The Choam Sa-ngam border crossing between Oddar Meanchey province and Thailand’s Surin province reopened on Saturday after being closed briefly when Thai tempers flared, stranding travelers on each side of the border.

Chief of the Cambodian-Thai border relations office Touch Ra said Cambodian soldiers hung their nation’s flag near the border gate in celebration of Khmer New Year.

He said the Thai troops in the area were upset with the presence of the flag and closed down the border, not allowing travelers to cross from either side.

“The gate reopened after two hours of negotiations by the regional commanders on both sides,” he said yesterday.

He added that the border crossing was shut down exclusively by the Thai military, with no help from immigration police on either side.

“For us, we don’t care, we can close [border crossing] forever,” he said, adding that immigration officials did not want this to spark a serious dispute, which is why the situation was resolved quickly.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cheang Sokha at [email protected]