Sra Em Roundabout, Preah Vihear Province: About 17 kilometers from the Thai border, where heavy gunfire erupted on the battlefields of Phnom Trab and Preah Vihear Temple, villagers are gradually returning home to resume their jobs and check on their farms after the situation at the border calmed down.
But, although they express joy and relief at the situation, the fear of renewed gunfire lingers.
Fruit vendor Vong Sokheng, who sells at the roundabout in Choam Ksant district, said her family lives in fear all the time.“The goods are still in the car. They have not been taken out, so I am ready [to leave] if there’s a problem. Every day, my two children and husband are risking their lives.”
Out of over 12,000 displaced families, about 4,000 have returned home as of Monday.
A report by Choam Ksant district governor Chen Khantey showed that 77 houses, two pagodas, two primary schools, one health center, and a Ta Um statue were damaged by shelling by the Thai military, making his district the hardest hit during the conflict.
Sokheng said this is the third time she has returned home since fighting began in late May, hoping that this return will bring lasting peace.
“If we go to a safe center, we don’t have anything to sell, we don’t have any income. However, we would have to spend money. But, we don’t have any money. So, we decided to go home. If we do business today, we solve the money problem,” she said.
Even though the ceasefire has been in place since July 28, Sokheng, 33, observed that Sra Em roundabout, which used to be teeming with people every evening, remains quiet.
“It’s not like before, it’s very quiet because most people haven’t returned yet, and many aren’t going to the market. Our business is not like before. There is a big drop, almost 70 percent.”
Seated while cutting vegetables to feed her chickens and ducks, Taing Choukhim, 51, said around 100 of her poultry had died during the conflict—an incident which is being investigated by the authorities. She suspects that they may have been affected by the chemical released by the Thai military.
Choukhim, who lives in Sra Em village, Kantuot commune in the district, said she decided to leave the village for the shelter on July 26, the third day of fighting, as the bombings by the Thai military became more intense.
“I heard a loud bang, so I decided to run away. I didn’t want to leave, but I was afraid of the bullets falling from the plane.” But life in the shelter, where they slept in tents on the ground, is “nothing like sleeping at home”, she said.
She hopes the ceasefire will hold “forever”, as she was forced to abandon her home, preventing her from harvesting her rice field and earning a living—all the time the sound of the Thai military shelling haunting her. “Every time I lie in bed, I feel the bombing. I don’t feel calm. My spirit is broken.”
During the evacuation on July 29, a bank official called and demanded that she settle her $5,000 loan by paying $200 (principal and interest) a month, but she said she did not have money to pay because she could not earn money yet.
“If they stopped shooting, we would be happy to harvest rice in this village. Otherwise, there is no hope. What hope is there? The rice is still there. If we are running away from farming, we won’t have money to pay [creditors]. If we stay at home, we can sell this, we can sell that, and have money every day.”
Nov Thida, who sells roasted bananas about 100 meters from Sra Em roundabout, said two banana clusters were damaged while about 30 chickens died after she fled for safety. She borrowed 700,000 riel (approximately $175) from her children to pay the bank in August because she could not earn an income.
“I wish for peace. I’m poor and have no money to buy anything. I only have 50,000 riel [$12.50] left to buy bananas and sell roasted bananas today,” she told CamboJA News.
On July 30, financial institutions were instructed by the National Bank of Cambodia to waive interest payments and defer principal payments for frontline soldiers for six months and cancel debts of up to 80 million riel (approximately $20,000) belonging to dead or disabled soldiers.
Banks and microfinance institutions also said they would waive the interest payments and put in place a three-month deferral of principal payments for Cambodian citizens who fled to safer locations.
Am Sam Ath, operations director of rights group Licadho, said the government should monitor this implementation after asking financial institutions to give affected citizens preferential treatment.
“In addition to having philanthropists supporting displaced persons, the authorities and government should examine their actual situation and provide additional support for them as much as possible.”
Preah Vihear provincial deputy governor Kim Chanpanha said, as of August 18, about 4,000 families had left 15 shelters in Preah Vihear province, while over 8,800 families remained. He said the current situation does not stipulate a timeframe for people to return home.
“We cannot set a timeframe. We are waiting for the situation to normalize to allow them to return safely.”
Those who went home because they were about 10 to 20 kilometers away from the border and wanted to see their fields and cattle, were asked to contact the local authorities to obtain food from the International Red Cross, which is administering the food stock delivered by the provincial administration.
CamboJA News could not reach Met Measpheakdey, spokesperson for the Oddar Meanchey provincial administration. Earlier, he told reporters that more than 200 homes in Oddar Meanchey were impacted by the heavy attacks during the clashes.
According to the Ministry of National Defense spokesperson, more than 170,000 people moved to safe places during the clash from July 24 to 28, 2025. However, the total number of displaced people, who have returned home is not yet known.
