Thai-Cambodian Truce Lifts Spirits at Border Villages, But Distrust Lingers

Residents Express Concern Over Whether the Opposing Side Will Violate the Ceasefire

- Philip Wen

SURIN, Thailand - The mood among the men at a makeshift bomb shelter along the battle-scarred border between Thailand and Cambodia is decidedly brighter - buoyed by the possibility of light at the end of the tunnel and being reunited with family.

Since the outbreak of fighting on July 24, the few dozen male villagers who have stayed behind to tend to their cattle and guard their village in the border hot spot of Phanom Dong Rak district in Thailand's Surin province have slept rough in their improvised bunker comprising segments of large concrete stormwater pipes, buttressed with rice sacks filled with sand.

The confined space means the men are unable to stretch out fully to sleep, instead contorting and slouching against the harsh curves of the bunker "walls". Small portable fans do little to defray the stifling heat and dispel bloodthirsty mosquitoes at night.

The villagers told The Straits Times there had been a respite from heavy shelling in their area since the ceasefire took effect at midnight on July 29, but that some gunfire from nearby battlegrounds could still be heard. Thailand's army has blamed Cambodia for exchanges of gunfire on both days since the ceasefire began, which Phnom Penh has denied.

And after five days of fighting killed at least 43 people and displaced more than 300,000 civilians from both countries, the distrust from residents directed across both sides of the border was evident. While hopeful that it would translate into lasting peace, most villagers expressed concern over whether the opposing side would violate the ceasefire and delay the ability of their families to return home.