Indian Embassy issues advisory for travellers amid Thailand-Cambodia border clashes

Bangkok [Thailand], July 25 :
The Indian Embassy in Thailand on Friday, following clashes near the Thailand-Cambodia border, issued an advisory for Indian nationals urging themto avoid travel to seven provinces in Thailand.

The Mission advised travellers to check for updates from Thai official sources such as TAT Newsroom, the official online newsroom of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

The Embassy of India wrote on X, "In view of the situation near the Thailand-Cambodia border, all Indian travellers to Thailand are advised to check updates from Thai official sources, including TAT Newsroom. As per the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the places mentioned in the following link are not recommended for travelling."

In a post on X, TAT Newsroom said that amid the ongoing unrest, seven provinces are now not recommended for visiting. These are Ubon Ratchathani, Surin, Sisaket, Buriram, Sa Kaeo, Chanthaburi, Trat.

Indians form a large chunk of tourists visiting Thailand. As per Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, during 2024, around 2.1 million Indian tourists visited Thailand, which is around 6 per cent of the total tourist inflow into Thailand and Indians were the third largest group of tourists visiting Thailand during this period.

The developments on the border of Cambodia and Thailand comes after clashes erupted on the border areas of Thailand and Cambodia, has triggered a massive humanitarian crisis, with over one lakh people forced to flee their homes in just two days of conflict, CNN reported.

The long-running border disputes between Thailand and Cambodia date back over a century, when France, which occupied Cambodia until 1953, first mapped the land border. Cambodia has cited that map to support its territorial claims, while Thailand rejects it as inaccurate.

The fresh wave of violence began at around 4:30 am on Friday when Cambodia reportedly opened fire using small arms and heavy weapons. The Thai army retaliated with artillery and later scrambled F-16 jets to target what it claimed were Cambodian military positions.

The clashes occurred in two locations in Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani province and one in Surin. Thai authorities warned locals to stay away from the area as they carried out bomb disposal and rescue operations in the Kantharalak district, where Cambodian rockets had landed the previous evening.

So far, 14 people have been killed in Thailand, most of them civilians, while Cambodia has reported one death and five injuries, according to CNN.

Countries including Japan, and the United States have urged both Thailand and Cambodia to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation.

Source: ANI