Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Southeast Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: Indonesia still in crisis over the floods, Thailand-Cambodia border clashes, Myanmar is the world’s opium hub, and Chinese cars are piling pressure on regional manufacturers.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Southeast Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: Indonesia still in crisis over the floods, Thailand-Cambodia border clashes, Myanmar is the world’s opium hub, and Chinese cars are piling pressure on regional manufacturers.

As we were finalizing the newsletter this week, a new round of fighting broke out along the Thai-Cambodian border. Previous clashes had already seen Thailand suspend their peace deal. Now conflict is reaching a level of intensity reminiscent of the brief July war, with serious potential for further escalation.

The spark seems to have been a clash between Thai and Cambodian troops along a disputed stretch of border on Sunday, Dec. 7. Both sides accused the other of firing first.

After things escalated, on Monday, Thailand reported the death of one Thai soldier and eight others injured. The Cambodian government has claimed four civilians have been killed and nine injured by Thai strikes.

Meanwhile, citizens on both sides of the border are fleeing. The Thai military says it has evacuated more than 385,000 civilians from border areas. The Cambodian government says that it has evacuated 1,157 families to safe areas.

After the Floods in Indonesia

In late November, the island of Sumatra in Indonesia saw catastrophic floods in its north and west. The latest death toll stands at 908, and two weeks since the flooding started, the government is still struggling to manage the fallout.

Numerous factors seem to have come together to make the floods so severe. The floods are the result of a cyclone—a rare weather event for Indonesia. Deforestation may have also worsened the flood’s impact.

The main problem now, however, is the slow pace of relief. Roads damaged by floods and landslides have left huge areas inaccessible and dangerously low on supplies. “People are not dying from the flood, but from........

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