As fighting spread to at least six areas along the arcane frontier, Thailand’s military closed crossings between the countries. The fighting spurred at least 40,000 civilians from more than 80 villages near the border to flee to makeshift bomb shelters of sandbags and car tires.

Clearly a significant number of territorial squabbles exist simply to provide a jingoistic distraction, an excuse to rally around the flag or challenge the patriotism of a political rival. And while they can flare up organically,

Serious armed clashes have erupted between Thailand and Cambodia over a disputed border area. The fighting, which erupted on Thursday, included gunfire exchanges and shelling and rocket fire, which Th