Civila rädda: ”Är det bäst att fly eller stanna kvar?”

Bilateral relations between Cambodia and Thailand date to the 13th century during the Angkor Era. The Thai Ayutthaya Kingdom gradually displaced the declining Khmer Empire from the 14th century, French protectorateship separated Cambodia from modern Thailand at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, and diplomatic relations between the modern states were established on 19 December 1950. Relations between the two countries remain complicated. Incomplete demarcation of their boundaries has led to a protracted border conflict, most notably over the temple of Preah Vihear, which was brought to the International Court of Justice in 1962 but still saw military clashes emerge in 2008 and 2011. Cambodia's internal conflicts throughout the 1970s to 1980s often spilled over into Thailand, which received refugees but also gave indirect support to the Khmer Rouge led by the dictator Pol Pot (Saloth Sâr). Thailand now dominates over its poorer neighbour economically, and is the sixth largest investor in Cambodia. Though relations are largely peaceful, the countries' peoples still bear a degree of enmity, and the two countries' shared cultural heritage has given rise to a fierce nationalist rivalry, often expressed through online flame wars over claims of ownership and origination of such heritage. These tensions have also erupted into violence when stoked by nationalist sentiments. Such episodes include a mob attack on the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh in 2003, which prompted a downgrading of relations by Thailand. Thailand also downgraded relations in 2009 in response to the Cambodian government's support of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, while Cambodia terminated relations (represented by its embassy in Bangkok) twice in 1958 and 1961, during the Preah Vihear conflict. In July 2025, violent clashes broke out between Thailand and Cambodia along their disputed border, resulting in over 30 deaths and the displacement of more than 270,000 people.