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Preah Vihear: Thai and Cambodian army commanders held talks across their disputed border on Thursday after the most serious clash in years killed two Cambodian soldiers and left 10 Thais in Cambodian hands.
Hundreds of Cambodian civilians fled the border area after Wednesday's 40-minute exchange of rocket and gunfire, as both sides rushed armour and troops to the conflict zone.
The 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple has stirred nationalist passions in both countries for generations, but escalation did not appear inevitable as officials avoided belligerent rhetoric.
"Our policy to resolve this conflict is through negotiations," Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat told reporters in Bangkok as the talks got under way near the temple.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has said nothing since the clash, in which two Cambodians and five Thais were wounded. His foreign minister said it was "not an invasion by Thailand".
The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, a ruling that has rankled Thais ever since.
However, it failed to determine the ownership of 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) of scrub next to the stunning but remote Hindu ruins, which have been off-limits to tourists for months.
The dispute over this small parcel of land became highly politicised in Thailand in July when protesters trying to overthrow the Bangkok government adopted it as a cause.
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