Six weeks after a ceasefire halted deadly clashes along the Thai-Cambodian frontier, thousands of displaced Cambodians remain stranded in makeshift camps, uncertain if they will ever return home. Their plight has been compounded by last week’s election in Thailand, where Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul secured a sweeping nationalist victory on a pledge to build a wall across disputed borderlands.

In Banteay Meanchey province, residents of Prey Chan and Chouk Chey villages continue to live in limbo. Proeung Sopheap, 59, revisited her abandoned home for the first time since December’s fighting, collecting a few belongings. “I don’t know what led to this fighting,” she said. “Like other Cambodians, I want peace, not war.”

The clashes, the worst in more than a decade, killed at least 149 people and displaced hundreds of thousands along the 817-kilometre border. Thai authorities insist residents on their side have returned, but Cambodian officials estimate 80% of land and homes in the affected communes remain inaccessible, leaving more than 4,600 people in temporary shelters. Barbed wire and shipping containers now divide Prey Chan, with Thailand claiming part of the village lies within its territory.

The violence has scarred cultural heritage too. At the Preah Vihear Temple, an 11th-century UNESCO World Heritage site, Cambodian officials say artillery fire left bullet holes, dents and unexploded ordnance scattered across the complex. “It is truly regrettable to see a World Heritage site fired at and destroyed like this,” said Pheng Sam Oeun, deputy director general of the temple authority. Cambodia has submitted damage reports to UNESCO, but funding for full restoration remains uncertain.

Mines and unexploded shells continue to menace both sides. Cambodian authorities have shut more than 40 schools in Preah Vihear province, prioritising clearance at hospitals and pagodas. On the Thai side, a soldier lost a limb this week after stepping on a landmine in Sisaket province.

For displaced villagers like Pich Vorn, the politics matter less than the longing for home. “Even if it is small, it is where I have lived for many years,” he said. Yet with nationalist rhetoric hardening in Bangkok and barriers rising along the frontier, the prospect of return feels increasingly remote.

-2026-02-15

Let's not forget that (apart from the long-running border dispute between the two countries) this displacement crisis stems from the leaked phone call between then-Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Cambodia’s Hun Sen.

Many Thais saw this as a betrayal of their sovereignty, leading to the collapse of the government after a Constitutional Court ruling, and the military confrontation that continues to leave the border in a state of "frozen" conflict.

According to World Vision, as of February 6, 2026, nearly 98,000 Cambodians were still displaced in over 100 temporary sites. While the Thai Government reports that most of its 400,000 evacuees have returned, many now live behind shipping container walls that block access to their former livelihoods.

The Humanitarian Response Forum HRF notes that many Cambodians are prevented from returning home because of fresh mine contamination and damaged infrastructure.

Unfortunately for Ms Proeung and the thousands of others still affected, this could end up like other long-standing disputes in Kashmir or Cyprus. Especially given Anutin's plan to fortify disputed zones with permanent "security walls".