Buri Ram orders wider evacuation as shelling spreads

Authorities in Buri Ram province have expanded evacuation orders to cover three additional districts after ongoing clashes along the Thai-Cambodian border pushed the range of artillery and heavy weapons deeper inland on July 27 .

Following reports of artillery shells landing in Lahan Sai district and ongoing gunfires and explosions, the province has added Lahan Sai, Chalerm Phra Kiat, and Non Din Daeng districts to the evacuation zone, which previously included only Ban Kruat district.

Residents in at-risk areas have been told to relocate either to relatives’ homes or to official shelters well beyond the range of shelling. For those without access to transport, authorities and rescue teams have dispatched vehicles to evacuate vulnerable groups, including the elderly, children, the disabled, and bedridden patients.

Temples, school auditoriums, and other public buildings have been converted into temporary shelters for displaced civilians.

Two hospitals — Lahan Sai Hospital and Chalerm Phra Kiat Hospital — have begun emergency evacuations. Patients were moved to safer locations, and medical staff were also withdrawn for safety, leaving only small teams to manage critical cases for transfer to other facilities.

According to the Buri Ram Provincial Education Office, 85 schools across Ban Kruat and Lahan Sai districts — both located near the border — have been closed indefinitely.

Village headman Sarut Kasemsuk of Don Nong Nae Pattana in Chalerm Phra Kiat district said local security units, including village defence volunteers and district officials, have been deployed to safeguard evacuated hospitals. Some families have already left the area, while others are waiting to assess the evolving situation.