Sa Kaeo
Thailand's Cambodia gateway (64% of bilateral trade)—July 2025 clashes closed border, 260K evacuated, Rong Kluea market collapsed to 30% of traders, $4.7B stalled.
Sa Kaeo's economy collapsed in July 2025 when Thailand and Cambodia went to war. The Aranyaprathet checkpoint normally handles 110 billion baht annually—64% of all Thai-Cambodia trade—but the Klong Luek-Poipet crossing closed indefinitely after intense clashes around Ta Muen Thom temple. Over 260,000 people evacuated the border zone. A $4.7 billion trade artery simply stopped flowing.
The province existed because of that flow. Rong Kluea market once bustled with 5,000 Cambodian traders; by late 2025, only 30% remained, the rest having returned home or shifted operations online. Border commerce that generated 100 billion baht annually vanished almost overnight. Sa Kaeo chamber officials report businesses with no revenue still paying rent after three months of closure. Trade losses across six northeastern provinces could reach 80 billion baht if the crisis extends.
Before July 2025, the border economy thrived. Thai exports—beverages, auto and motorcycle parts, engines, agricultural machinery—flowed south; Cambodian labor and goods flowed north. In 2024, bilateral trade reached 175.5 billion baht. By November 2025, Thai imports into Cambodia dropped 49% year-on-year; Cambodian exports to Thailand fell 38%. Sa Kaeo demonstrates the biological truth of borders: they can channel flow or obstruct it, and economies built on throughput die when the channel closes.