasing the ill feeling. Then, in the last week or so, two identical incidents brought the situation to breaking point. A number of Thai soldiers were injured by landmines while on patrol in contested territory, Thailand said the mines were newly laid by Cambodian forces. Cambodia called the accusations baseless. Nationalist feelings surged. The firing started soon afterwards. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Fighting Between Thailand and Cambodia Isn’t About Territory. It’s Much More Serious","description":"Clearly a significant number of territorial squabbles exist simply to provide a jingoistic distraction, an excuse to rally around the flag or challenge the patriotism of a political rival. And while they can flare up organically, prolonged skirmishes are typically stoked with a clear purpose.\n\nWhich is why policy analysts are scratching their heads about what exactly lies behind the escalating border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. 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