Buriram
\nAt a Thai university-turned-shelter for displaced people, Kanlaya Somjettana is reluctant to go home even after a truce halted weeks of border clashes with Cambodia, fearing the violence may not be over.
\nShe said some people forced to flee the fighting began returning home on Sunday, a day after the ceasefire was announced, but many evacuees on both sides of the border preferred waiting for an official word that it was safe.
\nSome cited a lack of trust that the neighbouring country would respect the truce, after previous ones had been broken.
\n\u201cI really hope this ceasefire will last long and we can return home,\u201d 21-year-old homemaker Kanlaya told AFP from the university campus in Thailand\u2019s Surin city.
\n\u201cBut I will not go back home as long as authorities do not confirm that it is safe,\u201d she said, adding that the evacuation centre was now less crowded, although hundreds remained there.
\nOn the Cambodian side, 35-year-old So Choeun said she expected to give birth within days and hoped to then take her baby home, about one kilometre (0.6 miles) from the border.
\nBut not yet, said the woman sheltering with family under makeshift tents at a Buddhist pagoda in Banteay Meanchey province.
\n\u201cDespite the ceasefire, we dare not return home yet. We are still frightened,\u201d she told AFP.
\n\u201cWe will wait to see the situation for a few days, if it will stay calm.\u201d Officials on both sides said the day-old ceasefire was holding on Sunday, but for most areas, there has been no all-clear notice just yet.
\nThe truce follows three weeks of renewed cross-border fighting that killed at least 47 people and displaced more than a million on both sides.
\nA previous round in the decades-old conflict \u2014 five days of fighting in July \u2014 killed dozens before a truce was brokered, and then broken.
\nMany of those displaced by the latest violence had evacuated in July, too.
\n\u2018Good sign\u2019
\nRice and cassava farmer Saichon Wongpitak said she could not afford to wait any longer, planning to return to her home in Thailand\u2019s Sisaket province on Sunday afternoon.
\n\u201cI talked to our neighbour who said there was no gunfire since yesterday,\u201d Saichon, 38, told AFP, adding that her family would evacuate again if necessary.
\n\u201cWe have fear\u2026 but we have jobs to do at home, we have cattle at home, we have our farm,\u201d she said.
\nSaichon said she was glad to hear of the truce, but did not expect it to last long \u201cbefore Cambodia starts a new round of fighting\u201d.
\n\u201cI live on the border, and what I have learned is not to trust Cambodia,\u201d she said.
\nUnder the truce, the two countries agreed to cease fire, freeze troop movements and allow civilians living in border areas to return home as soon as possible, while Thailand was to return 18 Cambodian soldiers captured in July within 72 hours.
\nKot Ngik, 43, from another camp for displaced people in Cambodia\u2019s Banteay Meanchey, said she was thankful for the truce since it may allow children to soon return to school.
\nBut \u201cwe don\u2019t trust the Thai military yet\u201d, she said.
\n\u201cAt this point, we are not sure about the situation. They can fight again at any time.\u201d While many evacuees, including Kot Ngik, were still too fearful to leave shelters, So Choeun said the ceasefire at least offered some hope.
\n\u201cYesterday morning, I could hear loud bangs, but I have not heard it since 12pm yesterday,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Buriram At a Thai university-turned-shelter for displaced people, Kanlaya Somjettana is reluctant to go home even after a truce halted weeks of border clashes with Cambodia, fearing the violence may not be over. She said some people forced to flee the fighting began returning home on Sunday, a day after the ceasefire was announced, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-522702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n