THAILAND: CAMBODIAN ROYALIST TROOPS FLEE ACROSS BORDER

(2 Aug 1997) Thai/Khmer/Nat
Around 400 Cambodian royalist troops loyal to the ousted co-Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh have fled across the border to Thailand.
The soldiers were disarmed by Thai troops and granted refuge in a rice field not far from the border town of Aranyaprathet.
About 3-thousand-400 civilians have also sought refuge in Thailand.
The 400 or so FUNCINPEC soldiers looked resigned and bedraggled as they camped out in a field, on the Thai side of the Cambodian border.
The troops - loyal to ousted co-Premier Norodom Ranariddh - had finally crumbled under heavy mortar and rocket fire from Hun Sen's forces.
They're now being held in a field - not far from the village of Ban Nhongchan, home to several thousand refugees who've also fled the fighting.
Their confiscated weapons laid out by Thai border troops.
The soldiers have made a make-shift camp.
But there is about them the air of a defeated force.
SOUNDBITE: (Khmer)
We prepare not to fight. We prepare the people of Cambodia to get on with their lives.
SUPER CAPTION: Gong Sakul, FUNCINPEC soldier
Throughout Friday night, these men from Division 12 - one of the strongest royalist units - were pounded by mortar and rocket fire.
Finally on Saturday, their divisional commander, General Lay Virak, ordered his men to retreat across the border.
He then escaped in a car. His whereabouts are unknown but it is presumed he is trying to link up with other FUNCINPEC soldiers along the border.
While they still profess opposition to Hun Sen, there is little sign that these soldiers are preparing to stage any sort of counter-offensive from the Thai-side of the border.
SOUNDBITE: (Thai)
I hate Hun Sen because he's killing the Cambodian people.
SUPER CAPTION: Nai Duang Sirimad, FUNCINPEC
They will probably be encouraged to return home when the fighting dies down. But their weapons will not be returned.
Not far from them, in the village of Ban Nhongchan, thousands of Cambodian refugees are living a make-shift existence.
These 3-thousand or so refugees are what are left of a 7-thousand-strong exodus on Friday - most of whom have already returned home.
Conditions are pretty basic. The Thai authorities have provided a few tents but most are living out in the open.
And Thai doctors have treated hundreds for colds, malaria and diarrhoea.
At the moment, however, those who've stayed seem prepared to sit and watch and wait.
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