(27 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Samraong, Cambodia – 26 July 2025
1. Wide of chief monk Tho Thoross walking into temple
2. Wide of temple interior as lights come on
3. SOUNDBITE (Khmer) Thos Thoross, Chief Monk at temple:
++STARTS ON SHOT 2, PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOTS 4 – 7++
“As a Buddhist monk living in a province bordering Thailand, I would like to call on both sides to work together to find a solution that is a win-win solution for all.”
4. Thoross lighting candles
5. Close of candles
6. Wide of temple interior
7. Various of Thoross chanting
8. Wide of temple interior
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Surin, Thailand – 25 July 2025
9. Mid of Chadaporn Duchanee, retired civil servant, preparing donations at home, with group of elderly people who are part of a ballroom dancing class
10. Close of donations
11. SOUNDBITE (Thai) Chadaporn Duchanee, retired civil servant:
++STARTS ON SHOT 9, PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOTS 10 – 12++
"We want to help. Everyone left in a hurry, without bringing their belongings, just trying to escape the line of fire, so they fled empty-handed. We are not on the frontline, so we help find commodities, food, pillows and mats for people who evacuated to the shelter."
12. Various of Duchanee, and group packing donations
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Phanom Dong Rak, Surin province, Thailand – 26 July 2025
13. Mid of monks sitting in bunker at temple in Surin province near Cambodian border
14. Various of Phut Analayo
15. SOUNDBITE (Thai) Phut Analayo, Temple abbot:
++STARTS ON SHOT 14, PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOTS 16 – 18++
"If I leave, the people who come to rely on us will lose their spirit. I want to give them moral support, and I also want to take care of the temple. They come to stay with us in the bunker. If I leave, who will they turn to? I have to cheer up other monks and the people. I have to stay. If you ask whether I’m scared, I’m scared too, but I’ll just stay here for now when I can."
16. Close of stray dog
17. Various of monks sitting in bunker at temple in Surin province near Cambodian border
18. Various of Jumbo walking outside bunker and monk beckoning dog
STORYLINE:
Long-festering tensions over border territory have escalated into armed conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, leading to dozens of deaths on both sides and displacing tens of thousands of people.
Neither side is prepared to claim responsibility for the first volley on Thursday, and they each blame the other for the continuing skirmishes.
While regional and international allies and organizations have called for a ceasefire, scant attempts at mediation had resulted in no peace talks as of early Sunday.
A temple in Thailand’s northeastern province of Surin has something most of the country’s 27,000 active Buddhist monasteries do not: a concrete bunker to shelter from bombs and shelling.
The temple’s abbot, Phut Analayo, said the decision to build a bunker was made shortly after a brief armed clash between Thai and Cambodian soldiers in May inflamed cross-border relations, culminating in the current fighting.
He said his temple has ceased religious activities for now but that the remaining monks stayed out of concern for the monastery and the people it serves.
“If I leave, the people who rely on us will lose their spirit," he said. “I’m scared too, but I’ll just stay here for now, when I can.”
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