Asia Defense | Security | Southeast Asia

Trial by Fire: The 2025 Thai-Cambodian Border Clashes and the Royal Thai Air Force

In two outbreaks of war last year, the RTAF underlined its status as one of the region’s most effective and professional air forces.

A Royal Thai Air Force SAAB Jas 39C Gripen fighter jet performs during at air show at Don Mueang Air Force Base in Bangkok, Thailand, July 2, 2012.

The long-simmering border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia erupted into a higher intensity military clash in July and December 2025, which saw the participation of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) in a high-intensity conflict for the first time since World War II. During the conflict, the RTAF proved its status as a highly professional air force – one that belongs to the front ranks of Southeast Asia’s air forces.

This article uses available open-source information to assesses the RTAF’s air operations against the Royal Cambodian Army (RCA) during the July and December border clashes. It also discusses what the fighting revealed about the RTAF’s current capability today.

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The long-simmering border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia erupted into a higher intensity military clash in July and December 2025, which saw the participation of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) in a high-intensity conflict for the first time since World War II. During the conflict, the RTAF proved its status as a highly professional air force – one that belongs to the front ranks of Southeast Asia’s air forces.

This article uses available open-source information to assesses the RTAF’s air operations against the Royal Cambodian Army (RCA) during the July and December border clashes. It also discusses what the fighting revealed about the RTAF’s current capability today.

July 2025 – Operation Yuttha Bodin

Multiple clashes between Thai and Cambodian forces since the spring of 2025 led to a major escalation of hostilities on July 24, when Cambodia fired BM-21 rockets across the border, killing at least 11 Thai civilians and one soldier.

In response, the Thai military launched Operation Yuttha Bodin, a coordinated air and land assault, to defend Thai sovereignty, retaliate against Cambodian military actions along the border, and to reduce Cambodian military capability in order to preserve Thai state security and public safety.

On the first day of the operation, on July 24, the RTAF dispatched two missions totaling 10 strike sorties against RCA military command posts and army positions in the Ta Moan Thom temple area in Oddar Meanchey province.

During the five-day operation, the RTAF operated under a joint tactical plan, with Army Commander Gen. Pana Klaewplodthuk acting as the overall joint force commander. The RTAF provided direct support to a ground offensive by the Royal Thai Army (RTA).

The primary geographic focus of Operation Yuttha Bodin was on the disputed border area adjacent to Thailand’s Surin province and Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province (see Table 1). The RTAF provided support to the RTA, specifically in areas of active fighting, conducting air strikes to neutralize........

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