BANGKOK, Thailand -- Cross-border rocket attacks on the morning of July 29, by U.S.-armed Thailand and China-assisted Cambodia, "violated" a ceasefire brokered by President Trump who linked it to possibly lowering his 36 percent U.S. import taxes on exports from the two Southeast Asian nations.

Thai and Cambodian army commanders however met for lunch on July 29 and appeared to put a halt to their six days of bloodiest fighting in a decade.

Thailand blamed Cambodia for violating the first day of the ceasefire on July 29 by firing their dreaded Soviet-era, truck-mounted, multi-rocket artillery which unleashed unguided warheads onto Thai soil, prompting Thailand to retaliate with higher precision artillery.

Beyond the battlefield, the fighting may be bolstering the hawkish, highly politized, Royal Thai Army's influence which appears to be gaining some domination over Bangkok's fractured elected coalition government after officials indicated the military was being allowed to unilaterally make decisions where and when to open fire.

Thailand is a non-NATO U.S. ally. After decades of repeatedly seizing power in more than a dozen coups since 1933 and muting Thailand's struggle to establish a democracy, the Thai army lost swaths of popular support during the past few years, especially among university students and the rural poor.

Now strident, jingoistic cheering of the military is being vociferously voiced by Thailand's mainstream and online media, public opinion, politicians, and at dinner tables, prompting human rights activists to worry the army's new popularity will enable it to increase its manipulative political power.

"The soldiers will continue to do their job at full steam -- so Thais do not worry -- until the government has reached a clear agreement that there is no danger for the people, and to ensure we maintain the country's interests, in order to bring the peace we want to see," Thailand's Acting Prime Minister Phumtham said on July 27.

Cambodia's authoritarian regime could also be strengthened by the patriotism and nationalism stirred by the worst fighting in a decade between the two Buddhist-majority countries.

The fighting along Cambodia's northern border with Thailand coincides with a dangerously destabilizing breakup between the two nations' dynastic, billionaire, ruling families after decades of tight interlocking personal relations.

Both countries' authoritarian de facto leaders and former prime ministers -- Thailand's Thaksin Shinawatra and Hun Sen in Cambodia -- and their families are openly warring against each other over public betrayals, lies, threats, and leaked confidential audio recordings. 

Thailand flew its U.S. F-16 warplanes and Swedish jet fighters across the frontier and repeatedly bombed Cambodia during their six-day border feud.

China assists Cambodia's development projects, investments, and infrastructure and offers some military training and weaponry.

Cambodia publicly presents itself as an innocent victim of Thai aggression, emphasizing that Phnom Penh is much poorer, less armed, and had no motive or desire to fight a war against wealthier, heavily armed Thailand.

Thailand projects its case as the opposite, insisting Cambodians fired the first shots, and satellite imagery during the past three months above the disputed Emerald Triangle region can purportedly prove Cambodian troops were advancing, digging trenches, and "encroaching" on Thai soil.

"The Cambodian military forces have violated the agreement by launching continuous and indiscriminate attacks on Thai territory across various areas along the border, even after the agreed ceasefire time had passed," the Thai government said on July 29.

Bangkok detailed the violations in a report for Washington, Beijing, and Southeast Asian governments "who bore witness to yesterday's dialogue and negotiation, to inform them of Cambodia's lack of sincerity," the government said.

During six days of aerial bombardments, artillery, mortar, and drone attacks, both sides repeatedly blamed the other for firing first or causing the most death and damage.

More than 36 people, including 14 Thai soldiers, 14 Thai civilians and 8 Cambodian civilians, have perished since fighting escalated on July 24 along their disputed frontier, which is based on controversial 100-year-old French colonial maps dividing jungles, cliffs, and the scattered locations of revered ancient Hindu temple ruins.

The impoverished zone includes the Emerald Triangle where military-reinforced northern Cambodia meets heavily fortified eastern Thailand and southern neutral Laos.

"After the agreed ceasefire deadline, Cambodian forces continued to launch attacks into Thai territory at multiple locations. Such actions represent a deliberate violation of the ceasefire," the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters said.

"Thailand is therefore compelled to respond appropriately, exercising its legitimate right to self-defense in accordance with international law. Thailand has not initiated any aggression, but has acted solely to protect its sovereignty and ensure the safety of its people," the armed forces said.

Phnom Penh denied Bangkok's charge and said Cambodia was adhering to the ceasefire despite their unresolved, century-old border dispute.

After postponing their scheduled breakfast meeting on July 29 to quell the ceasefire's violations during the tropical morning, Thailand's 1st and 2nd Army Region commanders met their counterparts from Cambodia's Military Region 4 and 5, at two different border crossing checkpoints at lunch time.

In a meeting in Thailand, commanders and their aides, all wearing camouflage uniforms, met face to face while seated opposite each other in a businesslike setting at a long table.

A second meeting in O'Smach, Cambodia, was described as "informal" by Cambodian officials.

A third meeting was held online with Thailand's Border Defense Command chief of Chanthaburi and Trat provinces chatting with Cambodia's Military Region 3 commander.

They all agreed to stop shooting, stop reinforcing their troops, not to sneak into each other's territory, and halt all military movements along the border unless sick or injured troops need an ambulance to a hospital.

The commanders also told each other there must be no firing at civilians, and both sides should choose quick action resolution teams who could communicate and coordinate directly with troops along the 500 miles of their curved border.

Thailand repatriated the remains of a dozen Cambodian soldiers on July 28 at a temporarily opened border crossing.

Arrangements need to be made to return additional dead and injured soldiers, and social media's vicious "meme wars" between Thai and Cambodian propaganda artists, satirists, and activists must not cause misunderstandings, they said.

The commanders agreed to wait until Aug. 4 when a Thailand-Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meeting is scheduled to review the ceasefire and any violations.

Both sides have accused the other of "war crimes" and breaking the Geneva Conventions, pointing at Thailand's use of U.S.-built F-16 warplanes and Swedish Gripen jets to bomb Cambodia, and for Cambodia's firing deadly, unguided rockets.

The Royal Thai Air Force legally defended its aerial bombardments in a statement on July 29 reflecting on its "joint operations with the Royal Thai Army during 24-28 July 2025."

"The Royal Thai Air Force deployed F-16 and Gripen fighter aircraft to conduct precision air strikes on hostile military targets that posed threats to Thailand's national security," the air force said.

"The operations focused on neutralizing weapons depots and military active command centers. Missions were conducted both during day and night, and battle damages were assessed using integrated intelligence and modern surveillance technologies.

"Particular deployment of air power was carried out in full compliance with international law, based on the nation's inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations charter. The Royal Thai Air Force strictly adhered to the principles of proportionality, necessity, and clear distinction between military and civilian targets," the air force said.

On July 24, Senate President Hun Sen reportedly told Thailand not to “boast of your superior military power, or think of invading,” because Cambodia was “fully prepared for combat”.

“You will face the most severe retaliation,” Senate President Hun Sen said. “We won’t just resist, we will strike back.”

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, 47, wrote online:

"The sooner the fighting stops, the sooner the affected people, especially the displaced, can return to their homes and resume their livelihoods.

"At a time when the nation and our people are facing hardship, I may look a little older because of the gray hairs. Even if I look older and feel a little less strong than I did 10 years ago, my determination to face these challenges remains unwavering.

"Let's wait until the army and people are safe, and the country has returned to peace -- then it won't be too late to dye my hair," the Cambodian prime minister said, according to Agence Kampuchea Presse.

Bangkok insists all discussions about their disputed border remain between Thailand and Cambodia and confined to the JBC, with no outsiders deciding the issue.

Cambodia however demands the bloodstained case be settled once and for all at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which has ruled twice in Cambodia's favor, awarding it the coveted clifftop Preah Vihear temple ruins which are one of several crumbling stone architectural wonders in harm's way because of rocket attacks.

Jungles, monsoon rain, mud, and steep cliffs have made survival along the border grueling for both armies and their countries' 200,000 residents who fled the zone, many of whom were eking out meager, subsistence lives on the scrubland's rice and rubber farms.

Some weeping school children and sunburnt rice and rubber farmers crowded into their isolated villages' hand-built bunkers dug into the hard dirt.

Others tied nylon cloth from their tractor or nearby tree to shield them from the sun and rain, and built campfires for cooking food in areas deemed safer from a direct hit.

The summer heat enabled other evacuees to more comfortably shelter at Buddhist temples' outdoor pavilions and auditoriums, shaded by a roof of corrugated metal held up by cement pillars, where families clustered on straw mats amid plastic bags stuffed with necessities, bedding, clothes, and food, hoping to stay dry during brief monsoon thunderstorms.

Troubling, unverified media has appeared online including a video supposedly showing a group of shouting Thai men beating a Cambodian man in an urban street, while a separate photograph showed men circling a hapless-looking person who was described as a Thai spy captured inside Cambodia.

On July 28, Thailand's Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet appeared with mediating Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim, who hosted the ceasefire talks in Kuala Lumpur, sitting alongside U.S. and Chinese diplomats.

Within hours, Mr. Phumtham and Mr. Manet agreed to an "immediate and unconditional ceasefire" effective July 28 midnight local time.

"Up to now, Thai soldiers continue to aggressively encroach on Cambodian territory, despite phone conversations between the leaders of both countries with U.S. President Donald Trump," said the Phnom Penh Post.

President Trump posted on social media on July 26: "Many people are being killed in this War, but it very much reminds me of the Conflict between Pakistan and India, which was brought to a successful halt."

Thailand wants "an immediate Ceasefire, and PEACE," he wrote, linking a ceasefire to his tariff negotiations with the two financially strapped countries which depend on keeping their exports to the U.S. inexpensive without Mr. Trump's heightened import taxes.

"I am now going to relay that message back to the Prime Minister of Cambodia. After speaking to both Parties, Ceasefire, Peace, and Prosperity seem to be a natural."

During July, landmines injured several Thai troops who were described by Thai officials as walking on the accepted Thai side of the border.

The Phnom Penh Post however said in an editorial: "The Thai military’s recent allegations -- especially those made by Lt. Gen. Boonsin Phadkhang of the 2nd Army Region that Cambodia deliberately laid new landmines resulting in injuries to Thai soldiers -- are not only unfounded but recklessly irresponsible.

"No credible investigation has been made public, no transparent evidence has been presented," the paper said.

Bangkok said the landmines were new, Russian-made, and recently secretly planted by Phnom Penh.

Thailand hosts the Pentagon's biggest international military exercise in Asia, Cobra Gold, each year. 

Chinese play a broader role in Cambodia, funding huge investments, offering some training to Cambodia's military, and developing the country's infrastructure including ports and shipping canals.

Thailand's heavily financed, 360,000 active-duty army, air force, and navy total three times impoverished Cambodia's military forces.

Bangkok's military is backed by U.S. and other foreign training and weaponry including in the sky where Thai pilots easily dominate Phnom Penh due to Cambodia's lack of an effective warfighting air force.

In addition to Thailand's U.S. F-16s warplanes, older F-5s, Cobra attack helicopters, and Black Hawk transport choppers, Bangkok also wields about a dozen Swedish Gripen fighter jets.

Thailand's weapons and equipment also come from Israel, Russia, and elsewhere including 60 Chinese VT-4 tanks which augment dozens of older U.S. tanks.

Thailand's 600 artillery pieces far outnumber and out-shoot Cambodia's much weaker artillery strength, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Cambodia depends on its aging stockpile of about 200 Chinese and Soviet tanks and a few dozen Chinese and Soviet helicopters.

***

Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based American foreign correspondent reporting from Asia since 1978, and winner of Columbia University's Foreign Correspondents' Award. Excerpts from his two new nonfiction books, "Rituals. Killers. Wars. & Sex. -- Tibet, India, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka & New York" and "Apocalyptic Tribes, Smugglers & Freaks" are available at
https://asia-correspondent.tumblr.com