While long-standing border disputes explain some of the current violence between Thailand and Cambodia, the conflict’s escalation is primarily driven by Thai elites’ drive to consolidate military

The 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, a Hindu shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva, is perched on a 525 metre cliff in Cambodia's Dangrek mountains.

Thailand said late Saturday it agrees in principle to entering a ceasefire with Cambodia and beginning a "bilateral dialogue" aimed at ending the nations' deadliest fighting in more than a decade.

The two nations have been locked in a decades-long conflict over their contested border. Tensions in disputed territories soured earlier this year.

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Thailand and Cambodia exchanged heavy artillery fire for a second day on Friday as fighting intensified and spread, while Cambodia's leader said Thailand had agreed to a Malaysian ceasefire proposal but then backed down.

The current clashes erupted on Thursday with an exchange of fire near Prasat Ta Muen Thom, an ancient temple claimed by both nations. It followed two months of tensions over contested territory that began in late May after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a skirmish.