Thai acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai yesterday warned that cross-border clashes with Cambodia that have uprooted more than 130,000 people “could develop into war,” as the countries traded deadly strikes for a second day.

Of course, trouble at the 508-mile (817 km) shared border is nothing new. For over a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points in the thick jungle punctuated with culturally-significant temples albeit with scant strategic or economic value.