Thai F-16 Fighter Jets Bomb Cambodia Casino as Border Tensions Escalate
Posted on: December 9, 2025, 09:42h.
Last updated on: December 9, 2025, 09:49h.
- Fighting between Thailand and Cambodia resumed on Monday
- Thailand bombed a border casino in Cambodia
- The casino was reportedly being used as a military installation
Thailand and Cambodia, who are blaming each other for initiating the latest fighting, exchanged a series of blows over the past 24 hours along their shared, at times undefined, 500-mile-long border.
Thailand claims that Cambodia attacked its troops stationed along the Si Sa Ket border in a confrontation that resulted in the death of at least one Thai soldier and eight others being injured. In response, Thailand initiated a series of F-16 fighter airstrikes on known Cambodian military installations on and near the border.
One such target was a casino that Cambodian troops were reportedly using as a military base and armory. The casino building also served as a base for Cambodian drones.
Officials with the Royal Thai Military identified the Cambodian-built casino complex as the Royal Hill Resort & Casino. The property is just steps from the Cambodia-Thailand Chong Chom Border Crossing.
The operation was due to the fact that this casino was used by the Cambodian Army as a site to launch live-action drones and a hideout of BM-21 Grad multiple missile launcher vehicles,” the Thai military said.
“The Royal Thai Air Force launched an airstrike, dropping high-explosive bombs on the Royal Hill Resort & Casino,” the statement continued.
Casino Post
Satellite imagery shows that the Royal Hill Resort & Casino was constructed after 2020. Thai officials believe the casino destination has been used as a military base for Cambodian troops for the past year amid escalating border tensions.
Thailand and Cambodia have been disputing the true border for decades. US President Donald Trump claimed to have assisted in resolving the fighting in July — a deadly conflict that raged for almost a week. Monday and Tuesday’s return of gunfire and airstrikes ended the peace.
Asked about the peace deal brokered by Trump, Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul responded, “I don’t remember that anymore. It’s too late.”
Thailand’s direction remains status quo. No ceasefire,” Anutin posted on Facebook this morning.
Anutin’s top general said the goal is to “render Cambodia incapable of military action for a long time.”
“Thailand’s use of air power is directed exclusively at Cambodian military targets, with efforts made to limit the scope of damage and prevent further Cambodian fire-support attacks that have caused Thai casualties,” said Army Major General Winthai Suvaree.
No Casinos in Thailand
Anutin was elected to the premiership in September. The National Assembly’s House of Representatives picked him after Paetongtarn Shinawatra was removed by the Constitutional Court with a 6-3 vote.
Shinawatra’s brief tenure, which lasted only a year, concluded after a phone call was leaked between her and Cambodia’s de facto leader, Hun Sen, in which she criticized her own army.
Shinawatra led a push to bring Las Vegas-like casinos to Thailand. After her ousting, Anutin, in an attempt to appease China, pledged to back away from the gambling pursuit.
“We have other options to improve the economy,” Anutin said after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month.
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