Name: Thailand-Cambodia conflict: BBC Learning English from the News
Uploaded: 2026-02-20T17:07:05.000Z
Duration: 6 min 53 s
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From BBC Learning English this is Learning English from the News, our podcast.

About the news headlines in this program, Thailand, Cambodia Conflict.

In this program, we look at one big news story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode, as well as a worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com okay, so let's have a look at this story.

Fighting broke out last week on the border between Thailand and Cambodia, leading to the deaths of at least 33 people and causing thousands of people to leave their homes.

The exact border between the two countries has been disputed for many years.

There are some areas which both countries claim to be theirs.

Tensions between the countries have risen over recent months.

After an armed confrontation in May, each country imposed border restrictions while Cambodia banned some imports from Thailand.

Following diplomatic efforts from Malaysia and President Trump, both sides agreed to a ceasefire on Monday.

But Thailand's military has accused Cambodia of continuing to fire on their troops.

Later on Tuesday, Thailand's acting Prime Minister Bumtam Wajuyuchai said that there had been no escalation of fighting.

However, there were also reports of Cambodian troops firing on Thailand on Wednesday morning.

Our first headline is about the ceasefire and this is from the Guardian.

Thailand seeks to ease fears amid shaky ceasefire deal with Cambodia.

And that headline again, Thailand seeks to ease fears amid shaky ceasefire deal with Cambodia.

This headline is about the acting prime minister's statement that's trying to ease fears, make people less worried.

We're going to learn the adjective shaky now used literally, something is shaky if it's not very strong and moves a lot.

Imagine a table that feels like it's about to break.

Maybe one of the legs isn't working properly.

Now here it's not a physical thing that's about to break, but a situation.

If a ceasefire is shaky, then it's weak or vulnerable and might be at risk of ending an agreement can be shaky if it looks like it might not last.

And we can use shaky with people as well.

So if you feel a bit shaky, then you feel weak and unwell.

For example, no one wanted to invest in the company because of its shaky financial situation.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about military clashes between Thailand and Cambodia.

Civilians have been caught up in the fighting with a number of people being killed or injured.

Thousands of people living close to the border have left their homes to find safety.

And this is what our next headline is about.

It comes from Deutsche Welle as Thai Cambodia Truce nears, evacuees speak out.

That headline again, as Thai Cambodia Truce nears, evacuees Speak out.

Now, this headline mentions a truce, which has a similar meaning to ceasefire.

And that is the word that we want to look at.

The noun evacuee comes from the verb evacuate.

To be evacuated means to be moved from your home because of something dangerous, such as a war or a natural disaster.

Evacuees are people who are evacuated from somewhere.

So this headline is talking about people who have been moved away from the border regions in Thailand and Cambodia to keep them safe from the fighting.

One thing to notice about the noun evacuee is that it ends in ee and, and

this ending is often used to mean people who have something done to them.

For example, employees are people who are employed.

Mentees are people who are being mentored.

We've had evacuee someone who has been moved from or has moved from a dangerous location.

For example, emergency hostels have been set up for evacuees.

Today we're talking about fighting on the border between Thailand and Cambodia.

While this fighting only started last week, tensions have been growing over recent months.

Disagreement over the border goes back to the time when Cambodia was a French colony and a Treaty signed in 1907.

Recent political developments in each country have also contributed to the current crisis.

And the next headline is about the background to the conflict.

It comes from the Diplomat, an American magazine.

The Roots of the Thailand Cambodia border conflict.

And that headline again, the roots of the Thailand Cambodia border Conflict.

And that comes from the Diplomat, an American magazine.

Now, the word that we are interested in is roots.

Literally, the roots are the part of the plant that is under the ground and the rest of the plant grows upwards from the roots.

We also use roots to talk about the causes of a situation.

The roots of a problem are the things that have made it happen where it began.

Now, here in the headline, roots is referring to the long and short term causes of this conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.

We can also describe these causes as root causes.

And if a situation has causes that go back over a long time, it can be described as deep rooted.

And this article suggests that the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia is deep rooted.

The causes of the problem for example, the roots of the economic crisis lie in the last government's policies.

That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next time with another news story.

And if you want to practice what you've learned, you can go to our website, where you'll find more example sentences and a free worksheet.

And also you can find us on social media.

Just search for BBC Learning English on your favourite platform.