The recent dispute was triggered in May after armed forces of Thailand and Cambodia briefly fired at each other in a relatively small "no man's land" area along their border that both countries claim as their own.

The reescalation of conflict was sparked on May 28, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in an early morning clash between both nations’ troops, in an area called the Emerald Triangle—the shared border between Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. The area remains disputed as both Thailand and Cambodia lay claims to parts of the region.