8:40 AM, December 24, 2025
Intervention by H.E. Pen Bona, Royal Government Spokesperson
As of December 24, 2025, it has been 18 days since the Thai military launched a brutal invasion against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia. The invading Thai military has indiscriminately bombarded civilian areas and infrastructures, causing numerous Cambodian civilians to suffer, and the number continues to rise, while civilian infrastructures are being destroyed every day.
Precisely, up to now, 21 Cambodian civilians (including 1 Infant) have been killed and 83 have been injured, including women, children, and the elderly. Meanwhile, the number of displaced civilians forced to flee their homes has increased to over 600,000. Many civil infrastructures such as houses, roads, bridges, schools, Hospitals, Markets, private business buildings, pagodas, and even ancient temples, which are invaluable cultural heritage of humanity, have been continuously damaged by the relentless bombardment of the invading Thai military.
Even though the Thai leadership has tried to deceive and distort the truth in order to manipulate the situation and to divert the attention of the International Community from their acts of aggression against Cambodian sovereign territory and their crimes against the Cambodian civilians, they cannot hide the truth from the eyes of the General Public.
The use of heavy and destructive weapons and equipment, such as F-16 fighter jets, Naval Warships, Cluster bombs, various types of advanced drones, and toxic gas on the Cambodian military and innocent civilians, has occurred every day. Such vicious and inhumane acts are blatant and insolent acts toward the international community, including the United States of America, the People’s Republic of China, the European Union, the ASEAN rotating chair, as well as other countries that have called for a cessation of hostilities and a return to respect for the Ceasefire and the Kuala Lumpur Joint Declaration.
The atrocity and conceited acts of aggression undertaken by the Thai leaders aim to dishearten the Cambodian’s spirit and divide the unity between our people and our leadership, so as to make the Khmer people lose trust and faith in the Royal Government of Cambodia. However, they are gravely mistaken. For the Khmer people, such brutal invasions do not cause fear or discouragement even a bit. On the contrary, the violation committed against Cambodian territorial integrity and the bombardment of innocent Cambodian civilians have instead bound the people, the government, and the armed forces to an even stronger tie to defend the motherland as well as to protect the honor and dignity of the Khmer nation.
The Khmer citizens, both domestic and abroad, have risen up to demand justice, call for peace against the invasion, and condemn the inhumane acts of violence the invading military. The voices of the Khmer people everywhere are not seeking for pity but are representing a small nation suffering from unjust invasion and abuse by its bigger neighboring country. Cambodia is indeed a small country, but its people will not stand idly by and allow any country to trample on it.
The Spokesperson for the Royal Government of Cambodia proudly praises the great unity of the Khmer people and express profound appreciation to the heroic courage of the Cambodian Armed Forces who have been fighting fiercely and persistently against the invading enemy, with firm faith in the Royal Government and particularly, in our leadership. This is the core forte of the Khmer nation to protect the territorial integrity against the invading enemy.
