The border dispute is not the only factor in restarting clashes. Scores of online scam centres operate along the border, run by criminal networks linked to Cambodian elites. Thailand considers them strategic military targets and is using the war to build up nationalist support ahead of upcoming elections. Thailand's opposition People's Party has called for a return to diplomacy.

Bangkok/Phnom Penh (AsiaNews) – More clashes were reported today between Thailand and Cambodia, after fighting broke out last Monday along their shared border, which extends over 800 kilometres.

The dispute is not only about the border, but also involves the presence of illegal scam centres in Cambodia, which exist thanks in part to government support.

This new phase of the conflict appears to be much bloodier than the five-day war in July, which ended with the intervention of US President Donald Trump, who threatened new tariffs on the two countries if they did not lay down their weapons.

Yesterday Trump said that he would call the leaders of the two countries, but has not yet done so. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he would answer the call, but with the intention of better explaining the situation to the US president.

“That is a different matter. This is an issue between the two parties (Thailand and Cambodia),” Anutin said. “We appreciate the goodwill of other leaders who want peace, but we also have to explain what the problems are and why things are the way they are.”

The Thai prime minister has at least for now ruled out mediation by third countries, including Malaysia, which, as ASEAN's rotating chair, had facilitated the signing of the 26 October ceasefire, in which Thailand and Cambodia committed to a series of de-escalation measures, which have not yet been implemented.

Following the latest outbreak of violence, both countries accuse each other of resuming hostilities. According to military sources in Thailand, a team of Thai engineers was attacked by Cambodian troops on Sunday, resulting in two Thai soldiers wounded, neither seriously.

For its part, Cambodia continues to portray itself as a weak country that was unjustly attacked by a much stronger neighbour, while Thailand claims to have evidence that the mines that set off the fighting on the border are recent and not unexploded ordnance, as Phnom Penh claims.

Yesterday, the Thai air force carried out strikes against a series of Cambodian sites, including scam centres also used as military supply and storage facilities; Cambodia responded by launching rockets from BM-21, Soviet-designed self-propelled multiple rocket launchers.

In a statement earlier this week, a Thai general stated the army's goal is to "render Cambodia militarily ineffective for a long time.”

Both countries also accuse each other of targeting civilian infrastructure.

The Cambodian Interior Ministry yesterday said that homes, schools, roads, 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 inside Cambodian territory”.

Bangkok denies all charges.

What is certain is that dozens of people have been killed and wounded, while half a million people have fled their homes on both sides of the border and are currently displaced.

Experts predict that hostilities are unlikely to end anytime soon. President Trump has no diplomatic leverage other than the threat of imposing new tariffs, which observers say remains an ineffective tool for achieving lasting peace.

The border dispute dates back to 1907. Thailand claim sovereignty over some strips of land now held by Cambodia, despite the International Court of Justice having repeatedly denied its arguments.

The Thai army has managed to advance as far as the villages of Chouk Chey and Prey Chan and take several hills between the Cambodian province of Banteay Meanchey and the Thai province of Sa Kaeo, from which it claims it can better defend itself from future Cambodian attacks.

Several casinos and online scam centres have been hit, especially in the provinces of Oddar Meanchey and Pursat, where some foreign nationals employed in scam centres were reportedly wounded, while others fled.

After the July conflict, some analysts had speculated that scam centres could play a more significant role than they appear since some 50 are located along the border.

In the Cambodian border town of O'Smach alone, an estimated 10,000 slave labourers are used in illegal activities.

Scam centres are a sector that has become a backbone of the Cambodian economy (generating an estimated US$ 12.5 billion in revenue annually) and is closely linked to the ruling elite.

Hun Sen, former prime minister and father of the current prime minister, Hun Manet, made public a recording of a phone call with then Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra after the latter asked Cambodia to stop the development of such centres. This eventually forced her to resign.

Thais lose about 115.3 billion baht, or US$ 3.6 billion, each year due to online scams.

Recent territorial gains (mostly uninhabited forested areas) may not be enough to stop the Thai government. Prime Minister Anutin and his administration, who came to power in September, have found themselves in hot water in recent weeks.

His cabinet has been criticised for its poor response to the recent floods and for giving in too quickly to the signing of a ceasefire in July.

Moreover, some members of the cabinet have been at the centre of a series of scandals that have exposed links to fraudulent operations conducted in Cambodia.

This is the case of former Deputy Defence Minister Vorapak Tanyawong, who resigned after a report revealed that his wife had received US$ 3 million from a Cambodian criminal network that Vorapak himself had been tasked with investigating.

These issues risk weakening Anutin's position ahead of upcoming elections.

The government, which was scheduled to dissolve Parliament tomorrow, wants to use nationalist sentiments and show that it has a grip on the situation, especially by targeting the same scam centres that fuelled the scandal.

In so doing, Anutin is trying to unify the conservative camp led by the military (which more often than not decides Thailand's political fate even without coups) and pro-monarchist parties.

Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, the leader of the opposition People's Party, stressed at a press conference yesterday that an exclusively military approach is inadequate and described as dangerous Prime Minister Anutin's refusal to negotiate.

Natthaphong, however, reiterated the need to eliminate online scam hubs in Cambodia as well as prosecute those involved with scammers in Thailand.

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• cambodia
• border war
• scam centres
• trump
• anutin charnvirakul
• hun manet
• donald trump