Thai soldiers deployed heavy machinery to clear landmines amid alleged provocation by Cambodian soldiers at the border.

The Thailand Mine Action Centre swept the undergrowth for unexploded ordnance in Trat, eastern Thailand, on November 18.

One clearance vehicle, a control vehicle, and several backhoes were deployed to the Bam Chamrak area.

Soldiers searched for buried explosives in a zone that saw fighting during the Cambodian civil war in the 1970s.

Most landmines discovered were leftover ordnance, including Type 72A landmines, rifle grenades, and PMN-2 devices, authorities said.

A day earlier, Cambodian soldiers reportedly caused a disturbance near a barbed-wire line, allegedly taunting Thai villagers that the ASEAN was investigating Thailand over the conflict.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Witsanu Kaewladsang, chief of the landmine search and disposal unit, said: 'We estimate that the mission in Ban Chamrak would take around six months to remove both landmines and vegetation.'

Thai troops had earlier dug a four-kilometre 'security road' along the frontier in Trat amid the ongoing territorial dispute. The road led to the disputed Ban Nong Ri area, where Cambodian soldiers were reported to have dug trenches and flown drones.

Thailand and Cambodia have been fighting for more than a century over several undemarcated sections of their 817-kilometre (508-mile) border, which was originally mapped by France in 1907 while Cambodia was still its protectorate.

But tensions flared in the long-disputed frontier as both accused each other of instigating violence on July 24, which killed at least 48 and temporarily displaced some 300,000 on both sides of the border.

Cambodia claimed responsibility for the alleged war crime of firing rockets into Thailand that struck a gas station, killing a number of children.

The two nations have reached a shaky truce following talks facilitated by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

However, sabre-rattling has continued - with rabble-rousers from the both countries whipping each side into nationalistic frenzies.