Van Noeun, from Trapeang Prei commune, Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province, is currently staying at Wat Phnom Preah Deva in Rumchek commune, Banteay Srei district, Siem Reap province. - Photo: The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
PHNOM PENH: Despite Thai artillery shells landing in her neighbouring village, 69-year-old Van Noeun stubbornly refused to abandon her home, even as many other villagers fled, leaving the village nearly empty during the fighting last December.
She did not leave because she felt she could seek safety alone while “abandoning” her four sons, who were fighting against Thai soldiers on the front lines in Oddar Meanchey province. Additionally, she believed the Thai soldiers would probably not fire upon her location.
“The shells seemed to land far away from our village; I told my daughter it is only when we hear the sound of small arms that it is close. If we hear shelling, it is far away because they just fire randomly. So, we just go into the trenches and leave it to our luck,” she told The Post.
“If I used my motorbike to escape, alone, what about my children on the battlefield? So I turned my motorbike around and stayed home. I couldn't bring myself to leave while three or four of my children were at the front,” she added.
She has three biological sons and one son-in-law, all of whom were frontline soldiers, fighting against Thai troops at various hotspots in Oddar Meanchey province.
However, her endurance to stay at home ended on Jan 27, one month after the Dec 27 ceasefire, when news emerged that the border situation had become extremely tense. She heard that there were reports that Thai soldiers planned to attack Cambodia for a third time, in addition to sightings of Thai troops continuing to lay razor wire barricades and engaging in verbal clashes with Cambodian soldiers.
“I heard news that they are preparing to attack from Bot Lveng to Ta Tum, all the way to Jub Run and Trapeang Prasat. So, my area is right in the battle zone, and in the 'red zone' as well and I decided to leave,” she explained.
A grade five student who is currently staying at Wat Phnom Preah Deva in Rumchek commune, Banteay Srei district, Siem Reap province. Niem Chheng
She packed her belongings onto a tractor, or Koyun, and travelled to Wat Phnom Preah Deva in Rumchek commune, Banteay Srei district, Siem Reap province. She became the latest displaced person to come here, more than 150 kilometres from her home in Samaki village, Trapeang Prei commune, near the Dangrek Mountains in Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province.
In the early morning of February, children shared packets of instant noodles to cook with hot water for breakfast, while mothers swept the grounds of the temporary shelter and others cooked for other families unable to return home. Currently, about 10 families remain at Wat Phnom Preah Deva, after hundreds of other families who had sought shelter there returned home.
Young children have lost access to formal education but are receiving lessons at the pagoda in Khmer language and Mathematics.
In a nearby tent covered with tarpaulin, 32-year-old San Khen was cleaning her sleeping area, while the other in neighbouring tents washed dishes or cooked. She fled from her home near the Choam Sa Ngam border crossing in Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province, arriving at the camp with her family of six on Dec 12, 2025.
Currently, she cannot return to her residence because her home is located in a “red zone”, and authorities have stated that there is still unexploded ordnance in the area that has not yet been cleared.
At Wat Phnom Preah Deva, the refugees receive food support from the monks and philanthropists from near and far. However, their hope is to see peace and to be able to return to their warm homes.
“I want to see the country have peace again, so we can hurry back home and my children can study. Living here, I cannot work or do business, and I have three or four children of school age,” she said.
“I want to appeal to the UN to resolve this quickly so that our people do not have to flee in disarray, without rice or water. Sometimes, some people flee without bringing any rice; only upon arriving here do they receive aid and get to eat,” added Van Noeun.
“The reason we are here is because the Siamese [Thais] invaded us. Therefore, I want the UN to resolve the conflict between Siam [Thailand] and Cambodia as soon as possible. We feel pained that the Siamese aggressors have invaded Cambodia,” she added.
If she were a strong man, she continued, she would join the military. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
