Kem Thea, a 35-year-old carpenter from Poipet city, fled Thai shelling on his old motorbike with his three young children, carrying nothing but about $2.50 in cash, as fighting intensified near the Cambodia–Thailand border.
Photos from the evacuation show Thea and his three children sheltering at the Ta Doak Market sanctuary in Mongkol Borey district, where he sat on a thin green mat while holding his youngest child, with his two other children seated nearby.
Separate images taken earlier show the family fleeing along a rural road, with all three children riding on the heavily loaded, aging motorbike that Thea used to escape the shelling.
Thea said he bought the old motorbike from a neighbor for 200,000 riels (about $50) shortly before fleeing, using it to drive his children to safety.
“I ran with my three small children without taking anything with me. I had only a very old motorbike and about $2.50,” he told The Post.
“We have nothing because we live in someone else’s house,” he said.
Upon arrival, assistance was limited.
“My neighbour gave me a rice pot and a gas stove, but no mosquito nets, mats or blankets for the small children because they were waiting for the authorities to register them first,” he said.
Thea explained that his wife abandoned the family, leaving him as the sole caregiver. The family had been living in a borrowed house in Poipet.
His eldest child, aged 10, and second child, aged 8, are both enrolled in first grade at Tumnop 5 Primary School in Toul Prasat village, in Poipet town.
“Despite my poverty, I send my children to school,” Thea said.
“My eldest son has just started first grade because I used to work as a labourer in Thailand. Later, with no money left, it was better to work locally. In 2023, I began working as a construction worker and carpenter in Poipet,” he added.
As a single parent, Thea said his two school-age children must often care for their two-year-old sibling, even taking him along to school.
He said the school principal and class teacher have shown understanding and support.
Now displaced and waiting for official registration at the safety centre, Thea’s immediate concern is securing basic necessities for his children, after fleeing with nothing but an old motorbike and a few dollars in his pocket.
As of December 12, Banteay Meanchey sanctuaries welcomed more than 14,200 families with nearly 50,000 people, including 13,800 children.
