Thick smoke from forest fires along the Thai-Cambodian border pushed air quality to hazardous levels on February 16, with PM2.5 particulate matter reaching dangerous concentrations in frontier villages near Preah Vihear and Phu Makua in Sisaket Province.
Villagers reported seeing smoke drift across the border as early as 5:30 a.m., with conditions worsening throughout the day and into the night. Village headman Buakan Un-on said residents blamed Cambodian military forces for setting the fires, which strong winds carried deep into Thai territory.
"The smoke comes from across the border every time there are fires set by soldiers," Un-on told Thai media. "Our people cannot go into the forest anymore except rubber farmers with security clearance."
Thai military sources reported that Cambodian soldiers and villagers set fires along multiple points of the frontier in Sa Kaeo and Ubon Ratchathani provinces. But the tactic backfired — literally. A sudden wind shift pushed flames back toward Cambodian positions, causing heavy damage to their own base, according to reports from Thai border command.
The smoke crisis adds another layer to simmering territorial disputes between the two neighbors, who have clashed repeatedly over demarcation near the ancient Preah Vihear temple. The World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but border delineation remains contested.
Residents urged the government to build border fences and keep checkpoints closed until Cambodia formally agrees on boundary terms. Local authorities stopped allowing civilians into forested areas near the frontier, citing both health hazards from the smoke and security concerns from the military standoff.
The air quality crisis forced schools to close in affected districts, and health officials warned residents with respiratory conditions to remain indoors. PM2.5 readings in some border villages exceeded safe levels by more than five times, according to the Pollution Control Department.
Ten countries, 700 million people, one region — and along this stretch of contested borderland, the smoke from burning forests tells a story of unresolved sovereignty disputes that still smolder decades after independence.
