At a university campus in Surin city, Thailand, now serving as a temporary shelter for displaced residents, 21-year-old homemaker Kanlaya Somjettana is reluctant to return home despite a truce halting weeks of cross-border clashes with Cambodia.
The ceasefire, announced on Saturday, has prompted some residents on both sides of the border to begin tentative returns. Yet many remain wary, hesitant to leave evacuation centers without an official confirmation that it is truly safe. Past agreements have been broken, leaving communities skeptical of promises from neighboring authorities.
“I really hope this ceasefire will last long and we can return home,” Kanlaya said. “But I will not go back as long as authorities do not confirm that it is safe.” While the evacuation center at the university has seen some emptying, hundreds of people are still seeking refuge there.
Across the border in Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province, 35-year-old So Choeun is awaiting the birth of her child and had hoped to return home, just 1 kilometer from the border. “Despite the ceasefire, we dare not return home yet. We are still frightened,” she said, sheltering with family under makeshift tents at a local Buddhist pagoda. “We will wait to see the situation for a few days, if it will stay calm.”
Officials from both countries reported on Sunday that the day-old ceasefire was holding, but for most areas along the border, no all-clear notice had been issued. The truce follows three weeks of renewed fighting that killed at least 47 people and displaced over a million on both sides of the frontier.
China has been involved in mediation, with Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi hosting the Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers for talks in Yunnan province over the weekend. Wang described the ceasefire as the start of a “process of rebuilding peace,” urging both sides to take gradual steps toward a comprehensive and lasting truce, restoring normal exchanges, rebuilding trust, and improving bilateral relations.
The latest flare-up is part of a decades-long conflict that saw a brief resurgence in July, when five days of fighting resulted in dozens of deaths before a truce was brokered—and later broken. Many families displaced by the recent clashes had already evacuated during the July violence.
For some residents, however, life cannot wait. Rice and cassava farmer Saichon Wongpitak, 38, said she planned to return to her home in Thailand’s Sisaket province on Sunday afternoon. “I talked to our neighbor who said there was no gunfire since yesterday,” she said. “We have fear … but we have jobs to do at home, we have cattle, we have our farm.” Despite the truce, she voiced doubts about its durability: “I live on the border, and what I have learned is not to trust Cambodia.”
Under the agreement, both countries have pledged to cease fire, freeze troop movements, and allow civilians in border areas to return home. Thailand is also expected to return 18 Cambodian soldiers captured in July within 72 hours.
In Cambodia, Kot Ngik, 43, sheltering in Banteay Meanchey, expressed cautious optimism. “The truce may allow children to soon return to school,” she said. Yet she added, “We don’t trust the Thai military yet. At this point, we are not sure about the situation. They can fight again at any time.”
Even amid lingering fears, some residents are beginning to see signs of calm. “Yesterday morning, I could hear loud bangs, but I have not heard it since noon yesterday,” So Choeun said. “This is a good sign.”
For now, the ceasefire offers a fragile glimmer of hope for thousands displaced by the conflict, who continue to weigh the risks of returning home against the uncertainty of life in crowded shelters.
