BANGKOK, - Months of simmering tensions between Cambodia and Thailand exploded into armed conflict on Thursday, 

including the deployment of a Thai F-16 fighter jet, in the heaviest fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours in over a decade.

BUDGETS AND GROUND PERSONNEL

Cambodia had a defence budget of $1.3 billion in 2024 and 124,300 active military personnel. The armed forces were established in 1993 from the merger of the country's former Communist military and two other resistance armies.

Of this, the Cambodian army is the largest force, with some 75,000 soldiers, backed by more than 200 battle tanks and around 480 pieces of artillery.

Thailand, which the U.S. classifies as a major non-NATO ally, has a large, well-funded military, with a defence budget of $5.73 billion in 2024 and over 360,000 active armed forces personnel.

The Thai army has a total of 245,000 personnel, including an estimated 115,000 conscripts, around 400 battle tanks, over 1,200 armoured personnel carriers and some 2,600 artillery weapons.

Source: Hindustantimes