Life in the Shadow of the Border: Experiences of Border Communities in the Thai-Cambodian Conflict

Abstract

This article examines the lived experiences of border communities in the context of the Thai–Cambodian conflict through a descriptive and interpretive approach informed by Borderland Studies, human security, and human dignity. It argues that border conflicts are not merely matters of international law or interstate politics, but ongoing power processes that profoundly shape the everyday lives of people living at the margins of the nation-state. The article begins by tracing the colonial origins of border demarcation and the Preah Vihear case, highlighting how maps, legal regimes, and discourses of sovereignty have transformed historically fluid spaces into sites of protracted conflict.The analysis of border communities reveals social and cultural structures grounded in overlapping identities, multilingual practices, and cross-border kinship networks that challenge rigid notions of national belonging. State-centered security measures and militarization have generated persistent uncertainty in everyday life, affecting mobility, education, religious spaces, and border economies. In particular, border closures and security controls have intensified economic vulnerability by disrupting informal trade and livelihood strategies that sustain local households. The article also examines how nationalist discourses, mobilized within domestic politics, reinforce “us–them” divisions and undermine long-standing cross-border social relations. At the same time, the article demonstrates that border communities are not passive victims of conflict. Rather, they possess significant capacity to foster bottom-up peace through everyday coexistence, informal cooperation, and locally grounded mechanisms for managing tension. These practices constitute a form of “everyday peace” that persists despite political uncertainty. Drawing lessons from the Thai–Cambodian border, the article highlights the limitations of state-centric security policies and underscores the need for border governance that prioritizes human security, community participation, and human dignity. Such an approach is essential for building sustainable peace that emerges from the lived realities of border communities, rather than being imposed solely through top-down political and military frameworks.