Oddar Meanchey Province’s Samrong District: Many streets in Banteay Ampil and Samrong districts in Oddar Meanchey province were eerily quiet, with only a few motorcycles or cars seen, following the evacuation of people to safety as border fighting with Thailand continued on its second day.
Many houses were closed as people stayed inside, fearing the fighting. Those who had to work faced difficulty buying food because there were no sellers.
Based on observation by CamboJA News, most of the gas stations have been closed since this afternoon in Samrong while public schools in Oddar Meanchey were temporarily shuttered.
Thousands of people who fled to safety in Chongkal district in Oddar Meanchey province, came from areas near the Cambodia-Thai border. Some families had small children. They slept with mosquito nets, they told CamboJA News, last night, adding that they did not receive any donations from the government.
Sampleang Kley, 45, a villager in Banteay Ampil said most of the people in his village went to a safe place in Oddar Meanchey due to the border dispute, but he and a few men stayed behind to look after their properties and cattle.
“I have been hearing the sound of fighting from the border since early morning [July 25],” he said, adding that his wife and children moved to a safer location yesterday.
Kley said he was afraid of the fight but as there was no one to look after his property and animals, he decided to stay.
Hong Koy, 33, a villager from Samrong city, who went to stay in a safe place in Chongkal district, said he arrived on Thursday night when the border fighting broke out.
“The reason my family and I came here was because of the loud sounds of weapons, so we didn’t want to stay at home,” he said. His house is located 30 kilometers from the border fighting and he is concerned about the bombs falling near his area.
“I am concerned about my cows and pigs and what they will eat because no one in my family stayed back,” said Koy.
The fighting continued along the border in Oddar Meanchey province at around 6 p.m on July 25, 2025.
An official from Samrong city in Oddar Meanchey said nearly 10,000 people relocated to safe places in the province.
Ly Ratha, Chong Kal district governor, declined to comment about the evacuees.
An official at Oddar Meanchey Referral Hospital told CamboJA News that between July 24 and the afternoon of July 25, more than 10 people, including army personnel and civilians, were admitted with injuries.
But he declined to comment further because he is not allowed to speak to the press, referring questions to the spokesperson of Oddar Meanchey province.
Nuth Sokheng, an injured villager who was hospitalized there for treatment, said that she injured her left leg on July 24 when the Thai military dropped bombs on Ta Moan temple.
“My grandson injured his right leg and I hurt my left leg,” she said about the incident around 9 a.m. “At the time, my grandson yelled ‘grandma, my leg is broken’.”
She and her five children waited to get a car so that the authorities would bring them to safety, but they did not go to a safe place and got injured instead.
“I wish for peace, please do not have a war because it will break up my family,” she said.
A 39-year-old military man from Kampong Speu who had injured himself was hospitalized at the same hospital. He was on the frontline fighting about 500 meters from Ta Krabey temple on July 24.
“I got injured when I was running to shoot down a drone that flew near my military post,” he said.
During a press conference on Friday, National Defense Ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata said that Thai troops launched coordinated assaults on seven locations inside Cambodian territory.
She said the fighting took place around disputed areas including Phnom Khmouch, Ta Tav, Phnom 333, Ta Moan, Ta Krabey temples, Mom Bei, Techo Thormacheat village, and Choam Te.
Socheata noticed that in a technique assault on Cambodia, Thai armies used heavy artillery, F-16 fighter jets to drop bombs, tank bombardments, drone strikes, and underground explosives, calling them “aggressive actions”.
“Thailand used F-16 aircraft to drop bombs four times,” she said. “They destroyed a fuel station in Samrong city completely, forcing civilians to evacuate from their homes.”
She said the fighting began on Thursday morning and has targeted civilian villages in Samrong city injuring people and severely damaging civilian property.
In addition, four artillery shells were dropped on the Monorom 1+2 Primary School in Banteay Ampil district, Oddar Meanchey.
Cambodian Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry spokesperson Chum Sounry rejected acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai’s claim alleging that Cambodia showed no interest in entering negotiations.
Sounry clarified that Prime Minister Hun Manet had, in fact, sent a letter to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim— current ASEAN Chair—seeking his help to stop Thailand’s military incursions and to mediate a peaceful resolution.
However, just an hour later, on Friday morning, Thai armed forces opened fire on Cambodian military positions.
Sounry said Malaysia’s inability to help the two countries achieve a resolution was not due to Cambodia’s lack of interest, rather it was Thailand’s sudden shift in position.
In a Facebook post on Friday evening, Hun Manet said Anwar called him to discuss the fight with Thai forces along the border, expressing concern about and proposing an immediate ceasefire to help resolve tensions.
“I made it clear to His Excellency Anwar Ibrahim that Cambodia agreed with his proposal for a ceasefire because Cambodia did not initiate this fighting,” Hun Manet wrote.
He added that Anwar later informed him that Phumtham also agreed to the ceasefire starting at 12 a.m on July 24.
“It is regrettable that just over an hour later, the Thai side [said] they had reversed their position from agreeing to the ceasefire at 12 a.m on 24 July 2025, to not agreeing and waiting for a later date,” he added.
“Therefore, the key to resolving the current armed conflict between Thailand and Cambodia is the genuine willingness of the Thai side to accept a ceasefire, which is the first step towards finding further solutions between the two countries.”
As of now, some 2,500 people and 6,000 people in Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey provinces, respectively, have been evacuated to safety.
(Additional Reporting by Khuon Narim and Seoung Nimol)
