UNESCO has expressed strong concern over the renewed tensions between Cambodia and Thailand, including in the vicinity of the Preah Vihear Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site. In a statement, the organisation has called for urgent protection of the region’s cultural heritage in “all its forms.” The Paris-headquartered UN body further reminded all parties of their obligations under international law, notably the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the 1972 World Heritage Convention.
“UNESCO will continue to monitor the situation of cultural heritage in the region, with a view to ensuring its protection”, the organisation said. UNESCO said it stands ready to provide technical assistance to safeguard cultural property and implement emergency protection measures “as soon as conditions allow”.
The statement comes amidst reports of escalating tensions between Thailand and Cambodia on the border that began on December 10 with artillery and rocket attacks against civilians. As per local media reports, each side has blamed the other for the attacks.
Earlier this year in May, a Cambodian soldier was killed and Thai troops were injured in a landmine blast near the disputed area. That incident was followed by rocket strikes and cross-border fighting, resulting in at least nine civilian deaths, including women and children, by July 2025. Following this the US President Donald Trump’s administration and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim helped broker a truce between the two countries that was sealed on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.
On December 11, Thursday morning, Cambodia’s Defence Ministry said that Thai F-16 aircraft dropped munitions on five provinces. The ministry described the attacks on both military and civilian areas as a serious violation of international humanitarian law. It said Cambodian forces remain in defensive positions and continue to resist Thai advances. Cambodia’s Ministry of the Interior on December 10 said homes, schools, roads, Buddhist pagodas and ancient temples had been damaged by “Thailand’s intensified shelling and F-16 air strikes targeting villages and civilian population centres up to 30km [18.6 miles] inside Cambodian territory”.
“It should be noted that these brutal acts of aggression of the Thai military indiscriminately opened fire targeting civilian areas, especially schools and further destroyed Ta Krabey and Preah Vihear temples, the highly sacred cultural sites of Cambodia and the world cultural heritage”, it said. As per a report in the Bangkok Post, the Thai Ministry of Defence said that nine soldiers have been killed and 120 injured after five straight days of attacks. Cambodian officials said 10 civilians have perished and around 60 have been seriously hurt. It has not disclosed military casualties but unconfirmed reports have said at least eight soldiers had died.
The US president said he expected to speak with the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia to demand a halt to their renewed clashes. The call would likely take place late Thursday night Thailand time. “I think I’m scheduled to speak to them tomorrow”, Trump told reporters at the White House on December 10, Wednesday. “They’ve been fighting for a very long time, many, many, many decades”, he said. “But I got along great with both. I found they were two great leaders, two great people, and I settled it once. I think I can do it pretty quickly. I think, I think I can get them to stop fighting. Who else can do that? Think of it”. Trump said as reported in the Bangkok Post.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim took to his official Facebook page today to post that he had spoken last night with the Prime Ministers of both Cambodia and Thailand about the ongoing tensions, but said no complete resolution has yet been reached. He added that Malaysia will continue to support peaceful dialogue based on international law and regional cooperation to safeguard stability and security.
The Preah Vihear Temple, which sits on a cliff in the Dangrek mountains along the natural border of Cambodia-Thailand has been at the centre of the clashes between the two neigbouring countries for long.
Cambodia and Thailand have been locked in a decades-long disagreement over the jurisdiction of various non-demarcated areas along their shared land border, which stretches more than 800 kilometres. A central part of the dispute has been competing claims of ownership of the ancient Hindu temples of Prasat Ta Muen Thom and Preah Vihear.
The Preah Vihar temple was built in the 11th and 12th centuries in the Khmer Empire, which governed most of South Asia including Siam, the name Thailand was known as earlier. The two countries have disputed their land border ever since the colonial era map was drawn in 1907 by France, then the colonial administrator in Cambodia. As per the map the temple was placed in Cambodia. Although the International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled that Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia, tensions flared again in 2008 when Cambodia sought UNESCO World Heritage status for the temple, leading to years of sporadic clashes. Cambodia went to court in 2011, following several military clashes that killed about 20 people. The court reaffirmed the ruling in 2013.
(With Inputs from ANI)
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