The Royal Thai Army reported that the explosion happened at 9:10am when a group of paramilitary rangers from the 2610 Paramilitary Ranger Company was patrolling near Ta Muen Thom temple ruins in Phanom Dong Rak district of the northeastern province bordering Cambodia.
The injured ranger was rushed to hospital, reports the Bangkok Post.
The incident happened as the Thai military and government repeated their protest against Cambodia for its use of anti-personnel landmines which violated the Ottawa Treaty and showed insincerity in its ceasefire agreement with Thailand.
Recent explosions of newly laid landmines have injured 12 Thai soldiers on Thai soil near the Thai-Cambodian border, and four of them lost their legs in addition to this morning’s incident.
Thai army: Cambodia insincere about peace
Meanwhile, the Thai army will continue to detain 18 captured Cambodian soldiers as long as Phnom Penh continues to break the agreed-on bilateral ceasefire and to use landmines, spokesman Maj Gen Winthai Suvaree said yesterday.
He said Cambodia’s actions showed its lack of sincerity about restoring peace.
Maj Gen Winthai said Cambodia had again asked the Thai army to free the 18 captured Cambodian soldiers. However, the army would continue to hold them as long as Cambodia failed to prove it really wanted an end to the violence on the border and ceased its attacks on Thailand.
The detention of the Cambodian soldiers complied with international laws including the Geneva Convention. They would remain in detention for now. Releasing them would allow them to participate in further attacks on Thailand, he said. Cambodia had not shown any intention of ending its attacks on Thai people, Maj Gen Winthai said.
The proof of Cambodia’s insincerity was shown by its use of anti-personnel landmines against Thai soldiers and its refusal to cooperate with Thailand on landmine removal at the recent bilateral General Border Committee meeting, the Thai army spokesman said.
Thai military personnel were repeatedly being injured by freshly laid Cambodian landmines in normal patrol areas where mines had previously been cleared, he said.
He said Thai soldiers found 18 PMN-2 anti-personnel landmines in the Phu Makua area of Thailand’s Si Sa Ket province, and Cambodian soldiers were seen in pictures holding PMN-2 landmines.
“What the Cambodian side is doing is equivalent to direct weaponised attacks on Thailand and shows their lack of ability to fight as soldiers, with honour and dignity, and its violation of the Ottawa Treaty", banning use of anti-personnel mines, Maj Gen Winthai said.
The Thai army spokesman also said Cambodia continued to lie in saying the Thai military attacked Cambodian civilians at Ta Muen San Chey temple in Oddar Meanchey province.
All civilians had previously been evacuated from the temple area, which the Cambodian military took over as a gathering and command point for its forces to attack Thailand, he said.
The Thai military considered the temple a military target and any casualties there were military personnel, the spokesman said.
Ta Muen San Chey was also only 1.8 kilometres from the Thai border, he said, whereas Cambodia deliberately fired rockets at more than 100 locations which were Thai communities and hospitals 20-30 kilometres inside Thailand.