Thailand is trying to arrange the return of as many as 6,000 citizens who are unable to cross back from Cambodia after a key border checkpoint was shut amid ongoing clashes along the disputed frontier, officials said on Tuesday (Dec 16). Fighting between the two Southeast Asian neighbours has continued for a second week at multiple points along their 817-km shared border, with no indication of easing despite international mediation attempts.

Cambodia’s decision to close the Poipet border crossing has left thousands of Thai workers stranded, as violence in the area has forced more than 500,000 people to flee and caused nearly 40 deaths on both sides since last Monday. Former Cambodian leader Hun Sen said the closure was intended to protect civilians from what he described as indiscriminate shelling by Thai forces. He added that other checkpoints in unaffected areas remained open and that air travel was operating normally.

Thailand’s foreign ministry said Thai nationals in Poipet could seek assistance from the consulate in Siem Reap to arrange flights home and urged others in Cambodia who wished to leave to contact officials. According to Thailand’s defence ministry, clashes are ongoing across the border in eight provinces, with the situation described as unstable. Cambodia’s defence ministry said its forces would continue to stand firm against what it called aggression.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said there was no external pressure to agree to a ceasefire, declining to comment on whether US President Donald Trump was using trade measures as leverage, despite his previous role in brokering a truce in July. Although Thailand and Cambodia have long disputed parts of their border, officials say the scale and intensity of the current fighting, spanning inland forest regions to coastal areas, is unprecedented in recent times. Both sides accuse the other of triggering the conflict. Malaysia is set to host an emergency meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers next week as efforts continue to restore a ceasefire.