On May 28, 2025, a localized skirmish along the Thailand-Cambodia border rapidly escalated into one of the region’s most significant military conflicts in recent decades.
More than a year later, a tenuous ceasefire is in place, and recent talks — both at the ASEAN Leaders Summit and at a bilateral level — have provided a sense of hope that a lasting cessation of hostilities may be imminent, after months of uncertainty, nationalist rhetoric and saber-rattling.
But while diplomats discuss stabilization and governments promote progress, a more uncomfortable reality risks being overlooked: Peace on paper does not automatically translate into recovery on the ground.
In the first three weeks of the conflict alone, almost one million people on both sides of the border were displaced. Between May and December 2025, the human toll included dozens of casualties, the closure of 833 schools — which disrupted the education of 200,000 children — and the temporary closure of more than 50 frontline health facilities.
Despite trade between the two countries adapting and reaching almost $1 billion in the first four months of this year, people on the ground now face a 34% decline in average earnings, and there are increasing fears that controversial, high-interest microloan debt may become a last resort for many.
While some facilities have now reopened, the impacts of children missing vital years of education, of accumulated household debt, and of the fractured friendship between the two countries will not be fixed overnight.
There has also been an underappreciated political cost, particularly in Cambodia. Border conflicts and civil wars have long been associated with crackdowns on political and civil rights — from Myanmar’s ongoing civil war to Iran’s recent use of internet blackouts and the brutal silencing of domestic critics.
The Cambodian regime in Phnom Penh, under the guise of a state of emergency, has weaponized the border conflict and used it to neuter criticism and the reporting of independent journalists.
Between January and mid-February 2026 alone, six Cambodian journalists were detained, arrested or charged with incitement over their reporting of the conflict. This follows the sentencing of two journalists last year to 14 years imprisonment for what the government claimed was “supplying a foreign state with information prejudicial to national defense.”
It has also impacted the movement of Cambodian activists, opposition figures and other civil society actors, who have historically sought refuge in Thailand when facing rising restrictions at home. Border closures have halted efforts by civil society groups to help individuals flee persecution in Cambodia.
For those who crossed the border before the closures, the rising nationalistic sentiment in both countries has reshaped not just their engagement with one another in international fora, but how they treat one another on a human level.
What was once a joint effort to advance democracy and civil rights in both countries has instead turned into a dispute over which government should be blamed for the conflict. Instead of supporting and learning from one another, civil rights groups now face public pressure if they publicly endorse one another.
Meanwhile, governments continue to use incidents of individuals on the street facing harassment and even assault as fodder in an online war of public opinion, distracting from human rights abuses in their own countries.
The result is not only weakened democratic movements within individual countries — it is the erosion of the regional networks that have long helped sustain them. This is why the international response to the conflict must extend beyond diplomatic de-escalation.
Regional governments, donors and multilateral organizations should recognize that post-conflict recovery requires sustained investment in people, not simply agreements between states.
That means creating safeguards for displaced and indebted households, supporting migrant workers returning home, rebuilding education and healthcare systems, and ensuring humanitarian assistance reaches communities still struggling with the consequences of displacement.
It also means maintaining support for independent civil society organizations, human rights defenders, journalists and democratic actors whose work may become even more difficult in the conflict’s aftermath. Political freedoms should not become another casualty of a crisis that has already imposed such heavy costs on ordinary people.
Recent productive discussions between Thailand and Cambodia are an important achievement. Diplomacy remains essential, and every step away from violence should be welcomed. But a lasting peace is measured not by the signing of agreements alone.
It is measured by whether displaced families can rebuild their lives, whether workers can regain their livelihoods, whether children can return to school and whether citizens retain the freedom to organize, speak and advocate without fear.
The danger now is not that peace efforts will fail — it is that the region will declare success too early. If governments and international partners focus exclusively on ending the conflict while neglecting the economic and societal impacts of the past year, they risk inflicting lasting damage to those most affected.
The challenge ahead is to ensure that recovery receives as much attention as diplomacy.
Soknin Chhoeun is a Cambodian human rights activist and youth leader with the Khmer Movement for Democracy (KMD).
