Holiday Ayo - More than 500,000 people have fled their homes to safety in Thailand and Cambodia since the renewed border conflict between the two countries.

This figure exceeds the total number evacuated during similar clashes last July.

"Civilians had to be evacuated in large numbers due to what we considered an immediate threat to their safety. More than 400,000 people have been moved to safe shelters in seven provinces," Thai Defense Ministry spokesman Surasant Kongsiri told reporters at a press conference, as reported by AFP news agency on Wednesday (December 10).

"We want to prevent a repeat of the attacks on civilians that we experienced in July 2025," he added.

In Cambodia, "101,229 people have been evacuated to safe shelters and relatives' homes in five provinces, as of Tuesday evening," Cambodian Defense Ministry spokesman Maly Socheata said.

The Southeast Asian neighbors are at odds over the demarcation of their 800-kilometer (500-mile) colonial-era border, where competing claims to historic temples have escalated into armed conflict.

This week's clashes are the deadliest since five days of fighting last July that killed dozens and left about 300,000 people have been displaced on both sides of the border.

The clashes ended after a fragile ceasefire was reached following intervention by US President Donald Trump.

Both sides blame each other for sparking the renewed fighting, which by Tuesday (December 9) had spread to five provinces in Thailand and Cambodia, according to an AFP tally of official reports.