According to the Trat Marine Task Force, Cambodian forces encroached on three locations within Thai territory at 5:10am. The Royal Thai Navy responded swiftly and pushed back the Cambodian positions by 5:40am, reports the Bangkok Post.
After the marine clash, the First Naval Area under the Chanthaburi-Trat Border Defence Command deployed four patrol vessels to support Operation Trat Pikhat Phairee 1 in Ko Kut and Ban Hat Lek, Khlong Yai. The forces included fast attack gunboats and patrol boats, capable of providing fire support within a minute if needed.
Residents near Banthat Mountain, bordering Cambodia to the east, reported hearing artillery fire from 5am onwards. A monk from Rai Pa temple in tambon Noen Sai shared on Facebook that he saw firing lights floating above the mountains. “We were running away, but saw Thai soldiers heading toward it,” he said.
Yesterday, the Chanthaburi and Trat Border Defence Command extended martial law in Trat and Chanthaburi provinces.
Trat governor Natthaphong Sanguanjit said evacuations were ordered for residents near the border Muang district, Bo Rai and Khlong Yai districts.
The evacuees, including the elderly, children, bedridden and hospital patients, were moved to 10 designated shelters in safe zones.
Among those relocated from tambon Laem Klat were Cambodian migrant workers, whose mobile phones were confiscated for safety reasons, said mayor Kittipong Yula-or, who oversees one shelter.
An emergency meeting on Friday identified Ban Chamrak as a key area where Cambodian troops were reportedly advancing.
Khlong Yai, 11 kilometres from Cambodia’s Koh Kong, was also noted as a site where forces had established positions.
Thailand has put the death toll on its side at 19, including six soldiers since the fighting erupted on Thursday, with more than 60 people injured. Cambodia has reported 13 deaths.
The deadliest clash between the two nations in more than a decade came as longstanding tensions erupted into a full-fledged conflict. Two Thai soldiers were maimed in landmine explosives and a Cambodian soldier was killed in border skirmish in May - the start of the current standoff.
Thailand and Cambodia have claimed they are operating only in self-defense, with Bangkok insisting on a cessation of Cambodian hostilities before a ceasefire.
The two countries share a long history of border tensions, though relations have remained largely stable since a deadly 2011 conflict that left dozens dead. The last major flare-up centered on the Preah Vihear temple, a longstanding flashpoint dating back to the French colonial era.
Much of the current dispute stems from maps drawn on differing interpretations of early 20th century Franco-Siamese treaties, which defined the border between Thailand and Cambodia, then part of French Indochina.