Cambodian Displacement Continues Amid Thailand's Nationalist Election Win

Impact of Thailand's Election on Cambodian Displacement

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Six weeks after a ceasefire ended fighting at the Thai-Cambodian border, thousands of displaced Cambodians still hope to return home, despite an election victory in Thailand by nationalists who want to wall off the disputed frontier.

In Banteay Meanchey province, Proeung Sopheap, 59, was visiting her abandoned home in the border village of Prey Chan for the first time since the December clashes to collect some personal belongings and cooking utensils.

"I don't know what led to this fighting," she said. "Like other Cambodians, I want peace, not war."

Personal Stories of Displacement

In an election last week, Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul romped to victory on a platform that includes building a wall at the border.

During a visit to the area on the Cambodian side, most of the people Reuters spoke to said they knew nothing about last week's Thai vote or what the implications might be for the area.

Pich Vorn, displaced from the neighbouring village of Chouk Chey, said he just wanted his house and land back.

"Even if it is small, it is where I have lived for many years."

The worst fighting in more than a decade has left Sopheap's village Prey Chan divided: Thai authorities say part of it is in Thailand, and have put up barbed wire fencing, now reinforced with a barrier formed of metal shipping containers.

On the Thai side, authorities say all residents have been able to return home since fighting ended.

But on the Cambodian side, officials estimate that about 80% of land and homes in Prey Chan and Chouk Chey communes are now inaccessible, leaving more than 4,600 people living in temporary shelters.

Consequences for the Preah Vihear Temple

Thailand said in a statement on Friday the installation of barriers "to enhance safety and security along the border" was "fully consistent" with the joint statement agreed by the two countries during the ceasefire on December 27.

The border clashes killed at least 149 people and displaced hundreds of thousands along the 817-kilometre border (508-mile) before Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a second ceasefire in late December, after an earlier truce from July collapsed.

Both sides have traded accusations of aggression. They have tussled over their shared border for decades.

FIGHTING SCARS THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD TEMPLE

At the Preah Vihear Temple, an 11th-century UNESCO World Heritage site at the border, Cambodian authorities say bullet holes, dents and unexploded ordnance scattered across the complex were the result of Thai artillery during border clashes.

The Thai foreign ministry did not comment on this issue when asked by Reuters.

"It is truly regrettable to see a World Heritage site fired at and destroyed like this," Pheng Sam Oeun, deputy director general of National Authority for Preah Vihear temple said.

Cambodia has submitted damage reports to UNESCO and implemented emergency measures to stabilise the most severely affected sections of the temple. Sam Oeun said funding for full restoration remains uncertain.

Safety Concerns and Landmines

The Cambodian Mine Action Centre is clearing cluster munitions and unexploded artillery shells around the grounds.

Mines and unexploded ordnance remain a menace on both sides of the frontier. Demining manager Ean Sothea said Cambodian authorities had shut more than 40 schools across Preah Vihear province and prioritised clearance at hospitals, pagodas and homes of returning residents.

On the Thai side, a soldier lost a limb on Wednesday after stepping on a landmine at a border area in Kantharalak district of Sisaket province, the Thai army said.

Landmine blasts along disputed frontier areas were among the catalysts behind the border clashes last year, with at least 12 Thai soldiers severely injured since last July.

(Reporting by Reuters Staff; Editing by Josh Smith and Peter Graff)