Home - Border Camps - NGOs - UNBRO - Border History - Repatriation - Documents - Maps - Glossary - Links - About - Site Map - Contact

The Thai / Cambodia Border Camps 1975 - 1999

1989 Border Khmer Demographic Survey - includes camp descriptions and additional historical information.

Background

The border camps with the exception of Khao I Dang were managed by UNBRO (United Nations Border Relief Operation - under UNDP) and supported by the NGOs that ran the infrastructure programs.

The border camps were not recognised as refugee camps, that is, the UNHCR did not manage them or have any official connection with them. Khao I Dang  was the only UNHCR camp on the border, with its residents enjoying the rights due refugees, all of the other camps were "Displaced Persons" camps whose residents were not eligible for asylum, emigration, nutritional or health standards and rights due a refugee.

The displaced persons camps were formally under Thai control (JOC/SC), who in turn allowed the Cambodian resistance factions to control the civilian populations in each camp. These included the Royalist FUNCINPEC party, KPNLF - Khmer Peoples National Liberation Front and the Khmer Rouge or DK.

The displaced persons camps served the purposes of the Thais, China and the West. The Thais were trying to stop the flood of refugees and destabilize the Vietnam supported Phnom Penh government. The West also wanted to keep the pressure on both Vietnam and Cambodia and indirectly on the Soviet Union. China wanted to apply pressure on Vietnam. They accomplished this by supporting the resistance factions with arms, training and bases in Thailand. They legitimized their support by allowing the factions to herd Cambodian civilians into closed border camps in Thailand and claim them as supporters who needed humanitarian assistance.

Life in the Camps

According to Ogata (head of UNHCR) during a visit to the border in 1991, the Khmer were the "best cared for refugees in the world"; she added that this was a real disincentive for them to repatriate and that their services should be cut!

Life in the border camps was on the whole better than inside Cambodia - food, water, shelter, healthcare and education, all were consistent in provision and in most cases superior to what existed in Cambodia. But the population density and abnormal environment made for an unnatural and stressful existence. Many people came to use the camps as a backup during times of drought or fighting in Cambodia.

There was the dark side to the camps with all manner of exploitation and human rights violations ranging from conscription and forced population movements to extortion and physical abuse by Thai authorities. Add to this an abundance of war weapons and the potential for deadly violence multiplies. It was not unusual to hear of grenades and RPGs being used in personal disputes.

By 1992 the border camps were nothing short of Cambodian cities in Thailand, despite the efforts of the Thai government to prevent permanent settlements. One of the Thai rules was that there should be no permanent structures in the camps. They compromised by allowing concrete floors for our printing presses and large paper cutting machines, all other structures were made of bamboo and thatch. Some ingenious and well off Khmer built concrete bomb shelters to protect their families during periodic shelling or frequent bandit attacks on the camps.

Programs

After so many years the infrastructure was impressive, from the water and sanitation to ICRC's surgical hospital in Khao-I-Dang to the two functioning universities in Site II, there was little in Cambodia to compare.

Water -

provided and distributed directly by UNBRO

Sanitation and Site Maintenance -

CONCERN, IRC (KID)

Health care -

ARC, IRC, CRS, COERR, COR, CAMA, Handicapped International, UNBRO - pharmacy, surveillance, Psychiatric hospital - KID

Food -

provided and distributed directly by UNBRO

Each person on a family card received food ration (family cards were a constant source of counterfeiting and multiple registration). Those who worked were paid with an additional rice ration. Excess rice was sold to Thai traders who sold it back to the suppliers to UNBRO.

Education -

Primary education - coordinated by UNBRO, provided by Khmer, IRC (KID)

Secondary Education - COERR, IRC (KID)

Vocational Training - COERR, Dom Bosco, IRC

Teacher Training - IRC - KID

University - COERR, KP - Site II / 2

Printing - IRC, JRSC (KID only)

Computer training - IRC - Taphrya

Special Education - IRC - Site 2 / II

French Language - SIPAR - Site II / 2

There were 50,000 children in school using books printed in the camps, the literacy rate far exceeded that in Cambodia. There was a biweekly Khmer language newspaper.

Social programs -

AA - COERR - Site 2 / II

Prisoner rehab - COERR - Site II / 2

Khmer Fine Arts - IRC - KID

TMC - Traditional Medicine Clinics - KID

Unaccompanied Minors - COERR, IRC

LMAP - Land Mine Awareness Program - IRC - all camps

Home - Border Camps - NGOs - UNBRO - Border History - Repatriation - Documents - Maps - Glossary - Links - About - Site Map - Contact

Web Services by

Send mail to    with questions or comments about this website.

Last modified: 13/05/14

All photos by Richard Rowat unless otherwise specified