【Cambodia-Thailand Conflict】German Recounts Evacuation Experience — Fleeing Hastily Amid Rocket Fire

The conflict at the Thai-Cambodian border continues, and around 500,000 people from both countries have been evacuated so far. The international race circuit in downtown Buri Ram, Thailand, has been turned into a shelter, accommodating over 10,000 border residents, including foreign nationals. Galois, from Germany, said this was his first time hearing the sound of rockets, and he still finds it hard to believe he was caught in the midst of war.

According to CNA, the German national Galois’s girlfriend lives in Ban Khano, a small town near Thailand’s border, so he visits and stays there for several months at a time almost every half-year. This time, he arrived in Thailand on November 1st, expecting a peaceful life, but things changed drastically this week.

In Surin Province, Thailand, police spray water to extinguish fires in houses damaged by artillery shelling. (Photo: Xinhua News Agency)
 

Ban Khano is located in Buri Ram Province, Thailand, near the Cambodian border, and is one of the entry points to Cambodia.

He told CNA that on the night of the 7th, when rockets fell near his girlfriend’s hometown, all residents living along the border received alerts late at night stating the area was a “war zone and should be evacuated immediately.” He and his girlfriend’s family hurriedly packed their belongings, and when the rockets were heard again at 7 am the next morning, they decided to get in the car and leave right away. He said: “The road was jam-packed with vehicles fleeing the area. It was a terrifying scene.”

Galois, a 32-year-old German software engineer, said he had never heard the sound of rockets before and never imagined he would experience war in Thailand. He described how he and his girlfriend’s family, a total of five people, each carried luggage on their laps and had no time to think—just kept driving toward Buri Ram City.

He revealed that his girlfriend’s older brother didn’t evacuate until the 11th; initially, he wanted to stay home and watch over their belongings. Galois explained that some residents were afraid of theft and chose not to leave, but the rocket fire that day was too fierce, so they finally decided to evacuate.

Galois said that although he has long followed the Russia-Ukraine war in Europe and met many Ukrainian refugees who moved to Germany, “being personally affected by war is a completely different experience.” He admitted that when he received the alert he was “completely shocked.”

Galois said: “You can really see who are the people actually suffering in war. Everyone just takes whatever is most important and leaves. If their home is gone, they have nothing left.”

He added that war is rarely a worry in Germany, so this experience made him feel the reality of war very deeply. He said: “Here, war suddenly became real.”