'We are neighbours': fleeing Thais and Cambodians call for peace

Suwan Promsri, an evacuee displaced by the ongoing conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, speaks to AFP at a makeshift evacuation centre inside a Buddhist temple in Kanthararom, the Thai border province of Si Sa Ket on July 26, 2025. Thailand and Cambodia pounded each other with heavy artillery fire for a third day on Saturday, as a border conflict that killed at least 33 people and displaced more than 150,000 from their homes spread across the frontier. - AFP

KANTHARAROM, Thailand/SAMRAONG, Cambodia: As Cambodia and Thailand traded deadly strikes, fleeing civilians on both sides described their cross-border neighbours as "siblings" and "friends" - swapping calls for peace against the backdrop of artillery barrages.

The death toll from three days of fighting has risen to 33, the majority civilians, after a long-running border dispute sharply escalated into combat waged with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops.