SA KAEO — Thai authorities have posted large trilingual eviction notices ordering Cambodian villagers to leave disputed forest areas along the border within 15 days, escalating tensions following a public clash between the two countries’ foreign ministers at the United Nations.
Officials installed six warning signs—three each at Ban Nong Ya Kaew and Ban Nong Chan in Khok Sung district—declaring the areas protected forest under Thai law. The notices, written in Thai, English, and Khmer, warn that violators face up to 15 years in prison and 100,000 baht fines under the 1941 Forest Act.
Legal Deadlines Set
Forest Protection Unit representatives filed complaints with Khok Sung police on September 17 and September 25. Aerial photographs show approximately 40 Cambodian households in the Ban Nong Ya Kaew area.
The eviction deadlines are October 3 for Ban Nong Ya Kaew and October 10 for Ban Nong Chan. Thai authorities say anyone remaining after those dates will face arrest and prosecution.
Village Tensions Rise
The notices came as over 300 Thai villagers from Sa Kaeo and Chanthaburi provinces gathered Sunday to mark Thai Flag Day with a 25-meter national flag. Military personnel blocked them from approaching within 400-500 meters of the border fence, sparking anger among participants.
Waraporn Thong, 63, a former village leader of Ban Nong Ya Kaew, announced villagers would stop cooking meals and delivering water to Thai soldiers and officials stationed in the area.
“We’re both angry and frustrated because the military won’t cooperate with us,” she said.
Thai officials said they prevented the gathering near the fence line to avoid actions that might be seen as violating the ceasefire agreement or further inflaming tensions.
UN Backdrop
The eviction notices follow Saturday’s heated exchange at the UN General Assembly in New York, where Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn traded accusations over border violations, civilian displacements, and military incidents.
The dispute centers on areas Thailand says are its protected forest lands, but where Cambodian villages have expanded over decades since refugees fled Cambodia’s civil war in the late 1970s.
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