A political science expert has warned that newly compiled international records documenting the killing of Cambodian refugees by Thai soldiers at Phnom Khmoch more than four decades ago represent clear evidence of a serious crime, even though the events occurred 47 years ago.
In Sophal, a political science scholar, wrote on social media that between 40,000 and 50,000 Cambodian refugees were forcibly pushed back into Cambodia by Thai soldiers between June 8 and June 13, 1979.
He said many refugees were driven forward at gunpoint, forced to walk through minefields, and killed by landmines deep in the forest. Others, he added, were shot dead by Thai troops when they attempted to turn back, with the death toll running into the thousands.
According to a letter from the International Committee of the Red Cross dated June 29, 1979, and sent to Geneva, more than 40,000 Cambodian refugees were forcibly expelled by Thai soldiers, made to cross minefields, and subjected to lethal gunfire.
In Sophal also cited British journalist William Shawcross, who reported that around 50,000 Cambodian refugees were driven out at gunpoint, pushed from cliffs, and forced to walk back into Cambodia through minefields, while being denied food and water.
He added that a letter published by former United States ambassador Morton Abramowitz stated that only about 1,000 refugees survived the killings by Thai forces. Many of those survivors, the letter said, were seriously ill after days without food or water.
Records from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, written by Yvette Pierpaoli, who was directly involved in rescue efforts, put the number of survivors at just over 900 people.
Vietnamese military records from the same period state that troops rescued between 2,000 and 3,000 Cambodian refugees trapped in minefields.
In Sophal said Thai soldiers repeatedly sent Cambodian refugees to their deaths at Phnom Khmoch from April 1979 onwards. He estimated that nearly 100,000 refugees were killed there in total, while more than 4,000 people survived after being pushed back into Cambodia.
He argued that the brutality was driven by revenge following Thailand’s loss of the Preah Vihear temple case to Cambodia in 1962. According to his account, after killing more than 50,000 refugees in the area, Thai soldiers reportedly described the violence as revenge for what they saw as a national humiliation.
The claims come after Thai media rejected a Cambodian film that depicts the killing of refugees at Phnom Khmoch more than 40 years ago.
On January 18, 2026, the Thai newspaper Khaosod reported that Thailand had expressed concern over how the country was portrayed in the Cambodian film, which refers to Phnom Khmoch as a second killing field. The paper said the film was a work of fiction and should not be used to distort history or incite hatred against Thailand.
However, the same newspaper published an article on September 14, 2025, examining the killing of Cambodian refugees in the 1980s by Thai forces under the headline “How dark is the dark side of Thailand-Cambodia relations”.
That report said revisiting abuses committed by Thai troops in the Dangrek mountain range and at Phnom Khmoch after the fall of the Pol Pot regime was deeply shameful for the Thai state, noting that many younger Thais remain unaware of those events.
The article stated that more than 40,000 Cambodian civilians were transported to the border by Thai troops, shot at, and forced to cross back into Cambodia through minefields. It said refugees were killed by gunfire, landmines, and starvation.
