A renowned Kabul cinema that for decades attracted the city’s film fans is being demolished to make way for a shopping mall

Thailand and Cambodia have been locked in a border dispute for more than a century, which exploded again in the summer of 2025. Peace efforts have had mixed results and fighting continues.

Guardian journalist Oliver Holmes looks at how colonial maps, simmering nationalism, Donald Trump and tourists all have a part to play

• A visual guide to the historical maps and temples at the heart of the Thailand-Cambodia conflict

Border conflict has roots in colonial maps and long-standing ‘sibling rivalry’

Thailand and Cambodia have been locked in a border dispute for more than a century, which exploded again in the summer of 2025. Peace efforts have had mixed results and fighting continues.

A historical dispute over lines drawn on colonial maps is often used as a pretext for simmering nationalism. The two countries have had what one historian called a “sibling rivalry” for decades, fanned by competing claims to the region’s rich cultural heritage, including ancient temples in disputed areas.